Commercial content policy

This policy covers business owners and staff, sales representatives, contractors, affiliates, referral partners, sponsors, service providers, group-buy organizers, external-community operators, and anyone receiving money, free products, discounts, credit, access, or another benefit connected to a post.

A personal account does not become exempt because the commercial relationship is informal, indirect, or outside the forum.

Members may ask about or discuss vendors, products, prices, availability, payment, shipping, promotions, customer service, test reports, positive or negative experiences, and suspected scams. A genuine customer does not need Vendor status merely to name a business or share a first-hand experience.

Disclose free products, discounts, affiliate benefits, personal relationships, employment, ownership, or other facts that a reasonable reader would consider relevant.

• Advertising, announcing, or soliciting for a business, product, paid service, group buy, affiliate program, sponsor, or external sales channel.
• Posting coupon or referral codes, promotional links, price lists, sales contacts, lead forms, or repeated invitations to contact someone off-site.
• Recruiting customers, resellers, affiliates, reviewers, testers, agents, or community members for a commercial purpose.
• Offering free or discounted goods, credit, payment, or other benefits connected to forum activity, reviews, reactions, or referrals.

Apply through Supplier applications before doing any of the above.

• Unsolicited promotional direct messages, repeated contact after a member declines, or harvesting member contact details.
• Hidden promotion, fake questions, manufactured testimonials, undisclosed affiliate links, or pretending to be an independent customer.
• Using alternate accounts, employees, customers, or coordinated participants to praise a business, attack a competitor, manipulate reactions, or evade a restriction.
• Paying for, conditioning a benefit on, pressuring, suppressing, or retaliating over a review.
• Posting the same offer, contact details, or low-value bump repeatedly across threads, profiles, signatures, or direct messages.

Staff may remove links or content, require a disclosure, restrict direct messages or posting, place an account under review, suspend commercial access, or ban coordinated or deceptive accounts. Serious fraud, privacy abuse, fabricated evidence, or repeated evasion may result in immediate removal.

Approved Vendors must also follow the Vendor program and standards.