Disclosure Policy for Product Reviews

Updated: May 2021

My Disclosure Policy for Product Reviews On MyCountryAcre.com

As of December 1, 2009. the Federal Trade Commission is requiring that I disclose any relationship I have between a product manufacturer or service provider when I write about a product or service.

Here are the guidelines I operate under at mycountryacre.com:

FTC Disclosures for Testimonials and Endorsements.

I am never paid to do a review. If a manufacture sends me a product to test I am under no obligation to write a review or to give a positive or negative review. I never accept money to review a product or service. I invest my own time to review products. I pay out of my own pocket the cost to produce and post these reviews on my sites.

I have written a few posts in the past where I am paid to write the article but I seldom do that. I will always be upfront and tell you if and when I am paid to promote an item.

I don’t pay for many products I test. If I do test a product that was given to me to review I will be upfront with you and explain how and where I got the product to test. I do pay for products I review for long-term use.

I don’t return the products after I test them. Once I have done adequate testing I will donate them to a select few local charities. Specifically, tools are donated to charities that use the tools, not charities that resell items to make money.  The company supplying the product is welcome to come and get it when I am done.

If I create a link to a product in a review, I sometimes get paid a commission if you purchase the product or service. In general, I get a commission from direct sales from companies like ACME Tools, Northern Tool, Amazon, etc. In other cases, I don’t get any compensation……. the owners of the companies I know and have a long-standing relationship with. For example, I’ve known Gary and Matt at Acrease Mowers for years and have spent hours and hours using and discussing their product. You are under no obligation to purchase any product from me. If you ever have a question about this, ask me.

These are good rules and practices in today’s world. I want you to be sure that you can trust me. That my opinions are my own. And they are based on my experience ……… not how much I am paid. It’s important for you as a consumer to understand the relationship between a person reviewing the product and the manufacturer or service provider. If you don’t see a disclosure policy as part of a review of a product, that reviewer may be violating the law or at the very least the Code of Ethics.

My data policy begins with one essential principle – it’s your data, not mine. I only collect the information I need to help you with your purchase. I do not sell or transmit that data to anyone else.