September 11, 2016
Full Disclosure… to me at least, is an extremely crucial portion of this relationship I, or anyone else who makes online content concerning reviews, highlights, overviews, etc for products, have with you all. It keeps me honest and legal, and makes sure that you, the viewer, reader, or end user get the most reliable and truthful information. Not only is it the right thing to do morally, but it’s legally required by law. Check out the FTC’s Endorsement Guide. Especially with all of the recent scandals with YouTubers not disclosing paid videos, corporate ties, and other conflicts of interest, I feel that it is necessary to always stay honest with all of you and keep you up to date with anything in that regard. Pretty much everything here, I have said in the past and / or during my videos, but to say it again won't hurt anything.
So without further ado, this is not only me fully disclosing everything that I feel should be disclosed, but also, my thoughts on some aspects of it
First and foremost, the obvious. For those of you who are new to my videos or other content, I work for Folger Tech, technically. I do paid, hourly contracted work for them doing their tech department stuff. If you have written to their tech department anytime this year, more than likely you spoke with me. That being said, my YouTube channel is 100% separate from my Folger Tech Job. I am not paid to do any videos. I am not told what to do or say. I do not make any money based on sales generated from my videos. I do not have any sponsored discount codes with them (which I will discuss later). The only thing that Folger Tech has to do with my videos is that their printers are the main focus for most of my content. Now, that being said, I do have three free 3D printers from them. The Kossel was given to me before I started working for them, in order to make helpful guide videos. The Cloner was given to me right after I started working for them, mainly for the sake of having it for tech support stuff. The FT-5 was given to me as a beta unit so I could test out the printer before its initial release.
So yes, I was given these printers, meaning I did not have to pay for them. However, I was not and am not paid for the content that I make with them by Folger Tech. All opinions on the printers are my own. To me, it doesn’t matter how much something cost (or how free it was), if it looks like shit, smells like shit and feels like shit, it is probably shit. The day Folger Tech makes a product that is shit, is the day I will say “This is a shit product”, regardless of what it cost me, or whether or not I work for them. You improve a product by telling the company its problems, not by boosting its sales
Going back to my work with them, some may think that there is a conflict of interest because they are writing my checks. Well, I can understand your concern, but here is why I think that argument has little basis in my case. Back in late 2014, I got my Prusa i3, which I paid for, back when Folger Tech was basically just John Folger and his wife working out of a small shop, or barn, or something, I can’t quite remember the story. Either way, I paid for that. Eventually, I made a review, and a few tutorials based on that printer. Those videos got thousands of views over a few month period. Nearly a year later, I got a message from John asking if I would be interested in a free Kossel, to make tutorial videos for those who were having issues with their printers. Of course I said yes, and eventually made the Kossel series of videos. They were very successful and after many demands from those I helped, John asked me if I wanted to join the Folger Tech team to help with their tech department, development, and stuff like that. I was delighted to join. I saw a company striving to improve, and striving to bring this technology to the masses. But do you know WHY I said yes? Not because I wanted to make more money. Not because I saw it as an opportunity to get free printers. I joined because I would be helping people. My goal through all of this on YouTube or Facebook or with Folger Tech is not to become a millionaire or become a huge YouTuber or anything like that. My goal is to help introduce the world to an amazing emerging technology that I truly believe in. I want to bring that technology to the common folk. The average person can’t generally afford a $4,000 3D printer, but that person, with enough interest, can spend $269 on a DIY kit, learn the process, and create. Not only can I teach the glory of 3D printing, but I can teach people to make, to design, to innovate, to not only follow instructions, but to think outside the box to solve complex problems, and create their own instructions, literally and figuratively. Do you understand how AMAZING 3D printing actually is? You can be sitting on your couch and think of an idea or design, model it, print it, and have a REAL WORLD PHYSICAL OBJECT in less than an hour. That is A-Fucking-Mazing if you ask me. Creativity is the driving force behind development, and innovation. With 3D printing, especially open source DIY kits like these, the wonders of creativity and science can be shown to those who wouldn’t otherwise see it.
And that is why I do this.
I honestly don’t give a shit about the money that can be made with these kits. I don’t care about the money I get paid for what I do for them. I get paid hourly, but I do my best to not waste time at the expense of Folger Tech. I do that job because it is purely me helping people with issues they are having. Teaching them the correct way to do things, and helping them improve. I do obviously get compensated for my efforts, however. That money usually goes towards ideas and resources like filament, equipment for my videos, parts and components for ideas that I have to improve something, etc. Things I use to make my content better for the rest of you. Yes, Folger Tech writes my checks, but I wouldn’t call that a conflict of interest because if their products were shitty, and I didn’t truly believe that their products could be a powerful tool to so many, then I wouldn’t be working for them anyway. At this point in my life, no amount of money, salary, bribes or other bullshit would change my thoughts on that. I will not endorse something that I don’t believe in.
