dooyoo.co.uk

What is Dooyoo?
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Dooyoo is a consumer resource site that enables you to find unbiased evaluations of products written by real consumers - not ad-men, not the manufacturers, but a real person, who has purchased or used the product and is giving their honest opinion.

Imagine, for instance, that you were considering buying a new tumble dryer, but wanted a little more information first. You COULD go to a showroom, but chances are the salesperson is on commission - he wants his bonus at the end of the month, so he WANTS you to buy the product. You COULD go directly to the manufacturers website- but their opinion of the product is likely to be biased, one sided, and to hide any bad points. Or, you COULD ask a friend - someone with nothing to gain, who will tell you, honestly, what they think.

Essentially, Dooyoo is just like asking a friend - a real person telling you what they think with nothing to gain from it, and no obligation to sell. Just on a bigger scale!

However, the best friendships are never one sided - with one person doing all the talking and one person doing all the listening. And neither is Dooyoo. You get to have your say too, and what's even better, is that you get rewarded for it.

The Website
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The website has a crisp clear design in white and green, with clear links to separate categories enabling users to search easily for the product they want more information about. The great thing is, you don't need to be registered if all you want to do it get advice and read about products.

Registering brings its own benefits though - the ability to rate reviews, to write your own, to suggest products that aren't already there, and the ability to send messages and comments to the writers of reviews.

Registering is simple - just a few details, a click of a confirmation email, and you're ready to start writing yourself some reviews!

Writing and Earning
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Finding a product to write about is pretty simple - search in the categories, find it, and then write. Writing down your opinion sounds pretty simple too, correct? Actually it is. When writing a review, you have two choices - to offer up a short review of 75 words or less, or to write a 'premium review' which must be at least 75 words in length.

It might seem strange to have two separate types of review - but then you have two different types of consumers - those who simply want to know if something is worth the money or not, and those who want to know everything - WHY it's worth the money, WHERE they can get it, HOW it works, and more.

Only premium reviews actually earn you anything (a little more on that in a second) but essentially, you're being rewarded for the extra effort. And it certainly can seem a little daunting attempting to review a product at first. I'm not going to go into too much detail of how to write a decent premium review, as there are some excellent reviews on site written by members that cover this topic, but a few useful guidelines are:

Imagine you'd never used the product - what would you want to know about it - price, how it works, where you can get it, value for money?

Check your facts - If you're not sure about something, perhaps a great film where you're not sure of the actor's name, the internet is fantastic for confirming your information.

Be honest - Remember, you're not getting paid commission to sell something. If you absolutely adore something, give it the full five stars by all means, but if it preformed well for two weeks, then packed up, tell us! You'll get paid either way!

Don't copy - Copying someone else's work is NOT acceptable, and you WILL get caught out. However, many users of this site are also active on similar sites, and it is perfectly acceptable to cross post your reviews, although you do need to make it clear these reviews are your own work - either by sticking with the same username, or just stating in your review that it is your own work, previously posted as randomusernamex on www.example.com

Payment
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Onto payment- Payment on Dooyoo is very simple. You get paid in Dooyoo miles (sounds a bit odd, but bear with me) which are kind of like on online currency, with 1000 miles being a quid.

The miles in themselves are not spendable - but, once you earn a certain amount, you can cash them in- and you can to this in one of three ways - Cash (they send you a cheque, minimum earnings 55,000 miles, 5 quid admin charge and 50 quid for you), Amazon.co.uk Voucher (Minimum Earnings 10,000 miles or 10 quid) or, donate to charity (minimum donation 5000 miles, or 5 quid).

Payment works like this - for EVERY premium review (75 words or more) you post, you receive 1500 miles, or 1.50, for your work. What's more, for every Dooyoo member that reads your review, you receive a further 30 miles (3p).

It might not seem like much, but imagine you posted just one review each week, for a whole year, and just 10 people read it - That's 95.10 in your pocket, purely for saying what you think!
However, it's always worth going the extra mile - if you write a really good review, you'll gain a crown, which not only makes you look posh, but gives you a pleasant little boost in funds ^^

Reading and Commenting
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When reading reviews, there's not very much advice I can give - but what I DO have to say on the topic is important.

People have different ways of selecting which reviews they read. Some people read from the newest reviews list, some people only read their friends, and some people only read about specific product categories that interest them, and some only read reviews by people who read theirs.

I even know one person who has a very unique reading style - she will read the last person who read her reviews, then the last person who read theirs, and so on and so forth.

There is no right or wrong way to read. The only advice I can give is that reading other peoples work is good. The more people you read, the more people will read you, and therefore the more money you will make. Also, do try and fully read the review - don't just skim over it - chances are someone has spent a lot of time thinking of how to word things, or doing research, and skimming (although we can't detect it unless you reveal it yourself through commenting) is just rude.

