The PricePlow Forum Mission Statement

The PricePlow Forum is finally here!

To kick things off, we wanted to set the tone and set some expectations.

So below is our mission statement:

Striking the perfect balance

Over the years, PricePlow has been fortunate enough to have a small but passionate community of followers on social media, especially Facebook and YouTube.

After the temporary deletion of our Instagram account in 2016, it became clear that we needed our own community, run on our resources – free from all corporate censorship and discrimination.

Finally, at long last, the PricePlow forum is coming — and it’ll be integrated with our blog comments!

We reached out to users asking what they liked and didn’t like about existing platforms, and they answered with a diverse array of responses:

• Some users love all of the sales; but most hate getting over-shilled
• Everyone loves the knowledge they can find in a forum, but others hate the overabundance of “bro-science”
• Many love differing opinions, yet hate how it’s too hard to find the “best” answers
• Readers love real people and humor, but are also tired of overly negative smart asses
• Engagement and lively discussion is encouraged, but the bickering and cursing turn others off
• Knowledgeable company reps who answer questions truthfully are great, but spammy reps run amok ruin everything
• Moderating trolls and spammers is a must, but some mods get too pushy

The list could continue, but the point is that there’s no “one size fits all” solution. The trick is going to be establishing the perfect balance.

The Freedom to Operate Freely

The best part of the PricePlow model is that it’s very “neutral”. We work with dozens of stores, list hundreds of brands, and check thousands of products.

The absolute truth is that we really don’t care what you buy, or if you buy anything at all. That $3 commission isn’t going to change our lives. But if you do want to buy something, we do hope we can get you a great deal on it.

This isn’t a business endeavor

Our goal is to maintain an “overall air of positivity”.

I’m extremely proud to say that PricePlow is a profitable venture without the forums. As such, these forums will not be pushed as a profit-center. They are used as a community and information center.

That doesn’t mean we won’t show our price comparisons or a banner ad here or there. But our focus will not be on selling ads or pushing advertisers – it will be on quality discussion with the community we love.

Free speech first

There are obviously brands the team at PricePlow likes – which of course includes our hand-selected advertisers – yet we like free speech even more. We’re not going to censor criticism on advertisers, for instance. But just because we won’t bend to any advertisers’ will doesn’t mean it’s going to be pure anarchy.

You have “free speech”, but this is our system, and we have a right to keep some level of control. How much control, we’ll need to figure out together. Establishing the balance is something that will evolve over time, and we’ll work hard to get it right.

Our goal is to maintain an “overall air of positivity”. With the community moderation tools in our forum software, we hope you’ll help out with that as well.

So we hope you’ll join us, have fun, and hang out a while.

Now get on in there at forum.PricePlow.com.

Thanks!

Mike