Ethics of Selling Review Units

[doubleshuffle]

I wonder why they don't offer advertising space on the start page of the e-readers they ... errrm ... manufacture.

[Question Mark]

Originally Posted by doubleshuffle

I wonder why they don't offer advertising space on the start page of the e-readers they ... errrm ... manufacture.

Perhaps they are trying to do just that which might explain why their remaining backers are experiencing inordinate delays in getting the devices that they have paid good money for.

Actually, I have no problems with ads and sponsored articles so long as they are clearly indicated as such.

It's with companies which try and hide their sponsorship of articles or studies that I take issue. And as a journalist's or reviewer's livelihood/reputation depends on their credibility, it seems incredulous that they would be willing to risk jeopardizing it for a bit of quick cash.

[robko]

Originally Posted by Question Mark

... And as a journalist's or reviewer's livelihood/reputation depends on their credibility, it seems incredulous that they would be willing to risk jeopardizing it for a bit of quick cash.

Considering how often they have taken quotes from posts here and used them verbatim (or close to it) with no acknowledgment that it wasn't their own words, I'm incredulous that you think it seems incredulous that they do that for a bit of quick cash . While the majority of their readers probably have no clue how poor their credibility is, those in the know know they lost it long ago (and while it was before my time, I seem to recall posts indicating they had been thrown off Mobileread for posting under a "fake" account)

[Question Mark]

Originally Posted by robko

Considering how often they have taken quotes from posts here and used them verbatim (or close to it) with no acknowledgment that it wasn't their own words, I'm incredulous that you think it seems incredulous that they do that for a bit of quick cash .

Sorry, I wasn't as clear as I could have been in that part of the post. I was speaking about companies and journalists who engage in that kind of behaviour in general.

I am not surprised that Good eReader would engage in that kind of behaviour. I'd be more surprised if they didn't.

Originally Posted by robko

While the majority of their readers probably have no clue how poor their credibility is, those in the know know they lost it long ago (and while it was before my time, I seem to recall posts indicating they had been thrown off Mobileread for posting under a "fake" account)

Not sure about the "fake" account situation. That was well before my time here as well. However, when I was initially contemplating backing their Indiegogo campaign, I thought I would look into them a little deeper first... It wasn't pretty.

Came across some posts accusing Good eReader of selling pirated ebooks. If memory serves correct, Michael K. then attempted to weasel his way out of the mess, by saying that an employee there had done something of the sort, but had since been let go and the situation rectified... It's not unlike his update to their Indiegogo campaign after it had been closed.

Initially, he stated that they had voluntarily closed their campaign so that they could focus on fulfilling existing orders. They then quietly opened up a store on Amazon and on their own blog to continue taking new orders. Later, Peter let the truth slip out when he admitted in a couple of posts that it was Indiegogo who shut them down.

Glad I did my homework. Although some people did actually get their devices, it seems that many haven't. A bit of a Ponzi scheme it seems as one disgruntled backer has recently remarked on their Indiegogo page.

[Waiting4somethin]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

I paid a thousand dollars for a Paperlike from the first production run. Like almost all units from that run, mine died an early death.

Dasung gave me a 2nd-gen Paperlike, and then a Pro (3rd-gen). I eventually sold the 2nd-gen Paperlike and netted $400.

I'm still in the hole, but at least I minimized my loss.

Boy it is risky buying from these kickstarters.

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by Question Mark

Not sure about the "fake" account situation. That was well before my time here as well. However, when I was initially contemplating backing their Indiegogo campaign, I thought I would look into them a little deeper first... It wasn't pretty.

Came across some posts accusing Good eReader of selling pirated ebooks. If memory serves correct, Michael K. then attempted to weasel his way out of the mess, by saying that an employee there had done something of the sort, but had since been let go and the situation rectified... It's not unlike his update to their Indiegogo campaign after it had been closed.

That group was initially banned from this forum because they were caught engaging in commercial piracy, and then caught lying about having stopped it. They sold access to pirated ebooks on their site, and after I called them out they claimed to have stopped but instead they actually just spun off the piracy site. We saw through the deception when someone here noticed that both the blog and the pirate site had the same Paypal account.

Then about a year later or so we realized that the MR member that had been promoting and defending that blog was actually a sockpuppet for the blog. It had the same IP address as the previously banned GeR account, but we really only noticed that after their obnoxious behavior brought them to everyone's attention.

edit: here's link to when we discovered the sockpuppetry
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...93#post1694993

[HLS]

I believe goodereader sells the units they purchase. They have give aways all year on units they review. I do not understand the dislike for goodereader.com I love that site personally

[Question Mark]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

That group was initially banned from this forum because they were caught engaging in commercial piracy, and then caught lying about having stopped it. They sold access to pirated ebooks on their site, and after I called them out they claimed to have stopped but instead they actually just spun off the piracy site. We saw through the deception when someone here noticed that both the blog and the pirate site had the same Paypal account.

