Really Boring Stuff Only III: Resurrection

[Adam]

I have a number of reviews to write on Amazon tomorrow. I'd do them tonight, but, well...I think that we've established my state of mind.

 

[fuzz092888]

This one from Lane.

Not that I was complaining...it was from Vine.

I see that now as I look at the 1 review

Pretty sweet. Not sure I'm ready for ID furniture, especially if they're not going to bring it in and set it up for me.

Man, you get some cool stuff from vine.

 

[Adam]

Man, you get some cool stuff from vine.

At times...at times. Most of the offerings are books and other odd things that no one (I'm guessing) here would really want. Some, though, are super cool. When that popped up, I took the time to read the product page, and then excitedly selected it! As I said in the review, it is really comfortable for the most part, but it doesn't quite fit my size...which is average height, so it might not be for most folks.

I've mentioned this before, but putting an e-mail address (can be a dedicated alternate e-mail address) on your Amazon profile page might attract some offers from vendors. It can't hurt! I started hooking my brother up with vendors, and others contact him that never contact me. I get some interesting offers there, too, although none of them are for products nearly as pricey. Some vendors never come through with the products, but most do. I just accepted an offer for some <$5 chop sticks because they looked cool. The most expensive thing that I've gotten is a smart phone that was ~$150. I recommended my brother, and they sent him one...then offered him another ~$250 one (not me, but him). Why do I tell you this? To make you consider putting an e-mail address on your profile page! Again...it's best to use some dummy account, but I tell ya, it might pay off.

 

[Adam]

It's tough to whore when there aren't any clients.

Oh, wait. I can just post to myself. Experience Level: Expert. Game on.

 

[fuzz092888]

I did not even realize you could do that. I put in my e-mail address and added some interests. Thanks for that information, pretty cool.

At times...at times. Most of the offerings are books and other odd things that no one (I'm guessing) here would really want. Some, though, are super cool. When that popped up, I took the time to read the product page, and then excitedly selected it! As I said in the review, it is really comfortable for the most part, but it doesn't quite fit my size...which is average height, so it might not be for most folks.

I've mentioned this before, but putting an e-mail address (can be a dedicated alternate e-mail address) on your Amazon profile page might attract some offers from vendors. It can't hurt! I started hooking my brother up with vendors, and others contact him that never contact me. I get some interesting offers there, too, although none of them are for products nearly as pricey. Some vendors never come through with the products, but most do. I just accepted an offer for some <$5 chop sticks because they looked cool. The most expensive thing that I've gotten is a smart phone that was ~$150. I recommended my brother, and they sent him one...then offered him another ~$250 one (not me, but him). Why do I tell you this? To make you consider putting an e-mail address on your profile page! Again...it's best to use some dummy account, but I tell ya, it might pay off.

 

[psbfan9]

Most of the offerings are books and other odd things that no one (I'm guessing) here would really want.

I've mentioned this before, but putting an e-mail address (can be a dedicated alternate e-mail address) on your Amazon profile page might attract some offers from vendors.

I like books.

Is this only for Prime members? Are you talking about entering your email address in the "Your Public Profile" in the Personalization category?

 

[fuzz092888]

Adam is talking about the vine program. You have to review products you buy and then they select you for the program. Once you're in the vine program you get to choose from a list of items and they send it to you for free so you can review it. The higher your reviewer rating, the "better" items you get to choose from.

With the e-mail bit, yes that's your public profile. I'm not sure if Adam's brother is in the program or not, but apparently with Adam's recommendation, you can get sent stuff

 

[Adam]

To clarify, putting your contact info on your profile page isn't related to Vine. Vendors might contact you directly. The better your ranking, the higher the chances that you'll get contacted. I don't know their criteria, but you can't get offers if they don't know how to contact you.

 

[GO-NAD!]

The higher your reviewer rating, the "better" items you get to choose from.

Doesn't that make for a conflict of interest and dodgy reviews?

 

[fuzz092888]

Doesn't that make for a conflict of interest and dodgy reviews?

The reviewer rating isn't tied to positive reviews. It's tied to helpful reviews. So if people upvote your review as helpful, whether positive or negative, that's what improves your reviewer rating.

 

[Alex2507]

Doesn't that make for a conflict of interest and dodgy reviews?

Your point?

 

[Adam]

Doesn't that make for a conflict of interest and dodgy reviews?

Like Fuzz mentioned, rank isn't tied to positive reviews but rather to what others think of your reviews.

That said...giving a vendor a positive review can certainly grease the wheels to get more stuff. It's easy to look at the positive aspects of something and spin it that way, versus focusing on what you didn't like if you paid for it - it's a line that I'm still learning to walk to my own comfort level. However, many seem to honestly appreciate real feedback about how to make a product better because they have their minds on the long game. If I don't like something about a product, I'll say it in my review and e-mail the vendor with more specifics if it warrants it.

Also, even if folks that got it for free say something is awesome, people who buy it will outnumber them and let it be known very clearly if the product sucks - and then the folks who shilled it are going to stand out and start to get hammered. Nature takes care of things.

All of that said, there are tricks to try and improve your helpful rating...and hurt the ratings of others. I prefer to play it straight (bring it ) and see if I can keep improving my rank by not playing that game. I don't want to be in the top 10 - ever. There's too much visibility and politics at that level, I think.

 

[Adam]

One more thing - my reviews for things that I get for free tend to be positive because I only choose to review things that I think that I'll like. I don't get hundreds of offers, so please don't get that impression, but I certainly do get offers that I don't accept. And, no, you wouldn't be jealous of any of them. Well, maybe the women's wear...

 

[GO-NAD!]

The reviewer rating isn't tied to positive reviews. It's tied to helpful reviews. So if people upvote your review as helpful, whether positive or negative, that's what improves your reviewer rating.

OK, gothcha.

 

[fuzz092888]

So I found someone to cut me the kit. Should take about 2-3 weeks which would be perfect. That'll put me after the AP exam, which means my workload for two of my classes should decrease dramatically and I might even have a little time to actually do some stuff.

 

[GO-NAD!]

So I started ripping my CD collection to FLAC on my NAS over the weekend. I got through 23. Only 550-ish to go....

I'll definitely be backing up that sucker on a separate drive.

Sonos is up and running - works great!

 

[fuzz092888]

You may even want to get a dual drive system to use RAID 1. Odds are you'll never need it, but I'm the paranoid type.

 

[GO-NAD!]

You may even want to get a dual drive system to use RAID 1. Odds are you'll never need it, but I'm the paranoid type.

I've heard of it, but to me, it's something for killing bugs. I'm already in unexplored territory in the outer reaches of geekdom.

 

[fuzz092888]

I've heard of it, but to me, it's something for killing bugs. I'm already in unexplored territory in the outer reaches of geekdom.

Outer reaches? You've barely scratched the surface

 

[lsiberian]

My wife's laptop is having issues so I'm considering buying a mac. Someone talk me off the ledge.