81–90 of 147 posts
Looks like they're asking for $300,000 for their 65 workers. That's an average of $4600/person. Does that seem pretty low to anyone else? https://twitter.com/wirecutterunion/status/14631750942184161...
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If you’re reading their content why wouldn’t you click their affiliate links? You’re costing them server hours and purposefully not giving them revenue despite it costing you nothing.
>If you’re reading their content why wouldn’t you click their affiliate links? Because they blackmail companies into affiliate revenue with the threat of "unrecommending" their products. See: https://www.xdesk.com/wirecutter-standing-desk-review-pay-to...
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I’ve found their recommendations to be pretty good in general. What products were you disappointed by? If both they and CR are in agreement it’s a pretty good bet.
The air purifier they recommended makes a loud annoying noise any time the house temp falls below a certain point. The router they recommended started randomly and frequently dropping connections after a year. The WiFi extender they recommended dropped connections from day one and also had noticeable coil whine from across the room. The surge protector they recommended reeked of mid/late 2000s-era cheap plastic and m…
They have actual domain experts, labs (well-resourced), scientific method, and loads of objective data - e.g., for bicycle helmets, they have human head/body models, put all the helmets on them (I'd guess 50 at least, IIRC), dropped them on their heads (I don't remember how the impacts were constructed), and measured various outcomes. Through their research they discovered new risks, such as the stretch in the chin strap.
And it's in sortable, filterable, dynamic tables. What is not to like?!
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> I stopped heeding their recommendations after I discovered that they were aggressively persuing kickbacks and refusing to review products that do not pay. Let me offer a counterexample - VPN services. They didn’t get a cent from Mullvad, which they declared the winner. Number two was IVPN, which also doesn’t have an affiliate program. The review: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-vpn-service/
That they didn’t do this for a single product category doesn’t mean very much, though.
In a product category which is famous for its high-paying affiliate programs, they chose two players who are smaller and less well-known. Neither of them paid for their reviews. Most of their competitors mentioned in the article do have affiliate programs.
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Why do you think they didn't get money from them?
Mullvad: I know it for a fact, because I'm one of the founders. IVPN: I don't know it, but I've met Nick Pestell (the founder) several times, and he's told me they don't pay for reviews. I trust him.
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Oh shit. I used to consider them to be one of the most reputable sources.
Oh no! I did as well. Who is the current honest broker of product reviews?
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Are you saying I should be giving them revenue for not being terribly open about the fact that they only review products which can earn them a commission, and that furthermore, they deserve revenue from me for recommending products I spent about $500 or more in total for, only for them all to have significant flaws?
> Are you saying I should be giving them revenue for not being terribly open about the fact that they only review products which can earn them a commission It's right on the top of their front page: "Wirecutter is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more."
Wirecutter is a pay-to-play operation. I stopped heeding their recommendations after I discovered that they were aggressively persuing kickbacks and refusing to review products that do not pay. See https://www.xdesk.com/wirecutter-standing-desk-review-pay-to... for example. Also note that wirecutter in their response do not deny this but try to weasel out by claiming that the word 'kickback' was misleading. https://w…
Is there any site that you do use now for recommendations? In the game of capitalism it seems everybody becomes a sell-out.
I think there's still a niche for a Wirecutter-like site. But I don't know what it should look like, and how it should function without invasive affiliate advertising. I like reading high quality reviews of practical goods as well as more specialized things. Right now, I just Google search "name of product" + "reddit" and browse through threads to get a general consensus of a product.