TL;DR: Should DIY Packraft give free stuff to online reviewers like Backpacking Light?
I’m the type of person who likes to research the hell out of products before I make a purchase, so I regularly read online reviews and watch review videos, and as a consumer I know how helpful these things can be. But I also know how online reviews can be manipulated.
The worst example I’ve seen is a surgeon I met years ago who was paying his daughter to create fake profiles online and pose as his former patients, writing Facebook and forum posts about how the surgery he did had changed their lives and what a great doctor he was. (He also tried to involve me in insider trading when I worked as a geologist, but that’s another story.)
Around the same time I wrote a thoughtful but negative review of a product on Amazon and within a few days my review was deleted from the site with no explanation. I’m guessing it had been reported for being somehow “inappropriate”, and because humans don’t have time to look into these things it was automatically removed by an algorithm.
Since then I’ve learned how reviews can be bought from unscrupulous companies that have teams of people whose full-time job is to write positive reviews for their clients and negative reviews for their clients’ competitors. The low-budget ones aren’t hard to spot (generic copy-pasted gibberish written by people who can barely string two words together), but the more sophisticated ones actually purchase the item they’re reviewing using their own credit card (so they get that Verified Purchase tag on Amazon, for example) and then they write detailed reviews that are impossible to tell are paid advertising. Amazon is trying to fight this by banning sellers who pay for reviews, but now these companies have figured out that they can attack a competitor by writing lots of obviously fake reviews on their competitor’s products, so the competitor gets kicked off of Amazon.
Those kinds of things are obviously bad, but it’s not so clear-cut when someone reviews stuff they get for free or at a reduced price. Can we trust them?
Obviously companies who give free or discounted gear to “influencers” or “brand ambassadors” are expecting something in return, otherwise they wouldn’t bother. If they know the product is going to be used in a public forum or reviewed by someone with a large following, you can bet they’re going to pick through their stock to find a flawless item and then follow up with impeccable customer service – they’ll probably throw in a few extra little “swag” items like a free hat or t-shirt, too. The rest of us don’t get that golden treatment, so there’s strike one against these reviews.
Strike two is that when reviewers rely on free stuff to feed their gear addiction, sustain their lifestyles, and provide content for their social media channels, then it’s in their best interest to post positive reviews (with one or two critical comments thrown in to persuade their audience that they’re not biased). If they become known in the industry as someone who posts negative reviews, companies take note and they don’t send that person any more free gear.
So far that’s only two strikes, so how reliable is this type of review? I think it varies from reviewer to reviewer, and from a consumer’s perspective it’s probably impossible to know in any given case. Some people are willing to lie and cheat, but others have good intentions and they at least try to remain unbiased.
Over the years I’ve been contacted by a number of YouTubers and other people asking if I’d like to send them a packraft to be reviewed and/or featured in their social media channels. They rarely state it explicitly, but the deal is that it would be an “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch my back” situation – they’d get a free packraft and DIY Packraft would get free exposure. Sometimes they spell it out, telling me how great the advertising will be for DIY Packraft. Sometimes they expect to be paid, in addition to getting free stuff.
I haven’t accepted any of these offers because my goal isn’t to sell as many packraft kits as possible. I’m not a money-motivated person – I want to live with integrity, and I only want to sell packraft kits to people who know exactly what they’re getting and are excited about it, so any amount of deception is unacceptable to me.
DIY Packraft has grown without ever paying for a single advertisement. Simply providing good products and following them up with good customer service might not make me rich, but I’m surviving, and I can sleep at night.
If you have an opinion, advice, or a story about shady review practices, please comment below.
-Matt
12 Comments
Dan Durston · February 14, 2019 at 5:28 pm
Nice article Matt. I’ve been mulling over a lot of the same things because I’ve recently started a small tent making company (DurstonGear.com). I totally know what you mean about a lot of YouTube etc reviews being hardly neutral. As a small time YouTuber/blogger myself I’ve accepted some free product that I ended up being not super stoked on, and then in the awkward position of being supposed to do a review.
