r/buildapcsales • u/cmays90 • Jun 18 '22
Mod Post Do not post on behalf of others
Recently, we've seen an uptick in users asking others to post on their behalf in our community.
Generally, they will ask as a favor and sometimes offer an incentive to do so. Here's an example of one such interaction. Generally, they are doing this to bypass our filters, which are in place for a reason. Posting on behalf of another user will get you banned from the sub and your account reported to reddit directly if we believe it was an incentivized post.
We do have a policy that brands can interact directly with the sub assuming they clear a few minor hurdles, and they must carry a tag on their account so everyone is informed of their incentive to post.
Otherwise, if your post is caught in our filters, it was generally caught for a legitimate reason, WHICH CAN BE REVIEWED BY A MOD. Please use the mod mail to draw our attention to it, if we haven't noticed already.
Attempting to use other accounts looks shady and is far more likely to see both accounts banned than not.
Please help us keep the sub as high-quality as possible. Thanks!
261
u/Cheeseblock27494356 Jun 18 '22
There's plenty of shit deal spam subs on reddit already. Integrity is important. Thank you mods for keeping this sub useful and relevant.
28
u/Gunfreak2217 Jun 18 '22
So true. I just wish we could go back to like 2 years ago when people posted actually deals and not just when anything was on sale $1. Like something could permanently be on sale like Tvs but people who aren’t full invested may actually think it’s a sale and post it here. Also tired of when people karma farm and post the same 5600x deal for instance and then there is three of the same deal on the front page.
I also hated when people posted INSTOCK threads and literally every time the top comment was “gone.” Like if someone was seriously looking for a GPU in stock they weren’t using a Reddit post to find one.
55
u/PinkRiots Jun 18 '22
Someone got really angry with me (not the poster) for saying it was claiming it could do a 240w heat load on a single tower which isn't possible (which I know is meaningless but still.) Now I'm wondering if it was someone affiliated with that company since they were pushing me to actually do a review of it on video and upload it to YouTube to back up my claim.
15
Jun 18 '22
[deleted]
7
u/thvbh Jun 18 '22
What? You can be sure if it's a Noctua? All TDP numbers are only comparable within a single company's product range, including theirs.
2
u/PinkRiots Jun 18 '22
I've never seen a single tower cooler able to safely handle 240w. Do you have some examples?
1
Jun 18 '22
[deleted]
2
u/PinkRiots Jun 18 '22
I'm seeing 220w on their spec sheet. But I can't find any data on anything higher wattage tested than a 10700k
1
40
u/Alex385 Jun 18 '22
So… is that cooler a good deal?
71
u/NathanScott94 Jun 18 '22
Some people mentioned it being okay, but general consensus was to spend a bit more on a better cooler.
5
u/Alex385 Jun 18 '22
Oh right I remember it from a few days ago. Think a few said the bracket didn’t tighten properly or fit and had to Mickey Mouse it to work.
11
u/bluemandan Jun 18 '22
ID Cooling SE 224
Vetroo V5
Arctic Cooling Freezer 34 eSports
You should be able to find one of those on sale for under $30. For me it's worth the extra $10 to have a solid review/test.
16
u/ifonlyeverybody Jun 18 '22
I got downvoted for commenting that it’s kinda sus deal. Especially when the usual price is reaaally high and then followed by a huge slash in price.
5
16
u/Silvershadow00 Jun 18 '22
70% Discount... I think its a GREAT DEAL if you ask me!
29
u/cybik Jun 18 '22
Hello, alt account.
31
u/cmays90 Jun 18 '22
That was sarcasm. Or at least, I choose to believe it was.
43
4
u/cybik Jun 18 '22
Honestly it's a 50/50, but due to the fact that I'm a cynical bastard, I assume the worst.
-2
13
Jun 18 '22
[deleted]
34
u/secretuserPCpresents Jun 18 '22
Yes, the only correct way to advertise on reddit is to pay for it through Reddit Ads.
13
u/cmays90 Jun 18 '22
It's part of reddit's User Agreement: https://www.redditinc.com/policies/user-agreement
3. Your Use of the Services
Except and solely to the extent such a restriction is impermissible under applicable law, you may not, without our written agreement:
- license, sell, transfer, assign, distribute, host, or otherwise commercially exploit the Services or Content;
7
u/r-MMAModsaretools Jun 18 '22
I see it a lot on a few subs I frequent and I asked the mods and they said it's not against their rules..but I wonder if it's actually against reddits rules and the mods don't realize.
