Okay, I realize that I get denied things because other people requested before me and they already assigned them to people. However, once those items are assigned, you cannot request them for free review or you get the red alert telling you it already has 3 pending reviews, or whatever.

What I don't understand is that I tried to request something and it got declined. Okay, so I figured it already had three people. Well, by mistake I discovered that this item is still available- it went through. I got declined again. That same item is STILL available and able to be requested and go through. It is NOT out of my price range. So why am I declined? I feel like it's something I did, as in I am kind of taking it personal due to recent happenings......

Or did I miss something and free assignments are no longer allowed? less

I checked the admin area so that I could give you an accurate answer and I'm seeing two different products that you've requested that have been cancelled.

In both cases we only have one of the product and they've been assigned but not accepted yet. Until the contributor who got the assignment either accepts or declines they continue to show up as able to request, unfortunately.

I can understand why that would make you feel like it was something you did or a personal thing but -- I promise! -- it's not. less

I feel like I am constantly seeing different information about assignments. Can someone please link me, PM me, or post a detailed description of how assignments work? I know there is stuff in my dashboard, but it doesn't answer many questions. How do you know what is available for assignments, both buyout and free? How do you get manufacturer sponsored assignments? I thought I read that it was three of free, buyout, and manufacturer, but now I can't find where I read that. There are about a million discussions, many very old, and I just can't seem to get the info straight. less

You really don't know. It's a guessing game. I just try things I'm interested in. New products are easy to request as soon as they come out, though some you have to wait for the DR to get assigned. Anything can be done as a buyout because you are only getting a discount, not a free product. Sometimes you will get a manufacturer assignment randomly (a push assignment), sometimes I have noticed though that when I requested a free assignment that it was sponsored by the manufacturer. So I guess you can get it directly from them, or if Eden already gave the three out, if there is any left to be sponsored by the manufacturer, then they will assign it to you. Hope that helps! less

So, in a nutshell:

You have no idea if it's available until you request it, unless you go through every single review to see if there were three already given out. There are three slots available for manufacturer sponsored and Eden sponsored, but you don't request either specifically. Any product can be a buyout, and there are three slots open per product.

But if you don't know if it's available, then why would we have the product search to show us what's available for free and what's available for buyout? Am I missing something? Does that just show you what is maybe available because the reviews aren't posted yet, but they actually may not be available because they are already assigned?

Maybe once I actually use the request feature I'll start to understand this better. less

There is no limits right now on buyouts, anyone can do a buyout on any item that they have not yet reviewed. I do not know he number of manufacturer reviews available.

I honestly don't rely on the product search to find things. It can be a timely process to go through and find something.

The thing is, if you go through reviews trying to see how many Eden sponsored there are, you won't get the correct answer. Both Eden sponsored AND buyouts show as "Eden Sponsored". less