One approach I thought of that isn’t perfect but has some merit is to simply democratize the process and make it open to anyone. What I mean is that you can have a system where anyone that buys one your packrafts and puts in an honest effort to create a review (whether positive or negative) get a modest rebate on their purchase. Say 10 – 20% rebate if someone puts in all the effort to create a YouTube or blog review. If it’s clear that they get this rebate even if they are negative, then there’s no conflict of interest where they are incentivized to keep it positive.
That could be a win for you because it gets you some exposure without losing money on the raft, and it could be a win for a customer as it might help them afford a boat and get some compensation for the substantial time that a review takes.
Of course there are some downsides too – too big of a rebate and you’ll lose your shirt. Also you’d need some standard to avoid low effort reviews. But there might be a balance there where you get the word out in a way that is fairly high quality and neutral.
BTW, love the rafts.
Matt (Admin) · February 15, 2019 at 12:16 pm
Thanks for the idea, Dan – I’ll give it some thought. And cool tents!
Peter · January 16, 2019 at 12:06 am
I really appreciate the honesty you are approaching this issue with, and so here is what I thought about as I read your post. Since you are conflicted about the review economy and your goal isn’t entirely motivated by money donating a kit to a reviewer is unlikely to bring you the ‘gains’ your are seeking. This is because your product, as it is a kit, and requires dedication to complete is more difficult to send off to a reviewer than most other products (and since you have no competition it not like the reviewer will be comparing your kit and packraft design to another kit). So much of the reviewers experience is going to be connected to their aptitude and how much time and effort they dedicated to the project than a review of your actual product. So you will be giving away product but the review will likely be more of a review of that persons ability to complete the project. And then you have to enter into a business arrangement you are ethically conflicted about participating in. With that in mind I think there are better ways of encouraging exposure that won’t require entering into the traditional pay for review economy.
Here are my ideas:
Ask your customers to refer/review/document the projects they do. I would imagine your customers would be happy to spread the word about the company if you encouraged them to as your customers seem genuinely pleased by the service you offer and want to see you succeed because you are offering a desired service and have good intentions. Suggest for your customers to write up tutorials, experiences and trip reports or even just to mention your website on the other websites they frequent would likely be met with the same ‘can-do’ spirit your customers approach the rest of their lives with. And if your customers aren’t doing enough to get the word out in the future you could offer discounts for future orders for writing long write-ups on sites like BPL or Reddit (where I learned about DIYpackraft) or better yet offer credits for sending in referral orders.
Think of ways to advertise outside of the web. Tap makerspaces/outdoor rec programs/scouts/library/schools as ways to encourage group buys (i.e. your UA group). This is in fact why I was perusing your site tonight. I joined a makerspace and thought building packrafts would be a great group project for members of my makerspace. For me doing the project with others possibly brings some benefits, such as motivation to finish my raft, sharing tools and expertise, and the makerspace has the physical space to do a project that my small house (and having a toddler) doesn’t allow. And building as a group offers a community of boaters to go boat with when the boats are finished. I had been thinking about sending you an email asking if you would forward an email from me to customers who live in my area asking them if they would be interested in showing the makerspace the finished project and teaching us the basics and offering tips (ala TJ at UA).
Matt (Admin) · January 17, 2019 at 12:28 pm
Hi Peter – thanks for your thoughtful comments; those are all good points. I haven’t sold so many kits that it’s likely there’s someone in your area who has one, but it is possible – feel free to send me an email, and please put a feeler out on the forum as well.
There actually is a guy in the UK who copied my website and has been selling packraft kits that use the older V2 assembly methods, which is why my newer instructions are password protected. I’d prefer to share everything and encourage people to document their builds in detail, but at the same time it’s annoying to have someone reword my ideas and market them as their own, so now there are certain things I’d rather not have widely publicized. It’s hard to maintain faith in humanity when I get emails from confused customers because someone has purchased a URL almost identical to https://www.diypackraft.com and redirected it to their site…
Zach · January 14, 2019 at 11:13 pm
I found you ages ago via Reddit, and have been waiting for the rerelease of the ultralight (just checked in and saw it’s been released yay- next payday!) my advice is to make one additional detailed posting/ update onto the /r/ultralight forum, if looking to boost sales..
