You can get an idea on consumer ratings on Amazon alone through there rating and review system.

I don't know if you just want to use it for building review sites or not for didn't mention what you want it for specifically, but I assume that is what you want it for.

Save your money. You said yourself that it is "very expensive", and you can get good idea on what are good products through Amazon's rating system along with other sites online that provide it for free.

Ok thank you for the info!

would it be ok to summarize some of the subscription content from consumer reports for an (amazon) review and say it came from consumer reports, or would they look down at that?

I subscribed to their online site last year and really, it didn't do anything that Amazon bestsellers list and consumer reviews couldn't do.

Their reports are good, don't get me wrong, but it's not a necessity as far as learning what sells well and what people like and don't like.

Also, if you want to, you can buy the monthly reports in places like Office Max at the checkout stand. Sometimes I'll do that and it's generally on a narrow topic, like "appliances" or something.

Ok, but can consumer reports come after you if they find their tested results on products in their subscription only section being summed up on a blog to be viewed for free?