Affiliate Disclosure
Which links are affiliate links
Affiliate links appear almost entirely on our gear buying guides. Every one of them is labelled - either with the words “affiliate link”, or with a note directly beneath the button. Technically they are marked up with rel="sponsored nofollow", which is the search-engine standard for this kind of link.
All affiliate links route through our own redirect page first (a /go/ address) so we can count clicks in aggregate and so that links can be updated when products change. That redirect does not collect anything about you beyond the same anonymous visit data described in our privacy policy.
How we choose what to recommend
- Recommendations are based on the specifications that matter for the job, not on commission rates.
- We name the budget option when it genuinely does the job. On several guides it is our top pick.
- We list real drawbacks for every product we recommend, including our top pick.
- We do not accept payment for placement, and we do not publish sponsored product rankings.
- We do not claim hands-on laboratory testing. Our guides are based on published specifications and category experience, and we say so on the page.
Why we use affiliate links at all
Because the alternative is worse. The realistic ways to fund a site like this are advertising networks, paid placements, or selling your email address. Affiliate links let us keep the site free, keep it independent of advertisers, and avoid selling anyone’s data. If a recommendation earns us nothing, we still publish it.
Amazon specifically: as an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Amazon affiliate links must carry our tracking tag, which is applied automatically when the link is created.
What we never do
- Recommend a product only because it pays more.
- Hide that a link is an affiliate link.
- Fabricate test results, ratings, awards or statistics to make a product look better.
- Publish a “best of” list influenced by a manufacturer.
Your part
Prices and availability change constantly - often hourly. Always check the current specification, price and warranty on the retailer’s page before buying. Nothing on this site is a substitute for your own judgement about what your household needs.
Questions
If you think a recommendation is wrong, or you spot a link that isn’t properly labelled, please tell us via the contact page. We would rather fix it.