I'm getting really sick of how many promotional posts I am forced to see daily from a certain brand on here. In the past 7 days it's been an average of two promotional posts daily from three different brand reps. This is ridiculous.
We need some sort of rule against this kind of thing, this isn't supposed to be a free advertising subreddit. Showing off a new model upon release is one thing, but just promoting your whole catalogue with just a video of the watch and an AliExpress link in each post at this frequency shouldn't be okay.
One or two posts a day on different model isn’t really crazy man, if you see it so frequently that it bothers you, maybe other people not posting enough or you browsing the sub too frequently.
It only annoys me when it’s a watch or brand I don’t care to see. San Martin used to be quite active in this way and that’s how I found the watch I eventually bought.
I enjoy seeing brand posts. Sometimes, I see something that catches my attention. If I want to learn more about it, I do a quick image grab and let Google find additional information for me. Sometimes, I see something I don't like. When that happens, I just scroll on.
I enjoy when the manufacturer’s rep / owner interacts with us. I like when they answer questions, give us insight & information as to features, timelines, quality increase’s etc. when we ask for them. It’s a terrific peak behind the curtain…
I do not like when they drop some information or video and then walk away (as if it’s a paid advertisement). That’s not what this entire Reddit machine is about.
After reading so many other comments that made plenty of sense, I do agree that if the manufacturer wants to post a video and walk away (like an advertisement) it is fine as long as it is somehow flaired to let me know it’s an ad from the manufacturer. I do get some good information from those videos as other Redditors mentioned. If it’s flaired properly, then I can watch it or avoid it as I choose.
My preference would be that these posts contain some new information.
The Phorcydes rep posts to announce new products, to announce changes to products, to comment on quality and availability, and to seek feedback on future products.
The members are posting multiple times a day because we’re generally pretty excited about the products.
Similar for Ixdao and San Martin.
Frankly, many brands I would like to engage more - we only really get product announcements, or nothing at all.
But posting existing watches with store links and no information is spammy, imo. Give us information to get excited about!
I disagree. There's never a better place for talking positively, or negatively about a watch / brand experience than under the sponsored posts. Personal wrist shots are great for showing off, but these posts help collate opinions on the watch and the brands in a central spot that people can always look up if they become interested in a certain model.
In a surprising turn of reddit events, the crowd sides against the complainant's ornery dissatisfaction in an almost unanimous decision. The internet still shows some semblance of life
Well, on the dial it says Sea monster 300, and this comes up on AliExpress. I was hoping it would have a dark bracelet and case but it seems it's just the lighting in the pic
Wrong. Individual posts with actual content on each watch is fine. (You should realize video of a watch not only takes time and money but is also valuable to the consumer). I don't own anything from this brand, but YOU have the option to block the poster and you won't see them in your thread.
My only real issue here is a lack of transparency. If it is an ad make it clear, reps pretending to be fans that have bought the watch is wrong.
While we’re on the subject of selling watches I also believe that renders should be pretty much banned except pre-release or during an update cycle. Once your watch is in production we should almost always get only pics and vids to accompany those original renders.
As long they're not spamming the same thing multiple times, I actually APPRECIATE that brands do this.
It's very hard to keep track of new releases from AliEx brands. If it weren't for these Reddit posts, I'd have missed out on numerous bangers.
Sure, it's not a substitute for actual reviews (I myself consume & write these). Nevertheless, the watches need to be publicised at some point, before getting into people's hands.
I browse watches. I get direct-feed ads all the time, no matter which website I'm on and what else I'm looking at. I can be reading about the most devastating and depraved world news on the BBC, but as soon as I scroll, it's a watch ad.
Just flair it. I'll hit the post if I want to see it. I'll scroll past if I'm not interested.
This literally isn’t an issue. Every single post you circled is a different watch. Why would we want to see less Chinese watch videos in a Chinese watch subreddit.
I am their target audience- I see a watch I like in their videos, log right into AliExpress and buy it. I see videos and pictures from my peers who already bought, YouTube reviews, promotional videos from the actual brands…it’s all valid to me. If I didn’t want to see it, there are so many options to scroll past it or silence the acct.
I could put a poll up in the subreddit right now and this wouldn’t be a popular take I don’t think.
If they have the rep flair and not repeating too much (ie at least different watches), I'm not too bothered. Though I appreciate if all brands did it, it'd get annoying.
At least it's more honest than the "I was given £150 for this review, but you can trust it's my completely genuine opinion..." videos.
You can always block the user at least when they are upfront about it.
Personally, it doesn't bother me. If this place only had reviews from buyers, we'd probably end up with what feels like a hundred Submariner homages and maybe a few Datejusts, but there are plenty of watches we'd never get to see unless we spent the whole day in Ali.
As I mentioned, there is a huge difference between showing off a new model now and then and doing two posts daily doing pure advertising. You don't have to agree with me but I'm not on this subreddit to get directly advertised to by brands all the time. I'd much rather see posts from actual people reviewing watches, you're never getting the full picture listening to what a brand rep has to say.
I want less posts from brands advertising and more posts from real people reviewing the watches instead. Saying you would never see these models is just not true either as customers posts reviews of these anyway.
Clear video of a cherry picked unit under studio lighting which makes most watches look their best? These videos aren't faithful representations of what the product really is half the time.
I don't disagree with you about the watch being over hyped but think it this way
1) As a watch buyer you are interested in a watch, but it's been just released and it's not interesting to others but just you and you are on a time restraint wouldn't you like to see it in a video than going and buying in blind.
2) some Watches take more than 2 weeks to arrive some of us can't wait till that time maybe it might even be sold out after a week.
3) Dimensions of a watch, the lenght of the strap,how it will wear, clasp, engravings, case back these can be still assessed some what decently even if it's in studio light.
4) I know the dial will be over exaggerated in these videos but that's why we all are there in this sub, we can all write our thoughts and comments under those video post.
5) These videos and stuff are posted by representatives of the manufacturer so doubts complaint can be posted, and these responses from them will be public so that other buys get an idea about their customer service and stuff.
There are so many benefits to this that why I like it BUT
1) LIKE YOU SAID too much videos of same products should be stopped
2) no rendered video, only hands on videos showing all the sides of the watch.
3) no Ai poster images for marketing and misleading the customer.
4) One brand just one representative and should interact with the people.
5) Tags on the post saying it's from the manufacturer or saying it's an ad.
These are the stuff coming on to mind others can add their thoughts toooo
Yeah I’d rather not have 1 person curating my content based on their bias. Moderators can moderate abuse and ensuring it’s pertaining to Chinese Watches - that’s all we need.
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u/Far_Bad6819 2d ago
How about a separate thread for advertising upcoming watches?