One additional thought, on an item FTA: “I’d like to see Instagram offer more accurate tags/labels, as there is a literal difference between getting a cardboar

One additional thought, on an item FTA: “I’d like to see Instagram offer more accurate tags/labels, as there is a literal difference between getting a cardboard box and receiving money to express an opinion, but it will do for now.” Is it no longer customary to send back or donate a review copy of a product? When I reviewed video games many decades ago, we normally sent back the review copy we (the publication) were provided. For smaller ticket items, like music CDs, I don’t think were were ever required to send those back, but we either donated them or kept them on the publication’s shelves, but individual reviewers were definitely prohibited from keeping any of those as their personal property. I agree that there’s a distinction between a paid endorsement and reviewing something made freely available, but if there’s any personal benefit accruing to the reviewer, I do think that should be disclosed. And that why I think the absolutely best avoidance of conflicts of interest is to not accept even a review copy that must be later be returned or given away, but to pay for the item like any other consumer, though I acknowledge this is not always practical given publication budgets these days.