TX_Tech, once again I agree with many of your points, but not all.
I certainly cannot speak for Purch, nor for its employees, but as a freelance contributor who does it because it is a hobby I enjoy, my parts can be put into one of four groups. Group #1 is a set of base components, provided by Tom's, that all reviewers have in order to put us all on level ground, making our results comparable. The PSU, RAM, system SSD, GPU, CPU, and cooler were all provided to me, since I review motherboards, and only that changes. Other motherboard reviewers have the same parts (unless the socket is different, in which case the CPU will also be different). Group #2 is the remaining "lab" equipment and supplies I need to do basic testing and writeups, for which freelancers are individually responsible, without which we wouldn't be able to do our reviews. For me, that means a case for the test builds, a UPS, monitor, KB, mouse, Kill-a-Watt meter, and miscellaneous cables, plus an entire other system with Microsoft Office (for compatibility). Group #3 is the review samples. Most of these come from the vendors. Tom's buys a few. I actually bought one. Group #4 is stuff I buy because I've grown a wild hair about something that looks interesting, or worth testing, or might improve the way I do tests. Examples here include the entire AM1 system I built and tested, a set of identical SSDs I added to my test environment, a network switch I bought as part of a revision of my test methodology, and a slightly stronger graphics card that I thought might make certain differences more visible. The money for this is "off-budget;" it doesn't come from my regular job, but from what I get for my articles, or from other side jobs.