How Do YouTube Reviewers Get Their Products?
Nov 9, 2020Product review channels are some of the most popular channels on YouTube. Many of their videos get millions of views and they are also paid to review the products in their videos. But have you ever wondered- how do YouTube reviewers get their products? Do they reach out directly to brands, or do brands send their products directly to content creators?
YouTube reviewers get their products sent to them directly by brands or by reaching out to brands. Along with this, many reviews with a small audience purchase the products they are reviewing themselves, as typically brands will only work directly with content creators that have a large audience.
There are plenty of products that exist in every niche that are worth reviewing. Due to this, review channels are abundant on YouTube. However, not every content creator gets sent products to review by brands. But if this is the case, then how do smaller channels get products to review in their videos?
How Do YouTubers Get Products to Review
So, how do YouTubers get products to review? Do they have to buy their own products, or are they sent them for free? Also, what determines whether or not a YouTuber will get a product for free or not? Well, YouTubers get products to review in a few different ways. These ways consist of:
- Paid brand deals
- Unpaid brand deals
- Direct purchases
Each of these 3 ways that reviewers get products are different, but all result in the reviewer getting a product to review. One of these 3 ways that reviewers gets products is preferred over the others, but this doesn't make the other 2 ways obsolete. Let's break down each of these different ways in more detail.
Paid Brand Deals
Many of the large product review channels on YouTube get paid to review products. That's right- not only do they get products sent to them for free, but they also get paid to review the products. The thing is, these types of deals are typically reserved for channels that have a large audience.
It's not unheard of for a small channel to get paid to review a product. In most cases when this happens, however, the product the content creator is being paid to review is from a new or less popular company. So, while small channels can access paid brand deals, they aren't usually for new iPhones.
Unpaid Brand Deals
Usually, paid brand deals are reserved for channels with a large audience on YouTube. Due to this, many reviewers are not paid with money for their review from brands. They are, however, paid in the form of products. Meaning, in certain cases, content creators are given a product to review for free, and the product they are given is their payment.
There are a lot of mixed opinions on unpaid brand deals. Some creators are perfectly happy with getting sent free products to review and no money, whereas others are not. For small channels, it can be beneficial to accept unpaid brand deals, as this can help build relationships with brands that can be leveraged in the future.
Direct Purchases
The majority of the product review channels on YouTube will not have access to paid or unpaid brand deals. This means that if a small creator wants to review a product, they will need to purchase the product themselves. This can make it difficult to review a lot of products, but product review channels can grow quickly and get access to brand deals.
Small product review channels can only grow if they create videos. So, content creators mustn't allow themselves to fall into the trap of thinking that their products are not worth reviewing. Every product can be reviewed and is worth reviewing. Just because a certain phone isn't popular, it doesn't mean people don't want to know more about it.
Do You Need Permission to Review a Product on YouTube
At this point you might be wondering- do you need permission to review a product on YouTube? Or, can you create a video reviewing any product you would like? Well, at the end of the day, you will not need permission to review 99% of the products that exist. In certain instances, however, you might need permission.
When brands work directly with content creators, they often have to sign-off on the review videos created for the product at hand. This is done to make sure no information is revealed to the public before it should be. Along with this, this is done to make sure the review videos contain accurate information.
Permission is only needed in situations where a brand is collaborating directly with a content creator. For normal product review videos, no permission is needed to review a product. So, in most cases, content creators can turn their camera on, record a video, and upload a video with no issues.
How Many Products Do Big Review Channels Get
Have you ever wondered- how many products do the likes of Linus Tech Tips and Austin Evans get? After all, these channels are extremely large, and this must lead to them getting a lot of products sent to them. If people saw the inside of these content creator's garages, they'd be in shock due to how many products they have stored.
When people think about brands, they often only think about major brands such as Apple, Microsoft, etc. Something important to recognize is the fact that there are thousands of small brands and start ups that create similar products to major brands, and they often send their products to large content creators.
Believe it or not, many big review channels end up removing their post office box information because they are sent too many products too often. This displays how many products big review channels on YouTube are sent on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis from various brands.
Conclusion
Product review videos are some of the most popular videos on YouTube. For many people, it is their dream to be able to receive products from brands to create product review videos. How do YouTube reviewers get their products? Well, they either get sent them from brands, or they purchase them using their own money.