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 
I just could not commit myself to buy it and now I’m loaded with 18650 flashlights 
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:
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 
) 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.
I don’t consider someone who uses affiliate links to be a commercial seller. But I think the commercial seller rules are appropriate anyways with one exception: if your write a honest review of a product you own, you can post an affiliate there too (clearly labelled)
Affiliate linkers promote the sale of certain goods and receive commissions on sales. That is the exact definition of a salesperson.
I continued my post. I still consider “them” to be more of a buying agent and not a salesperson. They are not in the employ of the seller.
Yep. Particularly when they’re promoting things they don’t recommend, review, or own and use.
That’s the problem.
That’s why the businesses that have affiliate programs are so damned eager to get people to join them.
It’s cheap advertising, with no responsibility to stand by whatever claims are being made about the product — because oh no, they’re just affiliates, we aren’t responsible for the quality and neither are they.
Slippery slope, moral hazard.
This isn’t about YOU.
I'm trying to keep an open mind, but I still don't see the issue. I try to click on the affiliate link (as opposed to the non-affiliate link) when a member posts a deal I'm interested in. I figure if I pay the same price and its a good price for something I want, I want the member that took time to post the deal to get a little something for their trouble. I really don't care what their motive is (e.g. make money, share a good deal, etc).
As far as the OP trying to be divisive. I don't think so. I, too, have wondered about what the OP is asking. I have asked here and there, but haven't got an answer that makes sense yet. Like the OP, I have no skin in the game. As a general rule, however, I prefer as few rules as possible. Freedom and choice has costs.
is a thoughtful, thorough review
and way down below some of the pictures
there’s mention of one place to buy the light
and of a code at Max’s topic to get a better price.
Happy to go there and click that one.
This is how to do it in a way that really makes clear what the item is, inside and out.
The problem with aff is that the poster is paid by the store to help sell some items. The poster is by definition affiliated with the store. That is a problem when the same poster also is a normal member on the forum and participate in the general conversation and perhaps even build up a good reputation.
The poster sell/give away his/her good reputation to the store to help the store to sell stuff. Infiltrative marketing using the trust given by others. Nasty. And cheap and very efficient marketing for the store. But that is fine as long as the aff link is posted in the commercial seller parts of the forum, and banned everywhere else.
The aff link is by definition a part of how stores attempt to influence the market to increase their sales. Don't let that stuff mix with the normal non-commercial discussions about flashlights. Also reviews of stuff that has been given by a store or manufacturer should be strictly forbidden anywhere else but in the commercial/reseller/store parts of the forum. It is by definition commercial marketing.
Suggestion: Post commercial content only in the areas intended for that purpose. That includes affiliate links and reviews of gifted goods. No total ban. Just make sure ALL commercial marketing is in the right place on the forum.
This is essentially what Rojos also say just here above. See aff links as commercial marketing. And follow the existing rules for commercial posts.
We should perhaps start to help by flagging commercial posts with affiliate links in the wrong areas as spam? That is what it is, isn't it?
I dont have time to go throught all this thread but heres my take on it:
Aff links look like shilling to me, at least the way some of the most active aff spammers post them.
I mean, it looks like this: “I posted a link to deal, now I deserve monetary reward for doing so, bitchez!”
When I did few reviews(year or two ago) where I either posted aff links or had item in question sent to me by seller who didnt want me to disclose that it was free item sent for review I was never able to post those aff links or reviews without slight feeling of guilt for doing so, I mean, not everyone shares the same views and needs for a product as reviewer does.
My advice to aff-whores is simple - start your own deals pages and put them into your signatures, if people will like your pages, they will click YOUR aff links in YOUR web pages and not on PUBLIC page which is neither OWNED nor RAN by you.
I simply see it as cheap way of spamming, Im glad that I didnt go this route, who knows, perhaps if money flowed in I might have started spamming this place back then just as shamelessly as some of you do with your aff links :bigsmile: .
Im against aff links in any threads other but your own reviews.
I just noticed this exchange in an older thread:
So it appears that the sniping between these two has been going on for a while now and that the kerfuffle that these two caused on the Budget Deals thread was just the latest episode.
While freeme and M4D M4X and other affiliates might not fit the traditional definition of commercial sellers, it appears that they have positioned themselves as professional middlemen and are engaged in a competition to see who can get more members to use their service. I think that makes them defacto commercial sellers. They may not be selling goods directly, but they are definitely selling a service.
It seems pretty obvious to me then that they should be asked to observe the forum rules that apply to commercial sellers. Honestly, just that simple move would solve all the problems associated with affiliates.
as said before:
i try to play by the rules -and when i think others don’t i point that out.
i do not want to be banned as collateral damage because some others played foul.
I contacted sb why it happened that posts from freeme and rolz have been updated and bumped.
could be a error in the script or …
the answer is pending 
freeme flat out uses every post as an advertisement, and even worked it in as his “location”.
Affiliate link Laundry Detergent and Fabric Care Products - Tide