1) Unless I get a test version, I pay full price for what I use.
2) No kickbacks. Do you honestly think with all the different products I use someone would be happy if I use something else as well? I highly doubt my using Meguiars would impact the sales of a company their size anyway. Lets be real here. Sales of Meguiars to Autopians is miniscule to what they probably sell at one Wal-Mart in a year.
The ones you ought to be asking this question are those who make sure they have reflection shots of their products (usually one dominant line) or their manufacturer's t-shirts in the pictures they take, or get upset when their favorite product is dissed in any way.
3) Still using OS, at least as much as NXT. I am WAY behind in posting C&B's, probably have another 100+ pics to post. The latest one I posted, I used Carnauba Moose as the LSP. Since NXT2.0 is new, I want to try it on as many colors as possible to see what it looks best on.
Read my C&Bs, you will notice I use a wide range of products.