
Show HN: Buy For Life – a platform for durable and sustainable products - hubraumhugo
https://www.buyforlifeproducts.com/
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hubraumhugo
Independent product research is a huge pain these days and it's tremendously
hard to find unbiased reviews. That's why I built an ad-free, independent and
crowdsourced database with brands that manufacture durable products that are
made to last.

I think it can be useful on our way from a throwaway culture towards a more
frugal lifestyle. We should spend our money on selected high-quality products
instead of short-living garbage.

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zizee
I like the idea, but if this is crowdsourced how can we trust that the reviews
will be unbiased? Amazon reviews are supposedly crowdsourced, and we know what
a shit show those are.

~~~
beatgammit
Absolutely. You need some way to prove that the reviewer is acting in good
faith. With Amazon reviews, I ignore most of the 5-star reviews and focus on
the 2-3 star reviews (1 star reviews are often worthless), mostly because 4-5
star reviews seem to frequently be biased (free item, out outright
purchased/fabricated review).

How about compensating reviewers relative to the "helpfulness" of their
reviews? Maybe allow manufacturers to refund X product purchases for reviews,
but with zero control over who does the review and zero knowledge of which
order is being reviewed (can't send golden samples). That's basically how
"mystery shopping" works, but that seems to not be a thing with online retail.

There are a lot of good approaches here, but this seems like the only benefit
is that it separates the reviewer platform from the retail platform. It's
still ripe for abuse unless reviewers have more incentive to be honest than to
be bribed.

~~~
hubraumhugo
Thanks for the feedback, will definitely think about the helpfulness score and
the mistery shopping approach.

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rixed
I like the idea but the problem I can see with this, is that good reviews on
20+ years old goods from brand X tells very little about the durability of
same good from same brand bought new today. Actually, every brand with a good
reputation is merely a brand that's been late to convert its product line into
the new fashion of programmed (or engineered) obsolescence.

~~~
beatgammit
Then again, some brands have built up a reputation over decades of being
durable, so even inferior, current gen products are often more reliable than
most of the competition, but they command a premium for the reputation.

I certainly wouldn't consider it a guarantee, but having a proven track record
still holds weight.

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bhch
It would be good to see the percentage of upvotes on a product. Something like
reddit.

