Useful information?

[theworm[$]]

I think there may have been a thread about this a while back - sorry if I'm duplicating, but I wanted to ask what people thought of some of the newer "gift" categories at Eps.
For example - "jewelry". If you go there, they show specific pictures of specific styles of jewelry. The desciptions say things like "this silver hoop tapers at the bottom for a rich look". Are opinions of this sort really needed?
Also - artwork. There is a place to write epinions on specific prints - such as a specific Picasso painting. Are people supposed to write an epinion about the painting? About the quality of the reproduction? About the store where they purchased the reproduction?
I just don't get it?
It seems to me that the Writers Forum may be a good place for people to critique art or fashion. I just don't really find these cateories useful.


(let me add that I do see the use in specific reviews of watches - just not jewelry. Perhaps if we were talking about a specific designer line, but not one specific style).

[CyndiA]

I don't usually write in the gift category. I did a review on a black pearl necklace. That one linked ONLY to Overstock to buy that particular necklace. I bought it, and it was a really nice piece at a great price. Some items from Overstock aren't that great. I would have liked to have read about it before I bought, but that wasn't an option. I decided to write that one up in case someone was looking at the Overstock black pearls and wanted to know if they were nice.

To my way of thinking, I would want to know about a specific piece like that. I wouldn't want to know about generic gold chains. Do I buy one or not kind of thing. I can figure that out. If the link was to a chain on Overstock or any other online store exclusivly, then someone who bought it telling me about it would be helpful.

Don't know if that answers the question. I'm saying "it depends." There are some cases where I would read gift reviews and buy or not depending on the info and the writer. Perfume I check out sometimes. Art--naw . . . that one doesn't work for me.

[theworm[$]]

I think that we agree on most of this. I think perfume is a valid category - it's a product that is branded and can be purchased through various retailers.
If the jewelry shown at Eps is only available through Overstocks - why isn't it through an Overstocks link. I think its great that they have branded products like a specific brand of watch. I also would see the value of having branded jewelry. These generic styles from Overstocks, however, seem silly to me. The art category is worse.