There are... I'm trying to get my male friends off their bums and apply to be description reviewers. You'd think "free sex toys" would get a guy going, but for the most part, they just like to hear me talk about mine.

Sigh... men. You gotta love 'em!

Question: Do they need to already be a member of EF community and do they need to be at the Advanced Reviewer level? If they are not, can they include a "sample review" in their application to bypass that requirement?

Yes, Yes and No...Yes, they need to sign up for an EF contributor account and fill out their profile completely. Yes, they need to submit 2 or more reviews and move up to Advanced status. No, they cannot bypass all the requirements - that would be unethical. We need people who are proven reviewers, who care about being part of this community and who are committed to providing quality assessments of the toys they review. Anyone who isn't willing to have an Eden contributor account isn't who we're looking for.

Ok, thanks for the clarification!

I was a little surprised by some of the reviews that got passed through, to be honest, considering I had to revise a review for accidentally putting a "don't buy" statement in there. Again, I know I am not the bees knees, but it's a little puzzling to me that I got caught on that and some really awful, not very helpful reviews get passed through without a hitch.

Bulma, you're right - and I'm glad you bumped this thread. I revised the Description Review Program Guidelines again last week to further stress that we expect objective reviews and to troubleshoot, per se, the recurring issues in some of the recent Description Reviews.

So..to answer your questions:

Yes, people in the program are given the expectations and guidelines up front. The process is as follows: anyone who has emailed me expressing an interest in the program is evaluated for writing ability - I look at their past reviews and base my decision on the quality of their writing and whether they seem reliable. If they pass muster, they are sent the revised guidelines to review. Once they read through and agree to follow the guidelines, they email Rufina with sizes, preferences etc. From there, Rufina may begin assigning them new product for Description Reviews.

Once a Description Review is submitted, I proofread it. Lately, I have found many that are far too subjective to be used as a product description - so I send them back to the reviewer for revision. I include the entire guidelines text in my 'Revision Required' message to make the revision expectations clear. If the reviewer does not revise the review, we don't use it. If this happens more than once, the reviewer will be removed from the Description Review Program. Likewise, if a reviewer takes weeks and weeks to submit a Description Review, we no longer allow them in the Description Review Program. We are also considering having secondary description reviews done for any product that receives 3 stars or less, due to many products being unfairly rated on grounds of personal preference and not solely based on function / performance.

This program is of crucial importance to us - we set these standards for the description reviews because the information content is largely informing the public about that product. It is unfair to our contributors and customers to have misleading information posted about our products. Moving forward, we insist that the guidelines are strictly followed.

The final part of the process occurs once the review has been submitted to me, and I have accepted and rated the review and categorized it for the product. Rufina then will publish the Description Review when the product is set up with photos and ready to launch on our site. This part of the process can either take a few days from the time a review is submitted because of site development, or conversely we could be waiting on the review to complete the process.

In short, Rufina and I work on this program as a team; however, there is the reviewer's content and there are technical elements that other staff members facilitate - so each Description Review is quite a group effort.

To better illuminate this point, I am pasting the full guidelines below.
---------------------- ---------------------- ---------------------- ----------
The Description Review Program Guidelines:

The Description Review Program was created out of our commitment to have better information available to our customers. We found that the product information on packaging was not sufficient with most toys and did not accurately portray a toy’s function to the buyer. We have our reviewers write the product descriptions from real experience. We only include reviewers who are reliable, write well, and can complete the reviews in a timely fashion.

One challenge is that these are often black box reviews – where you will receive an item that you cannot first view on the website. Like our other assignments, you can choose to decline an assigned description review. When we do have photos available, you will be able to see them.

Below is an outline of the process for participants.

PRODUCT INFO: Include all features/functions of vibes, types of
fasteners on harnesses, etc. Don't worry about technical details like
measurements, material, etc. We'll still be providing the toy properties as
we do now.

REVIEW: The main difference between these pieces and our other reviews is the level of objectivity on your part, given that these reviews will be in place of any other product description on individual product pages; you're really introducing viewers to the item as well as giving your own opinion.
A good way to think about this writing is as a personalized tour of the toy.

