Automotive Vloggers (Vol. 4)

[Toaster Pilot]

lawrywild said:

So Lanistar is a pyramid scheme by the sounds of it?

Where’s that suggestion come from?

[clarky92]

Lee Jones Jnr said:

I don’t know. What?

As other members have pointed out in this thread previously - Running a laundrette service in Birmingham lol

[lawrywild]

lawrywild said:

So Lanistar is a pyramid scheme by the sounds of it?

Maybe that's the wrong term, I actually have no idea what the company does nor have bothered to look into them but the structure of 'paying' people (in shares/options which may or may not have value) to advertise/recruit people to then advertise/recruit more people sounds a bit like that?

[wastedyouth86]

lawrywild said:

Maybe that's the wrong term, I actually have no idea what the company does nor have bothered to look into them but the structure of 'paying' people (in shares/options which may or may not have value) to advertise/recruit people to then advertise/recruit more people sounds a bit like that?

Wrong term same shape the new term is Multi Level Marketing or MLM for short.

Seeing as Pistonheads is a wash with concern about the death of ICE cars and the environment do we think this will start bleeding in to content and 'influencers' becoming more Green? the likes of Shmee doing countless back and forth to Germany in supercars, flying out cars to the States and other such adventures which does start to annoy me as we keep hearing about climate change and all this other stuff yet this guy is running around like he has an oil field.

[Toaster Pilot]

lawrywild said:

Maybe that's the wrong term, I actually have no idea what the company does nor have bothered to look into them but the structure of 'paying' people (in shares/options which may or may not have value) to advertise/recruit people to then advertise/recruit more people sounds a bit like that?

I don’t think the structure of the influencer advertisement deals is the problem with them! They’re claiming to be offering a payment services type offering (looks a bit like Curve but with a fancier card) without being FCA authorised.

As far as I can tell they aren’t actually offering any service to anyone yet though - just building hype - no money’s actually changing hands yet is it?

[lawrywild]

Toaster Pilot said:

As far as I can tell they aren’t actually offering any service to anyone yet though - just building hype - no money’s actually changing hands yet is it?

I guess that's how they are getting round the requirement to be FCA approved. Though if that's the case it's unclear what the actual business model is?

Are they are hoping that drumming up all this hype will lead to real investors investing real money into them? I don't see how that would happen before a business can actually demonstrate it can make money, but I guess it only takes one person to BELIEVE it can

Edited by lawrywild on Thursday 19th November 14:13

[Toaster Pilot]

The FCA warning is interesting though - suggests they think that they are in fact carrying on business that should be authorised.

[Lee Jones Jnr]

Toaster Pilot said:

The FCA warning is interesting though - suggests they think that they are in fact carrying on business that should be authorised.

Not authorised, regulated.

[Bubba Zanetti]

It must be legit if reality TV and YouTube nobodies are promoting it.

[Toaster Pilot]

Lee Jones Jnr said:

Toaster Pilot said:

The FCA warning is interesting though - suggests they think that they are in fact carrying on business that should be authorised.

Not authorised, regulated.

FCA said:

This firm is not authorised by us and is targeting people in the UK. Based upon information we hold, we believe it is carrying on regulated activities which require authorisation.

Splitting hairs. The outcome is the same.

[waremark]

Gad-Westy said:

I stay fairly quiet on Shmee and others that produce similar content because, in all honesty, I don't watch them and am not really very interested in their subject matter. But my impression from everything discussed on here is that these channels sound like relentless campaigns to monetise everything possible. Brand tie ins, ads disguised as reviews, sponsorship, merchandise and now paywall stuff. I don't blame Shmee or others and it seems they do well out of it but it doesn't sound like it makes for enticing viewing, it just sounds slightly exploitative. Just because you can doesn't always mean you should...

Surely people who don't find the viewing interesting just won't watch. These guys offer a range of automotive viewing including showcasing interesting cars in great detail - I spent several decades voraciously reading various car mags, but for me watching YouTube has largely replaced reading the car mags. The viewing is much better attuned to the interests of petrolheads than Top Gear. I don't know what you mean by ads - sure there is much more focus on the positive than on the negative of whatever they showcase, but I don't think that means that the 'reviews' are ads. As to monetising - sure some of the YouTubers are using it to make a living, but I am no more offended by that than by terrestrial TV carrying advertising. And personally I have never paid for anything behind a paywall nor bought branded merchandise. If Shmee is offering something for payment, I am sure he will plan to do it in a way which does not prejudice his earnings from YouTube Adsense.

