I have noticed in the past 3 months that on some days I am getting slightly better items. But what I have really noticed is that the more desirable items showing up on my RFY page are not instantly disappearing after a few moments. Has anyone else had this experience or noticed a change?
After a year on Vine, I've noticed a pattern with game controllers and I'm curious if others see the same thing in categories they know well.
My RFY is mostly car stereos and vitamins, but occasionally I get a controller from a major brand: GuliKit, Flydigi, GameSir. These are top players in the market, not generic offbrands. I've received 6 or 7 through Vine, and every single one has had a QC defect. A D-pad direction that doesn't register consistently, a back paddle that won't fully click, that kind of thing.
For comparison, I own close to 50 controllers, including retail units from these same brands. Of everything I've bought outside Vine, maybe 2 or 3 had issues. Vine controllers: 100% defect rate.
My theory is that brands know Vine reviewers hand out 5 stars regardless, so it's the perfect channel to unload units that failed QC and would otherwise hit the dumpster. Free stars on trash inventory.
I probably get more controllers than most because I buy a lot of them. So I'm asking people with deep knowledge of their own product category: are you receiving name-brand items you KNOW shouldn't have shipped? Not generic Vine junk, but real products from established companies.