Matt (Admin) · January 15, 2019 at 11:19 am
Hi Zach, that’s a great idea. Thanks!
Arnold · January 6, 2019 at 8:32 am
My opinion: if you were looking to grow your business, playing the game cautiously with the right reviewers (BPL, outdoorgearlabs, etc.) may make sense. If not, and you love where it is now and works with your goals, no point in it. In your case much is dependent on someone’s DIY capabilities, following instructions, being serious about making something that does require a above-average effort. The review would have to include that caution.
I’m not a BPL member, rarely look at their website but have worked with Ryan in the past. In my opinion, he’s a pro, a great guy and takes what he does seriously. I agree with Steve above, your niche is closely matched to BPL’s niche.
Your existing customers, me included, selfishly hope you love what you’re doing and keep DIYpackraft going!!!! If a review from pros from the right niche brings in a temporary slug of new orders (almost always what happens, then it tails off) and that this aligns with your personal goals for DIYpackraft, might be a good thing. Rather, if you’re pleased with the way things are, a review from BPL would only serve to frustrate you.
All the above comes from a V2 builder/user, working on a Voyageur, will build an ultralight in the future and anticipate your next design!
Matt (Admin) · January 7, 2019 at 10:33 am
Thanks for the insight, Arnold, and the encouragement. I certainly do love working on DIY Packraft stuff. Like anything, there are aspects that aren’t so enjoyable… it would be nice to be able to hire someone to help out so I could accommodate more orders and put more effort into growing a “real business”, but there are zoning and insurance and workplace safety things to figure out before I’ll be able to take that leap. I wouldn’t want to get a big increase in publicity and orders and then be unable to fulfill them in a reasonable amount of time… They say a business that isn’t growing is dying, but I remember when one of the big packraft brands ran their Kickstarter campaign and got so many orders they took forever to fulfill them, and that just seemed to annoy everyone. Eventually they made it work though, so maybe that’s the right way to go.
Steve · January 4, 2019 at 12:47 pm
You mentioned some wrinkles in the review game I was unaware of. Thanks.
The question is how best to get the word out. The negatives for reviewing should be obvious:
You do not make or warrantee completed boats, so giving boats to reviewers is a nonstarter. Nor would you want to give a kit to an unmotivated or klutzy reviewer — the results are unlikely to be pretty.
Also many of the packraft reviewers are interested in whitewater; in contrast, most of your customers don’t seem to focused on the kayak scene; and just how good is your liability insurance, should there be an accident with a boat you told somebody to use?
Backpacking Light offers an opportunity. BPL has a deals section, a lot of tinkerers, and make your own gear section. You could offer, in the deal section, 10% off to anyone using a BPL specific acronym when purchasing over a limited time period, as in “diyprmar” for use during March, followed by using the comment thread to discuss diy packrafts. Active commenters constructing a packraft will be certain to review the boat on BPL — another opportunity to interact.
Your lighter boats fit the BPL culture better than other packrafts, so trip reports are also likely — more chances to interact.
And, last, I suspect bpl is widely followed by your likely customer base.
Matt (Admin) · January 7, 2019 at 10:10 am
Thanks, Steve – those are the same thoughts I’ve been mulling over plus some things I hadn’t really considered, so I appreciate your input. Cheers!
Daniel · January 3, 2019 at 10:24 pm
I’m not sure what you’d really be getting out of the deal. I’m not a BL member, but it seems like there are plenty of avenues for people will find out about packrafts in general. People who would consider DIY as an option will find your website. The end product depends a lot on the person who is assembling it and a one-off review might be done by somebody who is more interested in quick rather than quality work and might not be impressed with their final product.
I will say that most reviews I read are near worthless. Every once and a while there will be gem that shows experience with the product with thoughtful insights.
Matt (Admin) · January 4, 2019 at 9:37 am
Thanks for your perspective, Daniel – I think you might be right. Cheers!