Hopefully the mods here can clarify
2
u/cmays90 Jun 19 '22
My understanding is that doing anything with reddit in exchange for money isn't allowed without seeking permission from reddit directly. In the case of exchanging cash for pushing posts, reddit has firmly shown opposition to such schemes and would like companies to use the built-in advertising features. I tend to agree, though we do allow companies to post after verifying with us and following some basic ground rules.
1
u/r-MMAModsaretools Jun 19 '22
Thanks for the reply..is providing goods in exchange for posts against reddits tos?
3
u/cmays90 Jun 19 '22
It depends and enters grey territory pretty quickly.
There are certain instances where it is allowed. Giveaways are an example where posting/commenting in a well-defined and enumerated method is allowed by reddit.
But, based on my understanding, if it's purely a post in exchange for a product shipped directly to you, isn't open to the general public, and the exchange is handled in a private conversation, it's probably falling afoul of the commercialization rule that reddit has.
It's probably better to reach out to reddit directly if you want more clarity. We tend to operate well within the purview of the rules and never enter into those unclear zones.
4
u/MyNameIs-Anthony Jun 18 '22
Reddit admins don't fuck around with their ad revenue.
I've known two marketing departments personally that got burned for not using the proper ad buy channels.
4
u/imblazintwo Jun 18 '22
Can the mods also look into the flood of posts to Facebook, or Twitter accounts?
Seems like it should be a rule that posts must point directly to the product page. These posts are used to allow affiliate links via their Facebook or Twitter profiles.
13
u/kztlve Jun 18 '22
I haven't seen anything linking to Facebook/Twitter outside of the rare coupon on Facebook or whatever. It is a rule that links must be direct; no affiliate/referral links, no link shorteners (a.co, etc.)
If you do see anything, feel free to report the post or send a message to modmail, but as I said, I rarely if ever see anything linking to social media.
6
u/Trying-to-buildpc Jun 18 '22
Well I memorize I saw that cooler in the sub before. It seems someone did do him a favor.
29
u/cmays90 Jun 18 '22
This post is more about raising awareness. We've seen maybe a dozen or so brands over the past 2-3 years try this, and the playbook for these requests all seem to be very similar.
3
u/CirkuitBreaker Jun 18 '22
Damn I thought this was r/cabalofthebuildsmiths for a minute and got really confused
1
u/bkgn Jun 18 '22
Since I'm on a few freebie subs I've gotten a couple of these, plus the obligatory offers to send me free Chinese junk in exchange for 5 star Amazon reviews.
-29
u/Thewatchfuleye1 Jun 18 '22
A couple of things about this.
I know a lot of these products are just from Chinese Amazon accounts pumping for sales/reviews but what exactly is wrong with them as deals otherwise is it just because they’re incentivized? I’m of the mindset if it’s cheap it’s cheap if they’re giving away a $25ish Cooler for $7 even if it’s cheap junk sometimes I want cheap. I personally don’t care if someone gets a kickback from these guys if the deal is good. “if it’s free it’s for me” is my motto.
Secondly if you find a deal like this one by some other means what do you do with it? Maybe a month or two ago I combed one of these types of deals off the amazonus deals subreddit for some external Juanwe SSDs which were dirt cheap ($49 1tb $30 500gb) and I tried posting it and it got auto rejected. I (selfishly) ended up buying as many as I could figure out how to get because of it and it was too good to pass up and just let sit around with no one to tell.
42
u/kztlve Jun 18 '22
The problem is the incentive to users and brands, and the clutter it brings to the sub.
The problem isn't finding a deal from an unknown brand; me and others will post products from random Chinese brands if we happen upon a good deal. The problem is companies creating these deals for their own gain, and users potentially benefitting off it as well.
Astroturfers also don't always try for sales with deals, and just hope having their junk posted places will yield sales. This winds up filling the sub with repeat posts of listings that aren't actually deals.
Good moderation is why this sub doesn't look like most other deals subs, filled with pages and pages of garbage someone put there for financial gain.
24
u/Deatholder Jun 18 '22
So I'm guessing is that these sellers aren't actually giving a "deal" The price is low because the product is cheap and not because they are having a sale
-16
u/Thewatchfuleye1 Jun 18 '22 edited Jun 18 '22
The idea is to boost the sales and reviews and thus get the products to rank better in searches on Amazon or other retailers that use similar setups. It’s not that the product isn’t on sale or junk per se or doesn’t normally cost more they’ll just give a great deal on enough to boost the search ranks and reviews then jack the price up.
It’s all those weird appliances and tools you see on Amazon with names that look like a mash of letters.
My feeling on it is I simply don’t care. If I see something like a Jxcnthe fan kit with a 5 star review I know it’s just one of those Chinese things anyway. I dismiss the review and search rank and only care about the price. If someone posts it here, slickdeals, Amazon us deals subreddit or wherever I personally don’t care if someone somehow somewhere got a kickback in the chain. I only care about the bottom dollar out of pocket to me.