Some people could say that my YouTube videos make me money, which would influence what I say. Of course, this is an incredibly stupid. YouTube is an entirely different beast. The main thing about YouTube is that, it is my own original content. Yes I could make a video about Folger Tech’s printer, and make money from the ad revenue on the video, but that revenue exists regardless of the content's positivity or negativity to the product. I am not being forced by YouTube to say only good things, so why would I? I make that revenue regardless. Speaking of ‘that revenue’, it’s not much at this point. I can’t use numbers obviously, but I make less money a month from YouTube than is needed to buy a single spool of 3D printed filament. Again, any money I do get is invested back into my channel to try and improve what I do.
The unfortunate thing in all of this is that it doesn't really matter what I say or how I say it. To a lot of people, as soon as you say "I got this for free" they instantly lower their faith in your honesty. And can you blame them? There is so much lying and bullshit going on today, that you don't know who to trust. And frankly, you shouldn't trust anyone in that regard. Don't assume that because you saw a video of a guy saying this product is good means that it is actually good. Especially when it comes to technology and computers, video games and other stuff like that, every reviewer that is known is getting the products for free. It is the nature of the beast. You as a consumer can really only find who you trust the most, and go with that. I truly believe that someone can get something for free and still give an honest review. I can't however, believe that someone can have a vested interest in something, money or otherwise, and continue to make 'honest reviews'. I do my best to show people that I am being honest with what I say, but at the end of the day, that is up to you to decide on what and who you believe.
One other thing I wanted to discuss was sponsored discount codes. I fucking hate those things, mostly. Say a YouTuber discusses a product, and gives it a wonderful review. Then, immediately after, says “Oh by the way you can use this code of mine and get 10% your purchase of one of these, and I get a small portion of the sale”. You know what that sounds like? Commission. And you know who are the most fucking dishonest salesmen in the entire history of commerce? THOSE WHO ARE ON COMMISSION! If you knew you were going to get a portion of the sales on a product you were reviewing, then why would you give the product a bad review? That's money coming directly out of your pocket. Once you have a direct monetary connection to a product, review integrity is gone. People who do have these kind of ties should AT LEAST disclose that they make money from it. It's the right thing to do, and the legal thing to do. That is why you will never see me with a sponsored discount code on my channel. Normal discount codes however, although I don’t have any currently, are fine. The Folger Tech Facebook Group has one. Use the code, get 11% off. No one gets a cut of the sales, it’s purely saving in your pocket. If I had a 5% discount code where I get 5% of the sale on an item I just reviewed, you as the buyer save 5%, the company loses 10%, and I get 5% of a sale on a product I had nothing to do with creating. In fact, I can now control how I review the product, making sure I say only good things, so that more people buy the product, making me more money…
If you are in the business of reviewing products, and/or this type of 3D printing with the sole purpose to make money and not actually contributing to and bettering the community, then you can fuck off. Seriously, go join Wall Street where you can stroke it with a bunch of other greedy assholes.
Now say for example that I have a non sponsored code, where you get 10% off, and I get nothing. Well guess what, you now saved 10%, the company didn’t lose any additional money, and I’m not a selfish prick. It’s a win-win-win! Now, don't confuse this with purely sponsored content. There are MANY well respected YouTubers out there who have sponsored codes and content with companies. Those types of things are fine. What I have issue with is if you are REVIEWING something, then immediately make money from sold units that come from that review. Sponsored content and codes is sponsored content and codes. Make that clear every time you post something like that. Reviews should be your honest opinion, that isn't swayed by the pull of money. Yes, I understand that making content can cost money. For me, I don’t really make enough money between Folger Tech and YouTube to fund all my endeavors. My camera and computer setup alone costs more than I have made in this year of making YouTube videos and working for Folger Tech. But that is fine. I like it that way. I work another job for the other stuff. That is my civilian job, my 9-5, my grind all day to mindless work, but come home to a check that is 5x larger than what I make with this, which is essentially a hobby, in 3D printing and YouTube. That is my spending money, my fun money, my bills, my food, my guitars, etc. That job has nothing to do with 3D printing, making videos, or improving the world. But if I need to use a little bit of the money from my normal job to improve my passion, I will. Of course, some people call what I call a hobby, a job. A full time job, where these videos, and support from companies and fans is their livelihood. That is fine. I am not against the idea of working with a company in some way, as long as you are not monetarily benefiting from the product you are giving an honest review on selling more or less, or if you are benefiting, that you clearly disclose it. I will never do it, in any regard. Maybe a discount code that I have no benefit from, and POSSIBLY the Amazon Affiliate program, but I am not going to do any sort of sponsored shit like that with any company I work with.
At the end of the day, these are just my thoughts, my feelings, my opinions, and my full disclosure. I try my best everyday to better the world, and not lose sight of what is important. I do my best to not let money corrupt me, and only use what I make in this relationship to invest into making what I do better, and improving the world around me.
-Thanks to Dan Peters for proofreading and correcting my grammatical errors
