Their 90 minute delivery service is excellent. I've never been let down by it. You can track a little motorbike as he whooshes to your desk (truly an excellent use of your time) and if you're in a hurry then it's well worth the £9.99. But today it's just 90p! Every time Oasis do this, I spend my money and get new stuff within the hour. Take that, Thursday. You little bitch.
I've had my beady eye on this shirt for a while now. I love the pastel colour blocking, but I like that's it's still preppy. Preppy shirts are the best. It's £45.
I do adore this lace dress. Enough to pay £85 for it? It's tempting once you factor in the free delivery. The scallop edging makes me happy.
There are some gorgeous bargains to be had in the sale as well! This spot-tastic jumper is just £25. And it's cold out, you're freezing in that summery top, aren't you?
I'm still on a pastel binge so maybe I'll get this shopper bag as well. It's £35 and is so big I could probably live in it.
You've actually got until 3pm tomorrow to take advantage of the offer, but if you order now, you'll have shiny new stuff before the end of the day. Go go go!
Delivery in 90 minutes eh? Where is this? Surely not out in the back of beyond that is "Not London"?
ReplyDeleteBut there are some very tempting things there...
May have to go shopping - my Thursday hasn't been so hot either (except I sold a book, so perhaps I could treat myself to a teensie-weensie something...)
They've been very good at rolling it outside into Not London, Lizzie! Pop your postcode into the delivery page on the site and they'll tell you if they deliver. If you have a store near you, you should be in luck!
DeleteI picked the bag. I'm excited.
I need that spotty jumper. Off to buy it now!
ReplyDeleteHurrah! Prepare to be wowed by their speediness. There's something about the 90 minute delivery that makes me feel like a sleb. I'll get over it. Probably.
DeleteWell I don't live in the zone, but I found an online voucher and got free delivery and 15% off, so I've got the jumper for £21.25.
DeleteI can wait a few days for that.
In order to comply with the FTC regulations, it should be disclosed that there exists a connection between domestic sluttery and the seller of the advertised product which affects the weight or credibility of this endorsement. I.e. domestic sluttery earning money for the products they advertise as editorial picks.
ReplyDeleteagreed! if they earn money, they should say so. it *does* affect credibility!
DeleteWe've *always* disclosed our relationships with advertisers and affiliates - even before the FTC regulations came in place in the UK. You can read our disclosure on our about page.
DeleteTo clarify, we DO NOT receive money directly from companies for editorial. Our (disclosed) affiliate links are run through Skimlinks - a company that work with thousands of publishers.
With regards to this article, I truly think the delivery service from Oasis is excellent. I did buy that bag, it's hanging up in my room. We only ever write about companies and products that we love, that's been the case for over three years.
Whether you receive the money directly from the company whose products you advertise or from a middle man, doesn't make a difference with regards to a mandatory disclosure of your affiliation. In what way that might affect your credibility is up to us to decide. You are obligated to point out your connection adequtely for every single article - not just on your about page. That is assuming you want to comply with FTP regulations as well as to honestly inform us - your readers that you value so much.
DeleteAnon, we have disclosed our affiliates. We've never hidden them, but to my knowledge we do not have to disclose affiliate links on every single article - please show me a link that tells me differently. This site is run honestly and earns money honestly.
DeleteStating that you've always disclosed your affiliations even before it was mandatory in the UK is inaccurate, and actually appears impossible as well. That is assuming the first domestic sluttery post was in 2009, wheras the british trade regulations came into force in May 2008 (!). In fact, you still don't meet them today and never have - unless you went backwards at one point.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you are quite capable to consult the regulatory websites yourself and/or your lawyer if in doubt, but as you asked I'll be happy to briefly outline what criteria a disclosure needs to meet:
- the placement of the disclosure relative to an advertisement and its proximity to the claim it is qualifying.
- the prominence of the disclosure.
- whether items in other parts of the advertisement distract attention from the disclosure.
In short:
It's not acceptable to actually hide it on your about page, as this isn't the normal flow one would expect from an average reader who wants to make a informed decision. The proximity to the advertised product is lacking completely.
Worse still, and this is the part that I am most disappointed with, you are not only dishonest with your valued readers by not placing the disclosure in a way that would allow us to make an informed decision, you go so far as to actually break the official regulations.
Blast, I wish I knew which ones are handpicked ads and which aren't. It does make a difference to me!
DeleteFull disclosure, I'm the Account Director at Skimlinks and our technology is in use on this site.
DeleteAnon, could you please clarify which regulations you are referring to? In the four anonymous comments on this post, there are references to the FTC and FTP regulations as well as 'British Trade Regulations.'
The irony of a complaint about how a site discloses its monetization efforts being made by an anonymous commenter is not lost on me, but there's another time and another place for that discussion.
To clarify, I suspect you were referring to the FTC Guide Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. If you haven't read all 19 pages, they are available here:
http://www.ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005endorsementguidesfnnotice.pdf
Some points of interest:
- The FTC is a US governmental department. It has no jurisdiction in the UK.
- Domestic Sluttery is owned and operated in the UK.
Even if this site were operating under the jurisdiction of the FTC, the transparent disclosure within their About Us page is perfectly acceptable and an honest communication to you, their reader. There are countless examples of disclosure being made by major websites in a similar way, however I'd like to draw your attention to just one.
NPR, as you may well know, is a highly respected news organisation in the US. They operate a massively popular news website (NPR.org) with extensive blog content. They are famous for their legislative diligence, editorial integrity and operational transparency. They also use a variety of monetization strategies to help cover the costs of providing their content for free.
NPR.org uses affiliate links, and discloses these on a single page, just as Domestic Sluttery does.
http://www.npr.org/include/howtosupportnpr.html
If you'd like more examples, just ask. There are countless.
Running websites is hard. Providing content that keeps you wanting to come back is hard. Making a living from doing both is hard. Sian and the team deserve praise for building such a successful site which being so open and honest with their audience.
It's a shame that instead they are met with cowardly, ill-informed, anonymous derision.
I'm not going to join the legal debate here ... partly because I'm not a lawyer, but mostly because other things matter much much more to me.
DeleteI've been an avid, yet silent, reader for a while now and I've always felt as if I could trust you guys to be honest with me. I for one was not aware of sponsored things and what have you, which I don't even have an issue with. I would have assumed you clearly mark links as sponsored, because you love your readers - regardless of some silly law that might require it or not. I always felt more like a friend here rather than someone who has to read the fineprint to know what's actually going on.
Suzie xx
"When she stops making money where she makes the bulk of her money, she will start caring." - Paul Parkin.
ReplyDelete