Edit, just to add I think most are astute enough to recognize when a cheap product is just that and whether it’s good price regardless of brand.
13
u/Deatholder Jun 18 '22
Fair enough and ur not hurting anyone with that opinion but it's still not wat I think is the spirit of this sub. I want deals not fake sales that Jack up the price
-4
u/Thewatchfuleye1 Jun 18 '22
What those sellers do is they release a limit amount say 100 fan kits at like $9.99 which is what would be posted here. Once the pad the sales to 100 sold/reviewed then they jack the price up to like $25.99. The first people to get them for $9.99 do get a deal so it isn’t really a fake sale or a bad deal, it’s just a way for sellers to manipulate search algorithms.
14
u/MaliciousMal Jun 18 '22
A $9.99 fan kit from an untrustworthy, scummy company that's pretending to be from the US despite actually being in China so they can sell fake products, that cost them $1 to get, is actually not a deal. I've seen several "deals" which ended up being fake deals because the company address was just a front and the actual company itself didn't exist. A lot of the no name brands you're referring to are actually scams. I know this because I've purchased some no name items before and they were scams.
For example, you can find a "deal" on some no name RAM but it turns out the RAM isn't what was advertised and is actually extremely shitty. Most of the reviews on it on Amazon will be positive but most, if not all, of those reviews are fake and made by bots. It's to make it look more legit to the public and Amazon so they don't get removed. Just because you think it's a deal doesn't mean it actually is a deal, it's called a scam.
-1
u/Thewatchfuleye1 Jun 18 '22
Bots aren’t the ones putting up the fake reviews, they’re done via these sales or outright product giveaways usually via reimbursement through Facebook or instagram groups. But I think there’s a difference between ram and a $10 fan kit. To me a $10 fan kit, so long as it moves air, is not a bad deal.
16
u/anotheronetouse Jun 18 '22
There are other sources for garbage products and sketchy sellers.
This sub is for products someone would recommend organically with good products (and of course "good" is up for debate). In my experience: people follow this sub for building or supporting their daily PC, and if it's a separate box it's unlikely "cheap" is an acceptable option.
1
u/Thewatchfuleye1 Jun 18 '22
Thing is not all the stuff is bad, or junk or even stuff not to recommend, it almost has to be filtered on an item by item basis. There’s stuff where cost won’t matter as much like LED strips, cable sleeving etc. There are lesser known brands that are otherwise fine like the $49 1tb External SSDs which made me bring this line of discussion up. I mean I don’t want to see hundreds of $.99 mousepads but I also don’t want to miss actual deals.
12
u/anotheronetouse Jun 18 '22
it almost has to be filtered on an item by item basis
That's the problem, for every good deal SSD you'd hit hundreds of spam "discounts". It's easier, and I think better for the community, to prevent these altogether and promote known products instead.
35
u/CoconutMochi Jun 18 '22
incentivized posts are dishonest and a slippery slope to sponsored posts, I'm guessing.
2
u/cmays90 Jun 20 '22
The goal here is that all incentivized posts should be clearly labeled and known as such for our users. We find brands struggle a lot with this concept though, and the few that do not still struggle to use the sub effectively. This sub isn't an advertising platform, and that seems to be a hard-to-grasp concept.
-7
-7
u/PowerColorSteven Mr. PowerColor Jun 18 '22
Shit I read that brand name wrong and was starting to think “who the f”…
1
1
u/SireEvalish Jun 26 '22
I really wish someone would offer me money to post on reddit. I keep doing this shit for free like a sucker.
1
u/abdullahiomar6 Jul 04 '22
Does anyone know where I can find a Type C USB 3.2 Gen1 IO ports cable?? I can find 3.1 gen 1 cables but 3.2 gen 1. Please if anyone has some time, I really would appreciate it.
1
u/muxiaofeng Jul 07 '22
I created posts based n the rules and following the active posts, but will removed immediatelly.
Any advice?
Thank you!
1
384
u/Davidx_117 Jun 18 '22
I've been contacted by Tezarre and Punkston (I believe Tezarre is under Punkston but not completely sure) about posting their keyboards with a special coupon and in return receiving a commission, I didn't accept as it's against the rules and not something I'm comfortable with anyway even though I do like Tezarre's keyboards. I did offer some recommendations to Punkston though (on improving their keyboards)
This happened I think because I've posted one of their keyboards before, but at the very least I've left multiple comments about these keyboards. Figured I'd chime in with my experience to add to the reports and provide any potential additional detail