Title change by request: What's good about AFF links?

if there would be less deals, than it clearly shows what all those AFF link were for.

also, I dont think we had too less "deals" in the first 3 years of BLF

if we are looking for a light, we can simply ask all vendors we know and see which is the cheapest (with or without coupon), and when we find out, we can post it in the BLF deals thread if its a good deal.

nothing special about that.

I have 10,000 flashlights that prove otherwise :P

Ok. I nominate ChibiM to contact ALL of the vendors to find the best deal when we want something for a good price. Can we just PM you our requests?

I’ll go ahead with my first two here. I need you to get me the best deal on a 104mm aspheric lens, and find me a dealer with a great price on a Ledil Seanna optic.

that includes you.. if you want a light, ask your top 3 or 4 vendors..

why would you ask a person to ask for you, if you can just contact the seller?

copy and paste the question... whats so difficult about that?

But I have a 6 foot 3 inch red headed Asian wife and she wants this flashlight for our anniversary in a month. It sometimes takes a week or more to get a reply back from vendors. I don’t have all of their skype accounts to ask them quickly. I can’t afford this light without a discount. If I have to wait a week or two on their replies, it won’t get here in time. Why can’t you come to my rescue? Have you ever seen a disappointed and unhappy 6’3” red headed Asian woman?

Me either :bigsmile: just a hypothetical situation so I could mess with ya.

I can think of a few members whom I respect that use clearly labelled aff links. The fact that they use aff links does not affect my view of them in any way. I think of an affiliate link as a way to ‘tip’ a user with no cost to me. If I think that user deserves a tip for their review or deal, then I use their aff link.

I think there should be 3 rules:

  1. No aff links in the deal alerts thread
  2. All aff links must be clearly labelled
  3. Only use aff links for products you personally own and recommend

The 3rd could be hard to police, but it’s usually fairly clear when someone doesn’t have the product they’re linking.

Aff links also let a store know how many sales a particular user’s reviews generate for them. If a reviewer here posts an honest review and it generates sales for the store, it may mean that reviewer gets more products sent to them for review. More reviews are good for the forum.

I agree. And I’ll add no battling between AFF linking people. Post your crap in your own thread, and no links to them to show you are cheaper than they are. Maybe only include links with an actual review, not some buy this because I posted some pictures review.

I’m on the fence about the “battling”. If I saw a deal that looked good to me and someone said “hey, it’s actually cheaper over here.” then I would be thankful that I got the best deal, but at the same time it can be distruptive and feel heavy handed. I think we are thinking about the same user, and I know it can be a little interesting for him because he isn’t allowed to post prices for most of his deals. He might be better off to keep his “advertising” in his own thread, even if it means some people miss the best deals on things.

I personally like picture reviews... with affiliate links, a cup of cafe au lait, and a chocolate biscuit!

I also like the post with PM me, for best deals, cookies, motorcycles and flashlights...

when you do that, you got my attention ;)

edit: I didnt want to say motorcycles, as I am too darn afraid of them..

A picture worths a thousand words. I prefer "picture" reviews, 70% pic/ 30% text. I do not use sugar-coated words to upsell any of my flashlights when I am reviewing, just facts that is reported by a average user (non-expert) perspective. Of course, I hope to improve as time goes.

Honestly, if AFF links is getting me a deal, I’m all for it as a buyer. Else, I just skip over it.
I’ve been so jaded by aff links by so many members ( I honestly don’t even know who posts and who does not post then) that as soon as I see ‘aff’ link I avoid it in the first place as the ‘deal’ is not really a great deal for the most part.
You get better deals on GB (group buys) I feel.

the point with “no aff links to products you don’t own“ is a problem (for me)

around 10 times a week I get a pm from a member asking me to negotiate with banggood (or hkequipment) about a code for a product he wants.
usually i can help and get a code.

i can’t have all of the things i am asked for - but the user should be allowed to tip me if he wants.

Again thanks for the awesome price on the Thrunite :slight_smile: I just could not commit myself to buy it and now I’m loaded with 18650 flashlights :smiley:

I concur. AFF links don’t necessarily have to mean that you have purchased that exact item yourself. That would be unreasonable. The AFF link is not the same thing as a ‘positive’ review of a specific product. Some people seem to have those two things mixed up.

No. I misspoke. I am ok with you having your own thread with your links. They should ONLY be in THAT THREAD unless you are giving an unbiased review. And there shouldn’t be 500 BG or GB affiliate threads but I don’t have a perfect way to regulate that without showing preferential treatment.

i see…

a suggestion:

  • only one deals thread per affiliate
  • always both type of links
  • no active contact - if one is interested he has to do the request…
  • if one abuses the trust of the community he will be reported
  • no advertising at all in the general topics (exept the OP - “i bought xxx from yyy“

i think that works for all …

Isn’t this how all drop-shippers work?

They get a request, negotiate a price from a source, quote the price to the buyer.
The buyer pays through, the payment goes to the source, and the source rebates a percentage to the negotiator/dropshipper.

It’s a business model — obscure, variable prices, different prices for each transaction.

Do it at a big enough scale, and you can start hiring employees ….

DavidEF: As to the question of why affiliate links are the tools of the devil himself (or however you want to phrase it)…

The general problem with affiliate links vs straight deal postings is that the members who are doing it aren’t necessarily doing it for the benefit of everyone else. As soon as they have skin in the game, the situation is changed and so is how people act/react to it. The tone of the place changes from friends and fellow hobbyists helping each other out to one where someone is trying to make a buck off you.

So no, it’s not that the majority of us are demonizing affiliate links, but that the odds are much higher that when you see an aff link, the person posting it (probably. no offense M4D M4X :stuck_out_tongue: ) has a motive other than trying to help out the other members. And that makes the place a little less friendly.

Personally, I don’t mind too much, but that’s just me. I can see where people can, and depending on their values, should feel strongly against aff links on principle.

I would also point out that there is a big difference between giving codes/links in PM’s or to people that have specifically requested them versus posting affiliate links in every thread all over.

In one area it can be seen as deceptive, “trying to make a buck”; in a PM or a specific thread, you as the buyer are there specifically to get the deals they can provide.

You don’t despise a travel agent for getting a cut, they’ve built the relationship with the vendors and are doing you a service to get a good deal.

We don’t need a separate set of rules for affiliate linkers. Affiliate linkers are commercial sellers by default. We already have an entire page of rules for commercial sellers. Rules for Commercial Sellers. Just stick to the existing rules and everything will be fine.

We have plenty of commercial sellers who follow the rules and post in the right places and contribute to non-commercial discussion when appropriate. They have been here for years and we like them, as long as they respect the rules.