I’ve heard stories of people being sent tents, lights, fans, nutes etc for free from various grow/supply companies. Does one have to have huge IG following to get companies to comp you? Any tips or hints for getting some tasty swag?
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Wish I could tell you bud. 2 companies reached out to me on another site and sent me stuff to test but I dont know why. Didnt have a grow journal, dont do YouTube or Instagram. They just stalked the forum and liked my responses to people. If you have a following and email these places they might hook you up.
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Seems like free stuff that’s worth more than keychains, slaps, and samples probably has strings attached.
I don’t know how people get hooked up with them either, but it seems like when they get hooked up there’s some level of commitment to posting/advertising required.
Brought to you by Carl’s Jr
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You get stuff to review and while everything’s ok when it’s good when there’s issues of quality control etc and you say publicly it gets sticky . Loads of people say stuffs great when it isn’t
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Yeah, I saw someone on YT explaining what they do. Generally it’s Chinese companies like spider farmer, mars hydro, vivosun, etc. I rarely saw non-chinese companies do that (or should I say don’t do it as often). They reach out to people that have an online/social media presence and tell them something like: hey we like your content, we offer you free product if you document the grow and review our product. If I remember correct, you pay and they refund you via pay pal. That’s why if you open YT and search for one of those companies you get flooded with garbage videos…
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Some Chinese company on Amazon has sent my BIL like 4 different smaller LED lights. Nothing big or expensive. They need the verified reviews.
Personally, I’d rather just not bother, I don’t want to be beholden to anyone for anything. Buy used equipment on Craigslist or something it’s usually stupid cheap. Grow equipment pays for itself in a couple cycles don’t sweat it.
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I won a LED Cob during a vendor giveaway, they selected a few winners from bud photo’s. I bought 5 more Cob’s. I started a journal in their subforum and it’s still going a few years later. I was never asked for favorable reviews, or to withhold any negative impressions. This was from a US manufacturer/enthusiast who makes and sells the product himself. I’m still happy with the product.
That journal has me in a group of members who the vendors look at when they want to do similar, and i was just asked to review another light from a different manufacturer, also US made. I owe a journal… and i was never directed to post anything but my honest impressions/results.
So in my experience share your grows, they’ll find you. You’ll benefit more than just swag in the end… even if it’s just advice and comraderie from fellow forum participants.
I really doubt those who reach out to vendors/mfg’rs asking for free shit are ever successful.
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That’s where I’m landing on all this I think.
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A grand in new equipment can grow a good amount of bud, shop around and be handy/flexible you can pay half that. Older tech like HPS they’re practically giving away on CL and offerup as people switch to LED.
All sorts of way to grow cheaply. Hydro stores often have opened bags of soil/media for cheap and returned/opened equipment. I reuse cat litter and pickle buckets to grow in.
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I’m pretty well set up but always room for one more light!
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When I first wanted to get serious about LEDs I started doing a shit ton of research, quickly saw all of your “name brand” stuff people can’t get far enough down their throats were realistically just Chinese products with different stickers on them, never understood all the China hate, you need to do your due diligence when researching any product.
Anyways, went n found a Chinese company that made decent lights at a cheap price, started emailing them questions bout modifying them to a way that better suited me (mean well drivers vs their Chinese offbrand bullshit which they eventually switched to cause of me) Samsung diodes as opposed to Refond and full Cree (Crees great just not as effecient, mainly used by everyone for reds).
They dug my enthusiasm and knowledge and we’ve been “working together”, if you can call emailing back n forth that, for a couple years now. Helped them develop the LF2000s i run if you’ve ever checked out my happy place thread. They sent me about 10 LEDs from their Amazon return that either didn’t fit people’s grow space, they were too dumb to wire, or something like a wire was defective. Paid them 250$ for the whole thing and they sold me the first ever LF2000s for more than half off, they’re developing UVA/UVB T8s for me (for everyone but I hounded em and showed em all the research showing the benefits) so I can get rid of this thrown together OpticLED bloom enhancer garbage. Also sold me their prototype analog LED controller but it’s only 3 channel and not very special lol does sunrise-sunset for me though
Guess like everyone else said it’s just putting yourself out there and seizing an opportunity if it happens to come by
Built my buddy this with some those lights they gave me for essentially free, 1020 true watts that sunburns plants, we found out the hard way.
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Wow that’s actually really cool!
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The first big thing everybody learns is to ‘check the driver’.
I know Mean Well (very well 
) because I used to work for an electronic power supply company.
Sounds like a cool consulting gig you have going, I envy 
It is unusual to find companies that will value input that doesn’t cost them big bucks.
Cheers
G
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I need a new light but I’d rather get one for free lol
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id like to check out the uva/b research, ive used reptile lights in the past but it would be cool to see something actually designed for the purpose
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That’s a real nice Idiocracy quote there! 
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you mean like in the toilet?
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I would really like to try out some LEDs that bleach plants at a distance of more than 6". It seems it takes some knowledge to get some LEDs that are worth your time, and not just pour thousands out the window for something that is 10x more than HID, and not much better. The only LEDs I’ve ever used didn’t really suit my growing needs. It seems kind of hard to jump in to.
Free stuff huh… Maybe some companies are going out of business and throw lamps and ducting into nearyb dumpsters if they dont auction it off somewhere.
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Just wait until used LED is cheaper than HPS. Don’t mess with what is consistently delivering. I also don’t like that LED components aren’t very modular i.e. just swap out a component that fails no tools. Cord, ballast, bulb, hood. Big board fails, can’t hit the hydro store next day and fix the problem for less than $150.
That being said, consider switching to CMH. It’s wonderful. So much more efficient. I’m matching 1K single ended AC with 630 watts open hood. They’re quite reasonably priced now.
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One piece at a time and it didn’t cost me a dime.
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