To operate this site will require a small income to ensure we can pay for web hosting, the writers time, new products to test and general development.
With this in mind we have to consider carefully how best we make that money. We do not believe that being paid for product placements such as advertorials is the way to go. This is now common place online but is misleading as often you can believe you are reading a subjective review. When the truth is what you are reading has been written by the business themselves to sell the product.
With that in mind we have decided to pay for the site through affiliate commissions.
What is an Affiliate Programme?
The internet is full or affiliate programmes. Major brands, small start ups and almost every size business in between has got on board with affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing is a method whereby other people promote your products for you in exchange for sharing in money made on the sale.
For example, you visit site x, on site x they have a banner that promotes “the best CBD ever”, so you click on this banner and make a purchase. Site x which hosted this banner will then receive a percentage of this sale, usually anywhere between 5-20%.
How this will work on Zigvape is not through banner ads, we find these annoying! We will place links within reviews of high quality products that will be clearly marked as such. Then if you click and purchase based on our recommendation, we will receive a small commission.
Surely This is a Conflict of Interest?
Yes, it certainly can be and some sites hide that they make this commission and only tell you how wonderful the products are. At Zigvape we will always be very clear about the fact that we will make commission off of sales. If you are reading this you can see we have this disclosure on site. Also we will state on the page if it contains affiliate links.
Not only are we clear about our affiliations but our guiding mission is to improve information that is publicly available. If we have a bad experience with a product or brand, this will be written up in the review and reflected in the final scores.
On top of this you are always able to give your own reviews and feedback on all products. If you disagree with our ratings you can tell us and give your own.
Also, we understand that trust is the most important part of engendering a strong relationship with our readers. If we recommend a product and it is of poor quality you will soon see this yourself when you try it and will not return to Zigvape.
Free Products
Sometimes we will be provided with free products to test. This will not guarantee a favourable review. Any company that asks for this will be politely told no thanks, we would rather pay and put a balanced and honest review online.
Anytime we receive a free product for review we will also add a line to the article to say so. It will usually read like this:
“This product was provided for free by X in exchange for us giving our genuine opinion to Zigvape readers.”