Road Test Fears

Taxes. I used to be quite involved in RoadTest, but something changed on E14 with the tax situation and I haven't been a very active member of that group since.

Hey michaelwylie,

I'm curious now, could you elaborate ?

Kas

I believe michaelwylie is making reference to the fact that US residents now have to claim prizes as income if they are valued over $700 or maybe $750.  So you Canadians are still good to go!  :-)  And I think that is the value of the full MSRP of the product.

Thats a bummer, because it takes away some of the good roadtesters

Kas

jkutzsch is correct. I'm not sure what changed, but the change has made the fun of RoadTesting cost money. I'm ok with "Here's a piece of gear, tell us what you think", but I'm not ok with it costing me money. It takes the fun out of it.

To be honest I would pay to be apart of the road testing group.... let alone claiming it.   So there is no loop around it as "gift" or is it always under "prize" since it is like a draw for the best.  This doesn't make sense to me why they would categorize it as such.  What if a subscription was payed 1 buck a month wouldn't that kill the "prize" effect? 

I hear you, but as I say this has taken a lot of good people off teh road test program which effectively make the community and the manufacturer suffer by not getting good quality review. Just look at some of the recent ones... it turns on its specs are great love it 60/60... Thanks for the 500 words... enjoy the product.

Any how just my 2 cents

Kas

I don't disagree with you.

I haven't had a 60/60 road test yet I don't see how there can be so many that are as I know even products I have seen reviewed I wouldn't give them such a high rating but then the inadequate review verifies its just a slap together. Either they think they will get more road tests the higher the rating on a product or the less explanation into their scoring of the product is needed the higher the rating. As someone that doesn't know much about the more expensive boards and products I rely heavily on my peers and their reviews and tests.   I still think a subscription based road test would be great and would probably void out the prize  part as well, I would love to have a better opportunity to  have a road test with a lot not taking part (Americans) but I would also like better road test reviews or at least a honest review or outline on it even if its not in depth.   So if it was a cross the board that everyone pays for the program or a "upgraded" road test group I think that would be cool.  But being Canadian I am not plagued with that but would like to have a resolution to for my neighbors down south.

Not sure if this is something that can be looked into or not but would be cool if there was a loop to get it so they could participate more.  

While the Tax issue is a little unfair, we down in the lower end of the earth have had a similar experience with element14 and the giveaway.

For many years NZ (and some other countries) were excluded because someon in the legal department decided so.

I had written evidence from our governement deartment that it applied only to games of chance where you paid (element14) for the chance to be involved, and not for these giveaways.

Thankfully and finally someone managed to get it modified and now we are able to participate.

So I think your pay the $1 might start falling into the game of chance rules ....as far as the legal department are concerned.

It could be worth exploring why the US goverment considers it as income, when it's not actually a prize but is an item you do a test on.

I can see that they want to stop the citizens being paid in 'prizes' but in these situations it clearly isn't the case.

Mark

I wonder if the RoadTest would work for all if it were a "buy it at a reduced price" option - like a 99% discount sort of thing.

I wonder if the RoadTest would work for all if it were a "buy it at a reduced price" option - like a 99% discount sort of thing.

There would definitely be interest, but probably it would be  a slightly different group.

Requiring the tester to have some "skin in the game" probably does help ensue some commitment but also reduces altruistic testers who don't need the item - just want to provide a good road test.

True. There's probably also some legalities surrounding a restricted audience discount coupon E14 would have to deal with.

Help me understand how a 99% off the sticker price differs from free? The RoadTest program offers hardware in return for a RoadTest review. Are you suggesting if individuals have skin in the game,putting there own money up, would influence participation or outcomes?

I'm having difficulty carrying you suggestion to a conclusion that benefits the RoadTest program. Not that I disagree. I just don't understand. My concern with the approach is that it creates a class system. Those that have money to participate have an advantage over those that have little.

I agree your suggestion does eliminate those that participate in the program with the objective of garnering free sh#!. I feel the downside eliminate participates that would be immense benefit to the program and to themselves.

Sean

colporteur  wrote:

 

>Help me understand how a 99% off the sticker price differs from free?

Sorry, just noticed this nearly a year later! oops.

I was only thinking of it as a way to avoid the taxes and customs/import fees for the recipients of certain countries like the USA, and also to make it not be a "game of chance" that excludes places like New Zealand.

To get around your worries of the class system, e14 could potentially gift users a store credit.

The ultimate goal would be for it to still be essentially free, but in a way that satisfies the constraints of the different countries.

But like I said before, I have no ideas of how the legalities of it would be interpreted by any of the countries affected in the first place.

-Nico

Well it does tax.

If over 600 dollars.

And if it's a 10K power supply, it taxes a lot.

like 3K.

I'm with you on that one - I wouldn't want to pay $3K on a power supply I don't need, even if it's worth $10k.

I mean there's a 5K one right now, as cool and potentially useful and not competitive it's too pricey when I can get a regular 30V/5A one for 60USD that would be useful for 5 years.