HOW TO BECOME A MEMBER OF THE SBG SWORD REVIEW TEAM:

And Qualify to get Yourself a steady stream of FREE SWORDS!!!

So to stay abreast of the latest swords, and to get as many different opinions on the good, the bad and the ugly of what is available at the affordable end of the sword market spectrum, I need your help...

And for a select few, I am willing to provide them with a steady stream of swords to try out, review and KEEP for as long as you want to keep writing about them..!

Here’s how it works:

First of all, you need to prove to me and the rest of the SBG community that you can write a good review and take some decent photos. To help you, you’ll find a handy template here on the SBG Sword Forum by Veteran reviewer Mike Harris which covers all the bases and makes writing the review just flow naturally.

Anyway, once you’ve got it drafted, submit your review to the SBG Sword Forum here and every few days I’ll go over each new review looking for those who follow the guidelines. If your review has followed the guidelines, I’ll give you from 10-30 REVIEW POINTS depending on how it was received by the SBG community, the quality of your pictures and how interesting and unique it is.

BONUS POINTS: If your review is selected by me to be highlighted and brought across to the main SBG site, you’ll get an additional 10 review points.

The more effort you put in, and the more humorous and interesting your review is overall, the more points you’ll get. If I don’t comment or don’t give any review points, it probably means that you either didn’t follow the guidelines or you were just trying to scam some free swords out of me. ;-) (It’s a give and take thing with the Sword Buying Community, SBG is not rolling in cash, and the expense for these swords comes out of my own pockets!)

So - the next question is – what are the guidelines? Well, I am glad you asked:

The Guidelines Only original, genuine reviews of fully functional swords that retail (brand new) for US$300 or below automatically qualify. If you want to review a decorative sword or a sword over the US$300 limit please email me first before submitting. (you can still submit them of course, but they won't automatically qualify for your reward). At the start of the review, please use either your full name or first/last name and an initial as well as the state and country you live in. The sword must be in production and readily available at the time the review is written. It isn't really all that useful to be telling people about this great sword if they can't get it anywhere anymore... ;-) Each review must feature at least 3 original photos taken by you of your sword. Obviously the more photos you include, and the better quality shots they are, the higher your chances of getting more review points. To automatically qualify for review points, your review must be of a sword that is NOT already reviewed on SBG or the SBG Forums. While a particularly good review will still get vouchers, we are aiming for as many reviews of DIFFERENT swords as possible - not many reviews of the same sword. If you are not sure, please email me before submitting. IMPORTANT CAVEATS YOU MUST BE 18 YEARS OR OVER TO ENTER! Any unsafe practices, such as getting someone to videotape you while standing inside of the arc of the sword, dangerous destructive testing, etc will NOT result in review points.

It sounds like a lot of rules to follow I know. But it’s really not that hard...

And the REWARDS make it well worth your while...

Because once you have accumulated 100 review points, you are almost there. Once 100 points have been reached, each member will be added to the QUALIFYING SHORTLIST. Once they make it to the shortlist, and as soon as a new spot becomes available in the team, I will look over the works of those in the shortlist and personally select one of the applicants for that slot.

EVEN IF YOU DON’T MAKE IT TO THE REVIEW TEAM, HAVING ANY NUMBER OF REVIEW POINTS QUALIFIES YOU TO ENTER PERIODIC GIVEAWAYS AND COMPETITIONS! SO EVEN IF YOU DON’T MAKE THE ‘FINAL CUT’ – REVIEW POINTS ARE A VERY HANDY THING TO HAVE!

New team members will be selected on the merit of the quality of their reviews and photography skills – the more interesting, informative and entertaining your review the better chance you stand, and it is entirely possible to get a place on the team with only 3-4 reviews under your belt...

Once you become a member of the review team, I’ll contact you with either a small selection of swords to choose from based on your own particular area of interest and expertise or offer you one that I feel really is deserving of closer examination. All you need to do is to review it in your own personal style, post the review on SBG and once your done – it’s yours!

But even better, a few months later I’ll offer you some more - for as long as you continue to write quality reviews and the program is in effect, no strings attached!

Sound like something you would like to be a part of? If so, it’s time to get to work!

TERMS AND CONDITIONS All reviews and pictures that are approved and get posted on sword-buyers-guide.com become the property of sword-buyers-guide.com and are protected by our general copyright. Reviews MAY be changed slightly when brought across the Sword Buyers Guide for keyword density (SEO, so people can find the review when searching for related terms using google, etc) and to recommend a SBG affiliated vendor as an editors note to keep us funded. However, under no circumstances will these changes alter the nature of the review or your impressions of the sword and will be as minimal and unobstrusive as possible. Sword-buyers-guide.com is NOT responsible for the abuse or improper application of information contained herein, nor is Sword-Buyers-Guide.com responsible for injury, loss of health, or loss of life. This offer is subject to change without notice and may be withdrawn at any time. Individuals can also be removed from the review team without notice and at any time at the sole discretion of sword buyers guide. Swords offered to review team members are at the sole discretion of Sword Buyers Guide. While this offer is open to all countries where swords are legal, choices outside of the USA may be limited by physical shipping restrictions from our wholesale and retail partners.