Commenting is NOT compulsory - you can either simply read and leave, or you can comment, it is entirely your choice, and people comment for different reasons - some because they have something to add on the product, some simply to say ' Well done, nice work.' and again , its up to you how you use the feature.

Brief words of warning though - don't take up personal fights in comments, and try not to be nasty or rude. Only offer a comment if it is polite and/or constructive. Criticism is ok - again, as long as it's constructive. Abuse is never OKRatings - How to rate, how not to rate, and what they
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mean
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There are four ratings you can be awarded for your review- Very Useful, Useful, Somewhat Useful, and Not Useful. These are pretty self explanatory, but basically Not Useful would be a review that didn't contain any relevant information about the product, whereas a Very Useful would indicate the review included everything the reader needed to know.

People's demands from a review vary, so there is never any right or wrong rating. How you rate is entirely up to you, and I'm certainly not going to tell you how you should rate. The simplest rule of thumb is: Did it help you reach a decision about the product, or increase your knowledge, and if so, how much. Go by that, and you can't go wrong.

One tactic I do advocate though is not being too harsh on new users who perhaps don't always write the best reviews. While I am not saying give someone a 'Very Useful' rating just because they are new, it's always nice to leave a little advice, saying perhaps what they could do to improve the rating .For instance, if someone has missed out a piece of information that you need, perhaps mention that you would have liked to have seen that information, and that if they include it they may get better ratings.

Be aware that Dooyoo does not take kindly to people who abuse the ratings system -by maliciously rating people down for revenge.

The Community
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A site is nothing without it's users, and although Dooyoo is quieter then Ciao, the users are friendlier, more constructive, and generally a more helpful breed of person. This doesn't apply to every user - Dooyoo has its fair share of plagiarists for instance- although Dooyoo does seem to be much faster in responding to abuse.

Perhaps the only downside to Dooyoo for me is that it is less active than Ciao - lots less new reviews are posted each day, and reviews receive less reads. However, I don't see this as a downside, as generally the reviews I find here are good, the people are more mature ( In attitude, rather than age) and the system a little less open to abuse, due to not having a public guestbook.
While you can send messages on Dooyoo, these are private, which I think is brilliant. Drama doesn't get played out publicly as it does elsewhere, and people just get on with their own business!

A lot of credit has to go to the guides, who perform an active role. Basically, a guide is someone with a particular interest in a category - for example, we'll say pets.

Now, pet guides job is to make sure that category is up to scratch - by reading and rating as many reviews in that category as he can, but ALSO by trying to help out people posting there, by offering advice and assistance on what information is relevant , what subsection certain reviews should go in, etc. All my experience with guides has been positive, I've generally found that if I need to I can approach them for advice, but that they won't shove it onto me if I don't want it .

The Circle of Friends is also a nice feature, and the way it works is this. You read someone's review, and you love it, for some reason. You can then add them to your Circle of Friends, knowing that you can then check that area of your page, find this person, and read anything new they've written! It's great!

Direct Comparison between Dooyoo and Ciao Payments
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Amount paid for writing a review:
Dooyoo - 1.50 per premium review
Ciao- No payment

Amount paid per member read:
Dooyoo - 3p
Ciao- Varies, between 0.5 p and 1p

Payment Options:
Dooyoo - Cash (Min 55.00), Charity Donation (Min 5.00) or Amazon.co.uk Voucher (Min 10.00)
Ciao- Cash Only - (Min 5.00)

Length of Time taken for payment to arrive:
Dooyoo - Up to ten days for all methods of payment.
Ciao - Payments are processed monthly, so can take up to six weeks to arrive.

Extras - Recognition for good writing:
Dooyoo- Crowns - extra miles in your account, not sure of the exact amount, but crowns are awarded DAILY! A chance to be recognized for writing consistently good reviews, with a clear process - (based on number of nominations).

Ciao - Diamonds - Larger cash injection, but not many awarded, and the process of selection is not made clear
Ciao - Premium Fund - Random amount of cash award, no clear and publicized selection process, since Ciao claim it is not directly related to nominations, but that they play a part.

Random Tips
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If you want to make money, then nothing works better than getting your name out there in a good way. Read, Rate, Comment, and always be nice, and then people will want to read your reviews. If you must give criticisms, make it constructive, and offer advice.

Sometime's you'll get the one person who takes offence at a rating you've given them. If your rating is valid, you have no need to worry, and if they maliciously rate you down, simply report them and they'll be dealt with.

Have fun and explore - It's a shame that the writers corner of this site is so hidden away, but there is fun to be had there. Just have fun, write about what you know, say what you think (politely!) and this site will work for you!

Conclusion
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I love Dooyoo - the pay rate seems fairer and much more even-handed than Ciao, and payments are processed faster. The function to suggest a product works faster - almost always within 24hrs except at weekends, and the community is much more mature and constructive, if not quite as active.

Taken on its own merits, Dooyoo draws a 5/5 from me , simply because it works!