deskthority

When linking to Massdrop,
please do not support them compelling people to register/sign in to know what it's about, but make it accessible to everyone by adding the following to the URL:

?mode=guest_open

Thanks

Another useful public service announcement from the world's most helpful, grumpy chocolate bar. And a must-bookmark. Thanks kbdfr!

Thanks for that.

Why don't they just have it public , assholes!

Self answering question.

The fact they even have these guest links shows they know us too well. Imagine the fun if they enforce their account wall by getting rid of these!

kbdfr wrote: When linking to Massdrop,
please do not support them compelling people to register/sign in to know what it's about, but make it accessible to everyone by adding the following to the URL:

?mode=guest_open

Thanks

I still get a "Sign Up For MassDrop" screen - you can close it by clicking "Already a member? Log in" and then clicking the big "X" on that second window.

JBert wrote: […] I still get a "Sign Up For MassDrop" screen […]

If not on a mobile device, you're probably on Linux or a similar obscure OS

It is not that obscure with the keyboard enthusiasts I guess.

andrewjoy wrote: Why don't they just have it public , assholes!

So that they can offer products (which have the lowest "fair price" contractually enforced) cheaper.

Retailers often force producers into contracts which specify the minimum retail price. Going below this price is possible only under special conditions like store bankruptcy or sales limited to members of exclusive clubs. Massdrop is trying to be such an exclusive club. This allows it to sell leaper than the minimum retail price.

But we are not in their club, and with a simple publicly available url, we can still see that exact price.

Smells like bullshit to me.

All this link obfuscation of theirs achieves is throwing a signup window in front of visitors, to boost their membership. The pricing is fully public. It's just a trick of theirs to milk more out of their pageviews.

If you use Firefox, you could install this Redirector Add-on and create the following rule:
This should ensure that "?mode=guest_open" is at the end of all Massdrop URLs you open.

There's a similar extension for Google Chrome: Redirector

kbdfr wrote:

JBert wrote: […] I still get a "Sign Up For MassDrop" screen […]

If not on a mobile device, you're probably on Linux or a similar obscure OS

Not sure if you're serious but I would hardly call Windows 8.1 and Firefox 42 obscure.