Apparently, there is some concern about whether product reviews are necessarily trustworthy, if bloggers are receiving the products free from companies, in exchange for the review.  I guess that was part of the reason for the FCC’s (semi-)new regulations about disclosure.

This all surprises me a bit, probably because I know how I handle reviews.

Yes, I sometimes receive products to review, from the companies that produce them.  And, yes, the vast majority of my reviews are, at least in large part, positive.  However, I have never given a positive review to a product I did not have something truly positive to say about.  There are several reasons this all works out the way it does.

1. I vet review products beforehand.  Because I know that I am ultimately going to have to post a review for the product, and that the company is going to a certain expense to provide the product, I work hard to ensure that the product is a good match ahead of time.  this eliminates a lot of the potential for a bad review, right up front.  It doesn’t guarantee that I will like the product – if that were the case, I would not need to try it first! – but it does weed out a lot of the potentially bad matches.  I have passed by a number of review opportunities, because I felt that they were simply to “iffy.”

2. On the rare occasion that I really, truly dislike a product I received free for review purposes, I generally don’t post a review.  This has only happened once or twice that I can recall.  Now, maybe this is part of that bias that people are concerned about, because I don’t feel it’s fair to post a review saying, “Do not buy this product!” when a company has gone to the expense of sending it to me.  But I will not post a positive review of these products.  (The only instance I can think of when this has happened is with a food item that contained artificial sweeteners.  I just cannot, in good conscience, recommend any food that is chemically-sweetened.)

3. It is a rare product that would not be useful to somebody, even if it isn’t a perfect fit for me or my family, and I am able to write a sufficiently objective review that there is usually something good to say about a product.  (This is less true of books than other products; as a result, I’m pickier about which books to accept than other products.)  You will notice that many of my reviews, although generally positive, mention one or more specific things I disliked about the review item.  In many of these instances, I would personally not be likely to purchase it – but I recognize that there are others who would like it better than I did.

If you are reading a glowing review here, where I “gush” over an item and have absolutely nothing negative to say about it, you can be very sure that I truly did love the product (whether I received it free or not)!  My Bible is one example that springs to mind.  I received it free for review – but I honestly was nearly awed by the quality of construction and think it’s an amazing Bible.  That opinion was not “bought”; it is my actual, honest response.

So, while I cannot speak for other bloggers, I can assure you that I will never be “bought off.”  (My personality bears that out, as well.  I do not lie, hide things, or beat around the bush.  I am not a people-pleaser; I’m a “call it like it is” sort of girl, who has to work at tact!)  Everything you will ever read here is guaranteed to be my honest opinion or belief.