The review should still be an honest reflection of your opinion; however, you should refrain from general opinions and “buy” or “don’t buy” statements. Include your personal experience with the toy, but if you don't like things that are subjective (like, the size is too big/small for you), don’t allow that to be a determining factor in how you rate the toy.

As this review should be an objective product description, it is not acceptable to mention personal details like your blog etc – however, if you do a personal continuation of the review at your blog (not duplicate text to the Eden review), we will allow one discreet line - such as “to read more about my personal experience with this toy, go to www…”. You must be sure that you place a link to the Eden Fantasys review in your blog as well.

REVIEW SUMMARY: Your review summary will show up on the actual product page, so be mindful when you write it- these sentences will be the most highly viewed part of the review. The summary should be all about the product’s properties and functions, and should not include any personal details. Please don't copy/paste from the body of the review. Make sure that your review summary is very well written.

RATING: We'd like you to rate the toy if it worked for you. However,
if this toy was a mismatch and you have no personal use for it, let us know in your review and we'll indicate that on the site with a "not rated for personal reasons" box – and we’ll also have another contributor review the toy to give a second opinion which we will post on the site. This is the tricky area of the review, because we do want a rating that reflects your experience, but don't want to list very low ratings that have more to do with personal preference and anatomy than the actual toy quality. If you plan to rate a toy 3 stars or less, consider whether your reason is personal or if it is a matter of function. Rate the toy based on function performance and properties.

PREFERENCES: Please provide a list of any toy type you are absolutely
NOT willing to review, for whatever reason. For example: double dildos, bdsm gear, anal-specific toys, harnesses, certain types of lube, etc. Also list any materials that are absolutely off-limits for you - jelly, cyberskin, and so on. Keep in mind that since these are descriptions, we need to accommodate a wide range of materials. Unless you have a serious health concern about any specific item, we'll ask you to work around your preferences in this area (condoms are useful!) and be open to trying a variety of toys.

In order to better match items for review with writers, please also give some basic information about your sexual orientation/preference s. For example, it wouldn't be helpful for us or you to send a double dildo to someone who doesn't practice dual penetration with a partner, or a riding crop to a non-kinky person, etc. Furthermore, as far as toy types/shapes go, if there are any particulars about your anatomy, etc., that you'd like to share in order to reduce the likelihood of receiving toys that you think won't be a good match for you, please do so. Using the basic toy categories on the site will be helpful with this. We are looking for contributors who have their profiles filled out completely.

Again, if anyone has questions or would like to apply, please contact me at: victoria@edenfantasys. com

I hope this was helpful! Thanks!

Well I don't see how a weak motor would be subjective at all, that's definitely something I would take into consideration when figuring the star rating.

One of the nuances to writing these reviews is not so much 'what' you say, but 'how' you say it. If you frame something like motor strength in a general sense, it is more objective. Such as calling the motor of median strength and saying that some users may experience a slowing of bead rotation when clenching while using the toy. It's less subjective and takes into account that strength, both toy and muscle, is relative.

Good point. I'll have to watch out for that in the future.

I think that you'd be fine, just based on what reviews of yours I've read. If you email partners @ edenfantasys.com to tell them that you'd be interested in being part of the DR program, we'll take another look and decide whether or not you're a fit for the program. The biggest difference would be having to write in the extended format, but it looks like you break up the standard into your own template. So other than watching a few phrases to make it more objective (although honestly they seem more objective than a lot of reviews I've read), you'd be fine, at least in my opinion.

Awesome, thanks for that.
I've been getting more into the extended format cause I found I kept writing way over the word allowance on the standard one.

Thanks again

My husband would be very interested in this opertunity. But I am aftain we may be to late. Maybe next time. He is a very effective writer and would be great for this program. (He studied English in collage for a year and then changed his major)

I will keep my eyes open for another opertunity like this one.

I agree, a motor's performance is is really important, and as a customer that's one of the first things I would want to know about.