No More Fake Reviews - So Who’s Gonna Tell Us What To Buy?

Yes if you must use reviews attempt to find a reviewer whose taste resembles your own. Harry Pearson kept equipment he liked for years and then returned it often beat to sh*t. 

@curiousjim  Thank you Brother !

👍🏾🤟🏾✌🏾🎵🎵🎵

@curiousjim 

So in conclusion, I feel that if they tell you upfront that they bought the item at a greatly reduced price or that they were outright given the piece, there shouldn’t be a problem.

...and I think that's pretty much exactly what the FTC are saying they should do...

If a reviewer states that he was given or purchased the product at a discount then to me the manufacturer wrote the review.

@gs5556 

You said:

If a reviewer states that he was given or purchased the product at a discount then to me the manufacturer wrote the review.

I think that's a safe default position. But consider this, which I think is a common scenario:

I'm a reviewer. Company A sends me a product to be reviewed. Both parties expect the product to be returned once the review is finished. I write the review and it's glowing, extremely positive, because I really like the product, so much so that I would like to keep it in my reference system. I contact Company A and they say fine, you can have our standard industry accommodation, (say -40%) and it's yours to keep. The only stipulation is that you can't sell it for 12 months from the date of purchase.

I write the review, and I say the usual: I liked this product so much that I decided to buy it....blah blah.

Is that still considered a tainted, or 'paid for' review?