Exporters/Importers please read

[jdmvip]

Below is a response I sent to one of the JDM Vendors, but I thought I'd put this out there again just to save some of us some time and grief, especially for Vendors concerned about their competitors.

We try to cater to everyone, both Vendors and the Enthusiasts and strike a fair balance.

I also thought I'd say it again, that some of my generalized posts aren't necessarily targeted to a certain company. A lot of the good Vendors have sometimes been concerned I was referring to their company when I wasn't. It's funny, but a good thing, that some of the good Vendors are so concerned about their reputation, whereas some of the bad ones don't seem to be concerned.

Anyway here is a recent response I sent to a Vendor with concerns:

I don't want to be in the middle of competitors. I do have contact and chats with different Exporters from time to time, but never allow that contact to be any kind of benefit or detriment for another company. I've given tips to different Exporters etc, but I always keep the exchanges private, so it's generally understood that what one Exporter tells me in private, does not get passed to another. It's important that I keep this trust and don't get in the middle of competitors so I try and stay as neutral as possible (you may notice there's some people who aren't fond of me or this site and want to use any ammunition to discredit what we have here).

Unless there's a good reason, I generally tell any Exporter that has a concern or wants me to post info or wants to share info, to post it here themselves. I know that competition is fierce right now, and many Exporters make suggestions to me privately, but my usual response is the normal "post it yourself".

A lot of times I post general comments about Exporters or the industry to stir debate, and sometimes for a specific reason or just to get more info out there for people.

I think I'll post about this and won't mention your name, but from time to time I get PM's and e-mails from concerned Exporters thinking I'm talking to them or about them in my posts when I'm often just making general statements (I try to leave names out as much as possible unless it is something very unique).

No one needs to worry that posts are targeted to their company. It's great that so many Exporters follow this site and value the opinions here (hopefully not just my opinion alone) but there's no need to worry about specific posts.

If you have a concern about a viewpoint or disagree, you're free to respond and let people know your perspective, and this will go miles in someone's purchase decision. I don't mind getting e-mails/PMs from Exporters from time to time, but please do not put me in the middle.