The last two days I have been in and out of bed with a fever and flu. Sabrina is also in the process of moving house IRL and screwing behind-the-scenes with the blog just to mess with my head. So, posts are going to be light for a few more days.
However, since I’m cranky with a cold, I’m going to rant about something – so feel free to ignore this post and go shopping.
For the last two months, the issue of bloggers getting free items for review and/or “taking advantage” of that “privilege” keeps being ranted about on the blogs hosted by creators and store owners. I tried to be polite about it in the few comments I made here and there and offer alternatives and solutions to the few people who asked me for opinions in-world, but I’ve just had it. It’s a make-believe issue being trumped up by thsoe who resent the growing influence bloggers have on the SL market and everyone needs to grab some blasted perspective.
The reasons I call this a “make believe issue” are the following:
1. The store owner / creator has ultimate control of the situation. As a store owner, the responsibility and choice to give or not give freebies is yours and yours alone. When a blogger asks for one, you make a choice as to whether or not to give it. No one can creep into your inventory and steal it from you. Be smart about who you give them to and weigh the benefits and consequences as a business owner just like you do with EVERY OTHER CHOICE about promoting your items. You’re bitching about something you’re enabling. Welcome to Duh! - population: you.
2. Giving free samples for review does not COST a store owner / creator a virtual brass farthing. Stop bitching about it putting a crimp in your business or “messing with your sales.” If someone’s asking for a free sample, they were unlikely to buy it in the first place, so you’re not losing a sale. Moreover, if you’re worried that the blogger will give the item to someone that could cost you a sale make it no-tranfer and - voila! - problem solved.
3. Store owners / creators are ALWAYS able to give out transfer items for review and request them back. If someone doesn’t give one back, then they don’t get one next time. Problem, again, solved.
So, where is all the dithering coming from? As far as I can tell the main bitching is in regards to the following illogical red herrings I keep seeing bandied about:
A. “Bloggers expect it.”
Yes, we do. Our entries can generate a lot of sales and attention. The more the demand for us to blog (and the more expensive the items become) the more it can cost us to post. In contrast, a free review sample (as evidenced above) costs designers/creators nothing. This is a no-brainer.
B. “It’s not like these bloggers are writing for ‘Vogue’ where do they get off asking for free samples like they’re journalists?”
Pssst. You’re not a top real-world designer and it’s unlikely you graduated from a prestigious design school. You are – most likely – a homemaker or a college student with PSP skills, a good eye, and time on your hands. “Vogue” doesn’t know who you are – bloggers are your press and we’re the ones your customers are reading. We’re stuck with you and you’re stuck with us. Don’t belittle my seat in this boat and I won’t belittle yours. Your mantra for today is “being SL popular doesn’t mean real-world publications have any clue who I am.”
C. “Bloggers don’t say thank you.”
Oh. My. God. I get dozens upon dozens of free review items heaped on me every day. The vast majority of them I don’t want and don’t like. Not only do I not want to say thank you, I want to cry and say “stop cluttering my inventory.” There are, honestly, times when silence is the most polite thing I have to offer.
Of the ones I do like, I could not, in a million real or virtual years say “thank you” for all of them because every “thank you” would be the opening of a conversation I already don’t have time to carry on. I respect the time of a creator too much and I expect that they respect mine. I don’t go around all huffy because designer X didn’t thank me for the review I just wrote.
D. “It distorts bloggers’ understanding of the value of a L$.”
Bri is the most frugal tramp that walks the earth. Trust me when I tell you that she knows, to the copper, the exchange rate of an L$ and god help you if she can’t account for her current balance. As for me – my time to shop these days is more limited than in the past, but I do make time and trust me, I’ve spent enough L$ to choke herds of virtual elephants. I’m pretty safe in saying that every big name designer (and most of the little ones) in SL have seen their fair share of my Linden dollars at one time or another.
E. “Bloggers don’t always review the items they ask for…they ask for freebies just because they think they’re entitled to them.”
There is a completely valid reason any blogger might ask for a review item and then not blog it: the item might not appeal to them. It might not be their taste. It might suck. It might have been completely misrepresented by the display. It might take too long to figure out / fit to make it practical to explain in an entry. There are about 10000 things that could be wrong with the item after getting it that the blogger didn’t know about when they requested it.
Also - most bloggers don’t like to write negative reviews.
Despite what many people choose to believe, here at LL and in the more responsible product review / fashion blogs that focus on the SL market, the majority of us try to accentuate the positive while balancing the practical responsibility of being honest with our readers. Writing negative reviews can have an EXHAUSTING aftermath because some designers can have egos the size of Florida and schools of sycophants just drooling at the mandibles to chew up on anyone who dares to infer there are flaws in their favorite creator’s content. To cliques like these, even an objective review is a basis for rounds and rounds of pouty antics. Some bloggers just don’t think it’s worth the drama to do a negative review. Honestly, there are times when I’m not sure I have the energy to post a straight-talking balanced review because of the potential fall-out, so I NEVER blog something I hate just to be vile. Yes, when I do point out flaws, I am as sassy about it as I am when I gush about loving something. Avatars may look like cartoons but we’re all grown-ups and if you can’t handle some honest straight talk then it’s time to take a nap and have nanny fetch you a cookie.
The bottom line I offer on this rant –
If you have a problem with free review copies THEN DON’T OFFER THEM – or give them only smartly to bloggers you respect and know won’t “abuse the privilege” (however you define that concept in your head). If that means your items don’t get reviewed then you’re just going to have to live with the consequence of that choice, but don’t think giving a sample guarantees you that a blogger is required to like your wares and post about them. Don’t whine because you’re too lazy to have an established review copy policy that suits your personal philosophy.
Sabrina is fare more likely to ask for a free review copy than I am (I’m more of the immediate gratification variety of child) but we have a posted policy, we’re always happy to transfer return items when designers ask for them back, and the sales that are generally generated by our reviews more than make up for whatever sale the store owner gambled on us liking something enough to review it. I have made more of an effort recently to ask for review items – especially on high-dollar items that I am unlikely to use/wear. Generally when I do this I say please and thank you all in the request, because though it flies in the face of common perception, I possess both manners and tact, despite being an endlessly sarcastic wench. What can I say? I’m complex.
The drummed-up bru-ha-ha over this issue is unnecessary; the petty squabbling over this issue can only serve to pit SL bloggers against SL creators and that’s just not a good direction to head into - so can we please be done with it now?
