About Our Review Process

How We Collect Reviews

We rely on individuals who have visited our site, responded to one of our communications, or were invited by a friend to share their experiences with other boaters.  This site would not be possible without the help of boaters like you.

And, as an independent company that doesn’t sell boats or boating equipment, we are free to collect reviews from boaters anywhere and are not biased in our approach.  The advantage is that our reviews are not limited to customers of an individual dealer or retailer, and there is no incentive to “cherry-pick” which reviews get displayed or favor a particular brand.

Who Can Post a Review

Individual boat owners are invited to submit a review for their boat, motor, equipment and battery.  Here are a few things to keep in mind when posting a review:

  • You do NOT need to be a boating expert.  No one knows your experience with your boat as well as you.

  • Be honest. Let us know what things you like as well as the areas that didn’t meet your expectations.

  • Be specific. Words like “performance” and “quality” are somewhat vague.  Though they are fine to use in your review, it would be helpful to also explain what you specifically mean (i.e., what makes it a “quality” boat?)

  • Be respectful. Offensive language, personal attacks or irrelevant content (e.g., politics) are not permitted.

Marine dealers/retailers, manufacturers and brokers are not permitted to post reviews for any product category that they sell or have a vested interest in.  Likewise, reviews from professional guides/anglers or anyone who receives some sort of sponsorship are not eligible.

Whenever a review is posted, we will manually check it to ensure that it isn’t fraudulent or violates our review policy.  On occasion, we might reach back out to you for additional information to ensure that the reviews that are posted are honest and trustworthy.

Our Rating System

When submitting a review, we ask for an overall rating as well as ratings on individual attributes that are relevant for a particular product type.  Since everyone rates their product on the same criteria, it makes it easy to identify relative strengths and weaknesses across brands.

One of the first things you will note is that we use a 10-point rating scale, not 5-points like Amazon.  This is because boats and boating equipment are much more complicated than clothing, diapers, books and other items commonly purchased online.  A key principle is that the number of scale points should match the level of discernment that customers are able to make for a given product.  Can you tell the difference between an “8” and a “9”?  I suspect most boat owners can.

For nearly two decades, the sister company of BoaterInput (Left Brain Marketing, Inc.) managed the Customer Satisfaction Program for one of the largest boat manufacturers in the World (White River Marine Group – makers of Tracker, Sun Tracker, Nitro, Tahoe, Ranger, Triton and Regency).  During that time, we learned that a boat rated a “9” or higher on average was a quality product that would deliver a positive ownership experience.  Given this, it is important to have a rating scale that accepts a “9”.  This is not the case with a traditional five-point scale.

Now that you know about our review process, please consider taking a minute or two to post a review about your boat, motor or equipment.  By doing so, you will be benefiting the overall boater community.