Why Are There So Many Celestron Reviews?

I've had a couple of readers write me, wondering what was going on with all the Celestron telescope reviews. Are we sponsored by Celestron, or something? Nope. Let me just make this clear. We don't get any money from any of the telescope manufacturers, or any kind of sponsorship at all. If and when we do, I'll let you know.

So far, Celestron, Vixen and Sky Watcher are the only telescope manufacturers willing to send out a telescope for us to review, and then willing to pay for the return shipping to take it back off our hands again. If I have to pay to receive a telescope, or ship it back, we can't afford to review it on Universe Today.

I know that really sets the bar pretty low. Universe Today received almost 2 million visitors last month, with 50,000 people subscribed to the RSS feed and daily email newsletter. Many of them are very interested in owning a telescope and would love to read about all the telescopes on the market. But I'm honestly exhausted trying to justify this to the manufacturers.

But so we're clear, we're not paid to give Celestron good reviews. If Tammy comes across as kind of enthusiastic in her reviews, well… that's Tammy; she's an enthusiastic force of nature. The manufacturers pay to ship the telescopes to and from our reviewers (well, Tammy), and then I pay Tammy for her reviews. If the telescope companies advertise on Universe Today, through Google, or through direct advertising, it doesn't influence what Tammy has to say about them.

And if you're a telescope manufacturer who wants to join this elite club of companies getting reviews on Universe Today, you just need to pay for the shipping. And if you want to advertise on Universe Today, just drop me an email.

P.S. I picked up a Celestron First Scope for the, uh, kids, and I really like it. Thanks to Tammy for the review, and thanks to the IYA for helping get it built.

© Fraser for Universe Today, 2009. |
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