Then about a year later or so we realized that the MR member that had been promoting and defending that blog was actually a sockpuppet for the blog. It had the same IP address as the previously banned GeR account, but we really only noticed that after their obnoxious behavior brought them to everyone's attention.

edit: here's link to when we discovered the sockpuppetry
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...93#post1694993

Thanks for the detailed clarification. Hadn't seen that thread. It was another one which I had read about them which convinced me not to back their Indiegogo campaign.

[Question Mark]

Originally Posted by kcladyz

I believe goodereader sells the units they purchase. They have give aways all year on units they review.

They themselves say that some of the units for sale on their site are review units.

All of the products available in our store are either review units we received from vendors or have purchased ourselves.

https://goodereader.com/blog/electro...-now-available

Originally Posted by kcladyz

I do not understand the dislike for goodereader.com I love that site personally

I would suggest that you read the following thread. It was the one which I came across which made me reconsider backing their Indiegogo campaign:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=85235

I wonder how many of the backers of their Indiegogo campaign would have been willing to put up funds if they had known of this history? Certainly, some of them seem quite unhappy now.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/1...ader#/comments

[robko]

Originally Posted by kcladyz

I do not understand the dislike for goodereader.com I love that site personally

The dislike comes from what Nate described above and in the very recent past their blatant plagiarizing of posts on this site, so who knows who else they are ripping off. Not just a one off event and they didn't even bother to paraphrase or anything, it was blatant cut and paste with no attribution or indication at all that it wasn't something they had written.

That and the quality of information they post is, at best, questionable most of the time.

[HLS]

Originally Posted by robko

The dislike comes from what Nate described above and in the very recent past their blatant plagiarizing of posts on this site, so who knows who else they are ripping off. Not just a one off event and they didn't even bother to paraphrase or anything, it was blatant cut and paste with no attribution or indication at all that it wasn't something they had written.

That and the quality of information they post is, at best, questionable most of the time.

I agree if they are taking information from here they need to mention it in the article of their source

[HLS]

Originally Posted by Question Mark

They themselves say that some of the units for sale on their site are review units.






I would suggest that you read the following thread. It was the one which I came across which made me reconsider backing their Indiegogo campaign:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=85235

I wonder how many of the backers of their Indiegogo campaign would have been willing to put up funds if they had known of this history? Certainly, some of them seem quite unhappy now.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/1...ader#/comments

Thank you for the information. I will use caution with them but so far to date I had positive experiences with them. I talked to them via facebook messenger a few times and they always took the time to speak to me which is rare. I never contributed to their indiegogo. I was wanting to buy their brand of ereader but I do not trust things that are not manufactured by a real company like amazon and B&N, kobo. I have found some of their information to be misleading for example they wrote an article that B&N moved the nook display to th back of the store which is untrue, at least in my city

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by kcladyz

Thank you for the information. I will use caution with them but so far to date I had positive experiences with them. I talked to them via facebook messenger a few times and they always took the time to speak to me which is rare. I never contributed to their indiegogo. I was wanting to buy their brand of ereader but I do not trust things that are not manufactured by a real company like amazon and B&N, kobo. I have found some of their information to be misleading for example they wrote an article that B&N moved the nook display to th back of the store which is untrue, at least in my city

They have written more untrue than true.
I am not surprised in the least they took time to talk to you.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by kcladyz

Thank you for the information. I will use caution with them but so far to date I had positive experiences with them. I talked to them via facebook messenger a few times and they always took the time to speak to me which is rare. I never contributed to their indiegogo. I was wanting to buy their brand of ereader but I do not trust things that are not manufactured by a real company like amazon and B&N, kobo. I have found some of their information to be misleading for example they wrote an article that B&N moved the nook display to th back of the store which is untrue, at least in my city

I'm more lenient here with them than most are. But their information tends to be slipshod and sloppy and they don't seem to mind making wild leaps based on iffy information.

They also rarely attribute their sources, making any news they report questionable.

[HLS]

I am going to be the black sheep of the forum and say I love goodereader.com LOL I hate searching the internet on ereader information and its all on one site there. A few articles been incorrect but on the mostpart its been correct. If they are unsure of anything being true they should state that they are speculating. I do feel they need to quote sources even if its a copy from twitter or facebook. It annoys me tho when they talk about B&N in a bad light for they themselves stated they are in Canada so I do not think they even been in a B&N store. I was pleased as punch that they gave the new Nook Glowlight 3 a good review.