Would you send free items to a blogger?

[RachelNaderDesign]

Hi guys, just a quick question on what you would do or what you usually do when someone contacts about featuring on a blog? I just had a msg from a blogger who said she'd love to feature my Etsy store & wants to know if I can send her something to review? Is this a normal request? My items are pretty much one offs & just sending her something for free seems a little weird? If someone wants to review your stuff can't they just look at your photos & review off that?
I'm just a little confused on if this is the norm or is this someone who just want a freebie? would you send free items? Thanks in advance x

[Former_Member]

I would only send her some items if she has a good following on her blog. Check out her posts, how many comments and fb likes are on each one?

[IstriaDesign]

Personally, I wouldn't do it. But I think that is a normal practice in the blogging world. You send them a freebie, they try it, use it etc., and then write a review (promote your work) based on that.
However, if you think something is fishy there, ask her for more info, check out her blog, see how many followers she has, are her post getting comments etc. That way you will get an idea of how many people will be reached and possibly brought to your store.
But at the end of the day, I say - listen to your guts. If you are not comfortable with it, don't do it.

Hope this helps!

[HausofAriella]

I don't know why someone would need a "sample" of jewelry to review it. It's not a consumable and it doesn't do anything other than look pretty, so I don't know what they'd be reviewing. I could understand it perhaps if you made bath and body products or edibles, but jewelry doesn't need to be reviewed in person. I think it's someone just after a freebie.

[IstriaDesign]

Ariella has a point there. I didn't really pay attention to what you are selling before I made my comment :)

[Former_Member]

As a blogger I would never just ask someone for their items! It just seems weird... If youre looking for a review you can contact them haha.

I have recently done blog giveaways that were very successful in increasing traffic and exposure! Basically the winner gets to pick the prize and and you send it directly to them, so the blog owner doesnt have to worry about it!

Also, to answer your last question I dont think I would just send free items unless I was giving them away! Too much to deal with haha. Hope this helps!

[RachelNaderDesign]

Thanks for all your quick answers I love this team!!!
Ariella, that's what I thought! I guess I can understand the need for a 'sample' if I was selling makeup, beauty items but jewelry is a little different.

[threestonebirds]

Your stuff is very nice and I wouldn't suggest giving it away for free. Like Ariella said, you can't really sample jewelry.

If the blog looks like it has a good following and might actually bring you some attention, perhaps you could consider offering a slight discount. Otherwise, I'd kindly tell her you can't accommodate her request but would be happy (assuming, of course, you would be) to go through a normal transaction and allow her to get a piece that way.

[RachelNaderDesign]

Vanessa, good point! I'll offer her a discount & see if she still want's to 'review' my store. BTW she has about 250 followers, not many comments, a twitter account with about 300 followers, no facebook. don't think it's really enough to warrant getting a free item.

[KikiCloset]

I read a article some where- I think it was in the forums. They suggested a great compromise was to offer a 50% discount to the blogger and a 25% or 50% coupon as a prize for the blogger to give away. I liked that idea. I did one give away item to the blogger and one as a prize to give away on the blog. It resulted in lots of views, favorites and FB page likes, but no sales. Based on that and similar results from other sellers I think I will go the discount route in the future.
That is my 2cents.

[EuraLee]

I've sent an item to a blogger before. If you have something that's easy to re-make. Simple, yet easy to recreate without making you lose large amounts of money. It's easier to write about things you touch. BUT, it's not a requirement.

[kidsstore]

I've done some reviews/giveaways, but the bloggers had thousands of views each month. The blogs were very professional and the bloggers let me decide what I wanted reviewed. Also, the items donated were under $20 each. I did get a lot of views, and some sales later.

Recently I had a request for a review of a specific sheet set, priced at $75, that the blogger said she would love to have for her daughter's room. Also, she didn't have much of a following and her blog wasn't very professional. I gently turned her down.

Reviews/giveaways can be positive, but you need to research the blog and decide it it looks professional and productive sales wise. The other thing to remember is that your items are a little more expensive than what is usually donated for giveaways, and would it be financially beneficial for you to give away one of your pieces or would it be better to put your advertising money somewhere else.

[LLFarm]

If I did jewelry I would not send anything, but maybe some really nice pictures and your own written description just for the blog.

I often send out products to bloggers for them to blog about. Have gotten good exposure on fb, twitter, and the blogs. Sales do come from them but that is not my reason for doing it. I am concentrating on expanding our shop exposure and every little corner of the www will help. Not to mention that every link to your shop increases the relevancy of your shop's seo. Outside links going into your shop is a very good thing, it make your shop move up the many listings.

Its not always about sale from something you are trying. Also my giving of products is tax deductable.

I say if you are going to give them products do it in a big way, pretty packaging and blog about the giveaway on your own blog.

[Former_Member]

I've participated in giveaways, and have sent my jewelry for free that way. However, I'm now pretty particular about who I align myself with, because I've basically given away some jewelry, with very little exposure gained.

250 followers on a blog, and 300 twitter followers isn't a huge following (then again, that's at least 250 people you wouldn't have reached otherwise, if you want to think of it that way). I have 450 blog followers and 1400 twitter followers, and I still wouldn't feel comfortable asking someone for a product for free to review (though, I have received some free things for review, I didn't really push anyone to give them to me).

So yeah, as already stated, it really depends on the person's following. If you're getting requests from one of those crazy big couponing blogs that have 20,000 followers, I"d say you'd be insane not to take them up on it!

I'm not trying to sound rude in regards to bloggers not having a large following, but they need to do a bit more legwork before they can be taken seriously, and ask for free items. I give money to giveaways and things in interest of networking and getting more followers, and it almost irritates me that people ask for free things JUST because they have a blog.

[RachelNaderDesign]

Like I said before, I love this team :-)
Thank you all soo much!

[Former_Member]

I tried it once and it was bad. The blogger never shared the photos, and I ended up loosing my time, the product and shipping costs.
Unless it is a very good popular blog I would say don't do it.

[TheRogueBaby]

As a blogger myself, I would never solicit free items from someone like that, even if I loved their shop! I would however, maybe after an initial purchase, ask about a discount code for a future purchase I could feature on my blog and do a review of.

My 2 cents.. I think some bloggers are out to get free stuff and so they will solicit for items to "review" and it might not be worth your time/money/efforts... all depends on their blog following...

Altho, if they really have a strong following.... shop owners usually come to them for reviews, not vice versa.

[Former_Member]

Hmmm I agree with Karyn. How can you review a piece of jewelry? Other than that is well made, the design is depending on individual taste.

However if you make soap, creams, make-up and the review is for a niche eg: vegans, very sensitive skin... etc would turn out better.

I think that if a blog wants to feature your product it should be clearly a feature, not a review. But this is my opinion.

[Former_Member]

interesting question! I'd just ask myself how much is it worth? Is she very popular? How many followers does she have? What kind of impact would her reviewing your products have for you?

If its not worth it, don't send out free merch.