Recommending products from retailers other than the sponsors? - Autopia Forums - Auto Detailing & Car Care Discussion Forum

CharlesW

What is the general feeling about posting information about products that are available from some place other than the sponsors?
It could be an on-line store or a local retailer that has a good product or a really good price.
I'm a little undecided about this, but it would be interesting to see what some of the rest of you think.
FWIW, most of my stuff comes from the sponsors, but I have been known to stray.
:brick

Charles

scooch

If there is a really good product or information out there which one of us wants to share with the rest of the community and I say go for it. :jump Obviously using the forums as free advertising is unacceptable.

JaredPointer

I don't think it's a problem at all. If the sponsors could "dictate" what we could and could not talk about, this would not be a very good place to learn or discuss things. It would turn into a "profit pit" more or less. I find that a lot of the stuff I use comes from local stores for a good deal less than what I can get a similar product from a sponsor for, and I have no qualms about sharing this info - especially with people who are just starting out. On the other hand, I will recommend the sponsors due to the high quality of customer sevrvice. I think if it ever came to the point where I (or others) were looked down on for talking about or recommnding non-sponsor products, I would leave and probably not be compelled to purchase any of the sponsor products all together.

CharlesW

My indecision isn't due to any concern about the sponsors "dictating" what we can recommend.
It's more the feeling that I am in some way being disloyal to the people that make the site possible if I steer someone to a different retailer.

:dunno

Charles

JaredPointer

I didn't take it that way Charles, even if my post sounded that way.

I really enjoy DC and using nice detailing products, but I don't see any reason not to share what works well for you, be it from a sponsor or Wal-Mart. That's just how I honestly feel about it. If I use a product that costs $2.99 that gives me the same results as a product that costs $15+, I'm just not going to go out of my way to spend any extra money is all. With all that being said, most of the sponsor products are not matched locally, so I do find that I use quite a bit of stuff from them. On the off chance that I buy something from another online retailer that I have very good success with, I am not going to hide the fact that I used it and I like it. An example would be the Sonus pads that I have and use regularly with very good results.

Focusedonsound

Here is my humble opinion!

Detail City is by title and what is dictated on the webste as follows!

Detailing Forum is the premier auto detailing forum on the internet! Use this forum to discuss car care tips, tricks, products and how-to. All about detailing, all the time.

Some other text that is on the website says the following!

Are you a professional detailer or just want to detail like the pros do? THis is where the pros hang out! Share your professional detailing, business and marketing tips here.

UNBIASED and IMPARTIAL car care product discussion by Detail City members.

So with all of that said! I beleive that DC is a place where we can come together and discuss Detailing. The sponsors probably receive 90% of our business but there are those few times that they either Don't have what we are looking for or we end up picking it up localy! But products aside 70% of the discussions held here are technique related and 30% products! The types of products we use are really personal prefrence!

IE: I prefer Poorboys ... there are a few reasons why personally one of my big things is that ALL PRODUCTS ARE MADE INT THE U.S.A!! I personally beleive that now more than ever this is a very important thing!

Now as an added benifit to these products. I find that they actually work for me. I recomend them to my friends (They have placed orders) ect. My Mail man has even placed orders with poorboys! (he can't beleive the shine every time he delivers the mail)

But back to the topic!

We are here to discuss products! And technique! If one of the sponsors doesn't carry that product thats their misfortune! Me personaly as a Product buyer for a camping company i have to take into account weather a product is worth it for me to carry! I can buy any product but am I going to sell it and as a retailer thats the chance they take! If they don't want to take that chance well someone else is and they are going to get the business!

Sorry if I rambled there for a bit but as someone who works in the retail industry there has to be something that gets the customer in the door or for this matter Onto the website! And if they feel that a discount is what its going to be well then they need to think twice espessially with such a (for lack of a beter word) Anal group of people! We don't want OK! products we want the best of the best of the best!

ok im done now!

CharlesW

Hey, Focusedonsound:
Don't hold back!
Tell us how you really feel.

I'm one of those Flag Waver buyers, too. It gets harder all the time with all the outsourcing being done. A guy I know calls Wal*Mart, China*Mart. He gets a little carried away with it sometimes.

Yeah, I pretty much agree with the idea of the forum being wide open for everything but spammers, but I still wonder a little about references to other places to buy stuff.