[pquinn]

jon- said:

North West Tom said:

ShmOnlyFans next?

Onlyshmans?

As others have said, if people want to pay, let them. Fair play to him.

Sounds like it would be a good deal - for once you'd be guaranteed to get pictures of a .

[bobbysmithy]

waremark said:

Surely people who don't find the viewing interesting just won't watch. These guys offer a range of automotive viewing including showcasing interesting cars in great detail - I spent several decades voraciously reading various car mags, but for me watching YouTube has largely replaced reading the car mags. The viewing is much better attuned to the interests of petrolheads than Top Gear. I don't know what you mean by ads - sure there is much more focus on the positive than on the negative of whatever they showcase, but I don't think that means that the 'reviews' are ads. As to monetising - sure some of the YouTubers are using it to make a living, but I am no more offended by that than by terrestrial TV carrying advertising. And personally I have never paid for anything behind a paywall nor bought branded merchandise. If Shmee is offering something for payment, I am sure he will plan to do it in a way which does not prejudice his earnings from YouTube Adsense.

Yeah, I am sure shmee will do everything in the best way possible. yaddda yadda yadda.

[DonBarracuda]

Horsey McHorseface said:

Already amassed 760+ reviews. All 5 stars, zero 4/3/2 stars, and what looks like one, 1 star review. All from just 3 podcasts. Actually 2 podcasts, because he appears to have received no reviews for yesterdays.

Compare and contrast against STG’s 85 podcasts, totalling 593 reviews.

Fake LDNM Amazon reviews, fake CCN Trust Pilot reviews, and now fake TGE Apple podcast reviews. A quick google shows how it’s done: https://www.niemanlab.org/2018/10/how-i-cheated-th...

This is nothing new, a lot of people/companies do this to beat a platform's algorithm.

[SantaBarbarian]

Shmee seems like a nice guy, but he spends money like a drunken sailor. Doug Demuro gets twice the views, spends nothing on production, has another business, and still only has 4 cars. I can't imagine Shmee's youtube income alone can sustain that lifestyle. So he should monetize what he can. Youtube must be a really stressful business, you never know when the bottom is going to drop out, so thank you Shmee for the free content, we really are spoilt for choice now, and it's amazing.

[bobbysmithy]

SantaBarbarian said:

Shmee seems like a nice guy, but he spends money like a drunken sailor. Doug Demuro gets twice the views, spends nothing on production, has another business, and still only has 4 cars. I can't imagine Shmee's youtube income alone can sustain that lifestyle. So he should monetize what he can. Youtube must be a really stressful business, you never know when the bottom is going to drop out, so thank you Shmee for the free content, we really are spoilt for choice now, and it's amazing.

He always has a rich daddy to help him out.

[Smacko]

Lanistar is turning out to be a complete st show, I’m so glad what looks like a scam is being exposed so quickly.

I listened to TGE’s explanation on his podcast, given his background, and in reality, responsibility to some of his followers, as people do listen to some of his advice (I got a Rolex hulk at the right time ) he has done the right thing.

I see that TGE is also popping up on YouTube in the comments of some of the videos that are calling out lanistar as a scam with some very interesting comments.

[eadingleberry]

I'd say it's probably not at all stressful. The money he's throwing around, it's all very much elective and there's simply no reason to do it simply to sustain the business. I'm sure he's very comfortable with it all, though outward appearances suggest it's beyond his own means.

And he's probably not paying civilian prices for some of the cars and the services. But at some point, it hurts more than it helps. He's quickly becoming a meme, Harris took a thinly veiled shot at him recently.

[Petevxl]

Lovely little DC2 review from Jay Emm. Refreshing to hear a neutral voice describe the car very well and most importantly, coherently. A lot of these vloggers who just say "sick" at the end of each and every sentence can learn a bit here. Quite a lot of this in the jdm/honda world.

I noticed you commented on the seat height in GR Yaris video but not here. I found the standard seating position very high on my 98 Spec.

[J4CKO]

Am guessing this Lanistar wont be like the ones that always pay their debts, "A Lanistar commits a big fraud and f*cks off leaving loads of people skint" doesnt have such a ring to it.