Aquadigital Products Discussion

[Aqua-Digital]

Originally Posted by Reef Pilot

I am not advocating exclusivity. I think that was AD's desire. I was just saying you can't ask for that, unless you at least have a foot in the door with selling their product.

This in theory makes sense, however for a distributor to get a product going in a territory costs a lot of investment, not having rights to it can be a costly exercise when they find tom dick and basement Bob selling it at some crazy margin. So we NOW only touch stuff we have some level of rights to. This business is way to cut throat to have anything else.

Some lines we do share but these are long standing arrangements where typically there are silent agreements and manufacturers bind us to selling levels.

[Aqua-Digital]

We will have another one on board by April

[mikellini]

An issue I have with AD (and I've already spoken with them via email about this) is regarding 'reviews'. From an ethical perspective, essentially offering someone a sale price on an item in exchange for doing a review on that item is a bad idea. You would never presume to do this with a publication/journalist, but for some reason it seems that this has been done many times (and continues to be common practice) with hobbyists. Putting the aside the issue of inherent bias due to money invested and desire to buy the product, the biggest problem with this is gross misrepresentation of a 'sale price' as a 'review opportunity'. I'd like to hear what others have to say about this (since I've already heard from AD).

[Reef Pilot]

You would be surprised how common this is everywhere, incl journalism. Very hard to find true reviews anywhere... Do you really believe what Motortrend says about a new car review??...

That's actually where these forums are in fact very valuable. You get experiences and opinions from real users, who actually paid for the product.

[Aqua-Digital]

Originally Posted by Reef Pilot

You would be surprised how common this is everywhere, incl journalism. Very hard to find true reviews anywhere... Do you really believe what Motortrend says about a new car review??...

That's actually where these forums are in fact very valuable. You get experiences and opinions from real users, who actually paid for the product.

+1

[mikellini]

Originally Posted by Reef Pilot

You would be surprised how common this is everywhere, incl journalism. Very hard to find true reviews anywhere... Do you really believe what Motortrend says about a new car review??...

That's actually where these forums are in fact very valuable. You get experiences and opinions from real users, who actually paid for the product.

Motortrend (and other journalists) do not have to pay to review things. They aren't usually given things free of charge either. They are given 'review units' that are returned after the review is completed.

I completely understand that it wouldn't often work (except with low cost items) to just 'gift' items to hobbyists for review. I also understand the worry about someone taking the product and running. But I suggested what I feel is the right way to do it (taking a deposit, then giving the option to purchase or return after the review, split shipping costs) and was told that I should essentially just read someone else's review.

[Ron99]

I've had some experience in this industry with review units and the ones I have seen were provided free of charge to select bloggers/reviewers. They are a marketing write off for the manufacturer etc.

I've done some automotive writing and reviews and in that case the car companies usually give me a car for a week or so to drive and review. Cars are big ticket items so no give aways there. There were a couple I would have loved to keep

[Aqua-Digital]

Originally Posted by Ron99

I've had some experience in this industry with review units and the ones I have seen were provided free of charge to select bloggers/reviewers. They are a marketing write off for the manufacturer etc.

I've done some automotive writing and reviews and in that case the car companies usually give me a car for a week or so to drive and review. Cars are big ticket items so no give aways there. There were a couple I would have loved to keep

100% agree, manufacturers often will give away products, but as a distributor if the manufacturer wont play ball we try and find a way to still get a review so everyone is happy.

[Aqua-Digital]

Originally Posted by mikellini

I completely understand that it wouldn't often work (except with low cost items) to just 'gift' items to hobbyists for review. I also understand the worry about someone taking the product and running. But I suggested what I feel is the right way to do it (taking a deposit, then giving the option to purchase or return after the review, split shipping costs) and was told that I should essentially just read someone else's review.

I understand the theory, the issue is cost, believe it or not distributors have the tin margins, and to give a product away that then comes back effectively second hand that can not be sold is a huge loss, where as giving someone the opportunity to have something they may not be able to afford in return for as best as possible an unbiased review is a two way positive deal.

Distributors in this industry do not have the luxury to give away products even if it can be written off or seen as a marketing plus point. I wish we could just give out units, but it just can not be afforded.

Sadly nothing in life these days is free. So we offer a middle ground, nobody is making that reviewer take up the offer of course

[mikellini]

Originally Posted by Aqua-Digital

I understand the theory, the issue is cost, believe it or not distributors have the tin margins, and to give a product away that then comes back effectively second hand that can not be sold is a huge loss, where as giving someone the opportunity to have something they may not be able to afford in return for as best as possible an unbiased review is a two way positive deal.

Distributors in this industry do not have the luxury to give away products even if it can be written off or seen as a marketing plus point. I wish we could just give out units, but it just can not be afforded.

Sadly nothing in life these days is free. So we offer a middle ground, nobody is making that reviewer take up the offer of course

It's likely you'd only receive a product back if it wasn't a good product. I can't see why someone would essentially take a loss on their time and money by sending back something they were happy with. And if second hand products can't be sold, I guess we should close the Buy&Sell forum...

Your 'middle ground' is getting a free review. I can see how you might call it a 'win win' situation, but clearly you are taking no risk and getting a potentially nice, free reward. It's this viewpoint, and many other comments by many other people in many other threads, that I hope you consider.