How I rate products I review

Since deciding to focus primarily on product reviews for the foreseeable future I realized there is a need for me to clearly define my review and rating process. This need to be done for accountability on my part and also for clarity so that everyone can know the measuring stick that I’m judging products against.

First and foremost it needs to be noted:  I do not review vendors. I review products. While I am a human and as such am not perfect nor am I devoid of emotion, my goal is to write my reviews giving no consideration to my like or dislike of the vendor of the product.

Second I try to always review the FE (front end) offer. Though some vendors have occasionally slipped me an OTO (one time offer , upgrade) version without me realizing my goal is to review the FE offer primarily. I do this because I strongly feel that a front end offer should have its own value without requiring an upgrade purchase. Also I feel that a buyer should make their primary purchase decision based on the merit of the front end offer. Though on occasion I will review the upgrade options, my primary concern is the front end offer.

Lastly it is important to point out that I am not flawless. I can and do make mistakes just like everyone else. Though I thoroughly test all of the products I review (often spending more than one day testing) and though I try to write my reviews as accurately as possible mistakes can happen. If you notice an error in one of my reviews, please let me know through the contact link on this blog or in a comment on the review. Once I confirm the error I will issue a public correction.’

Each product is given a star rating in the following categories:

Price: This is a judgement in my opinion of the pricing of the product. Because I have reviewed hundreds of products I have a good basis of comparison of the pricing. Also, when reviewing a software, I take into consideration the time and effort I judge it took to create the product based on my years of experience as a software developer. Finally I consider if its a one time price or a monthly price, and if its a system that is likely to have ongoing costs for the vendor,

Concept: This is a rating that judges not only how good the products idea is, but also how original it is. A product with a great idea that is very original will get a higher rating than one that is a great idea, but has been done many times before.

Execution: For training products this judges the quality of the video and written content. For example on a video training I would judge how easy the videos are to follow, the quality of the audio / video etc. How easy is it to go through the course in a systematic manner. For a software this rates the technical aspects of the system. Do things function properly? Is the interface GUI easy to use? Is there built in support and a way to get assistance? Does it appear the developers followed standard coding practices such as input sanitation etc.

Value: This rating is entirely opinion based. When deciding on what to rank a product for ‘value’ I ask my self one simple question. If I had just purchased this would I feel that I ‘got my moneys worth’?

Each categories is given a rating of 1/2 to 5 stars. 1/2 star would be the absolute worst it could possibly be. 3 stars would be an average rating, not bad, not amazing, but acceptable, many of the products I test would not even rate 3 stars. 5 stars would be the best thing ever.A quick note about the reviews I do on this site. The product vendors give me access to their products for free in order for me to do my review. However I make no promises to them regarding the results of my tests or what I will write in my review. Should you click a link that takes you to a sales page for a paid product for sale this link will be an affiliate link and I will be paid a percentage of the sales price should you decide to invest in it.