Corona, it does not matter that there are other, and perhaps perfectly legitimate, reasons for recommending a situation. Honesty about the dealer/manufacturer relationship is still required for these forums when the situation involves sales.
Audiophiles here and at AA are looking for recommendations from experienced users without commercial motives, and there are really only a few places on the web where this is possible. It needs to be preserved as a resource, without having threads 'spammed' by sellers. As it is, most people are reluctant to give strong negatives because everyone is aware of both the opinion factor and the fragility of reputations.
As a seller, you (and others) can increase your perceived honesty quite a bit just by being upfront about your relationships. After all, there is no faster way to kill a sale than for a trusting individual to check out your recommendation and then discover after the fact who the players were.