Heck, maybe I'm worrying about something that really doesn't concern people too much. I tend to do that occasionally.

Charles

tubafeak

My thought is that if you like a product that's not offered by one of our sponsors you should still tell others that it's out there.

CharlesW

Quote:

Originally Posted by tubafeak

My thought is that if you like a product that's not offered by one of our sponsors you should still tell others that it's out there.

But...
What about a product that is offered by our sponsors but is available at a lesser price from a non sponsor?
Or similar/identical products from a non sponsor. Micro Fiber towels and buffing pads are a couple of things that come to mind.

Charles

Focusedonsound

Quote:

Originally Posted by CharlesW

But...
What about a product that is offered by our sponsors but is available at a lesser price from a non sponsor?
Or similar/identical products from a non sponsor. Micro Fiber towels and buffing pads are a couple of things that come to mind.

Charles

I think in that case I would tell them where they could get it! and perhaps let our carying sponser aware of this.

One of the things as a retailer that we are forced to do is when we buy a product we have to sell it at a specfic price for a certian amount of time! We can occasionally run sales but they can only last a certian length of time! other wise we give up our ability to sell the product. I don't know if its the same way with our sponsors! But manufacture usually dictates price! some products we are alowed to set our own profit margin but there are very few of those.

The Fuzz

Quote:

Originally Posted by CharlesW

But...
What about a product that is offered by our sponsors but is available at a lesser price from a non sponsor?
Or similar/identical products from a non sponsor. Micro Fiber towels and buffing pads are a couple of things that come to mind.

Charles

I am sure that the sponsors appreciate your sense of loyalty. Detail City is a great place for car care product vendors and manufacturers to advertise and we hope that they are reaping the rewards that come with supporting this website.

With that said, as long as we aren't dealing with a filthy, stinking spammer or a shady product shill, members are and have always been encouraged to be helpful. It's all about intent.

If the member has good and helpful intentions then they are welcome to make recomendations. If a member has a bone to pick with a sponsor, that's bad. If a member also profits from making certain product or vendor recomendations, that's bad. If a member is an undercover shill, I will show them the door.

It would be great to see Detail City members 100% loyal to Detail City sponsors, but that is not realistic. It certainly isn't official policy or enforced. For those that are loyal and have chance to make a purchase elsewhere cheaper, you can always call, email or PM your favorite sponsor and give them an opportunity to price match. Just make sure that you are looking at the bottom line price and factor in all the discounts and shipping charges when doing comparison shopping. $10 with a 10% discount is better that $9.50 and no discount.

Bottom line from The Fuzz. Buy what you want from who you want. Be helpful and unbiased and everything will be just fine.

CharlesW

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Fuzz

With that said, as long as we aren't dealing with a filthy, stinking spammer or a shady product shill, members are and have always been encouraged to be helpful. It's all about intent.

Hey man, back off a little. Some of my best friends are filthy stinking spammers and shady product shills. A person has to do what a person has to do.

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Fuzz

Just make sure that you are looking at the bottom line price and factor in all the discounts and shipping charges when doing comparison shopping. $10 with a 10% discount is better that $9.50 and no discount.

Actually, I even take into consideration the cost of driving to a store that is not close to me when looking at shipping charges. If I have to drive 20 or 30 miles each way to save on shipping, the shipping costs look pretty cheap. It would probably cost me close to $15 to drive to some of the stores in my area. Then if they don't have it in stock, I might have to do it again.
Having the product delivered to your doorstep is awfully convenient.

Charles

holland_patrick

Quote:

Originally Posted by tubafeak

My thought is that if you like a product that's not offered by one of our sponsors you should still tell others that it's out there.

Unless you really like it then you keep it for yourself

Wet&Deep

Quote:

Originally Posted by holland_patrick

Unless you really like it then you keep it for yourself

Why? I'm new here and wondering what is the deal. I was just at Megs site and they are kinda the same way, megs or nothing. Is this place like that?

usdm

While I would love to just support the sponsors here, the reality
for me is that the sponsors don't always offer or have products
I'm interested in. So I personally don't see anything wrong with
sharing my thoughts on products not available through the
sponsors here. I won't go out of my way to spam
non-sponsor-offered products. But if I find something
that I like and works for me, I don't think i will keep it a secret
either.