How We Make Money
The commercial model in plain English, including the conflicts of interest we do have and the ones we do not.
One revenue source
Affiliate commission from Amazon, and nothing else. If you click a product link here and buy something, Amazon pays us a percentage of the sale. You pay the same price you would have paid anyway.
No advertising, no sponsored posts, no paid placements, no subscriptions, no newsletter sponsorship, no consulting. One source, disclosed on the disclosure page and labeled #ad under every buy button on the site.
The conflict of interest we have
We should be direct about this rather than pretend it away: we earn more when you buy something than when you do not. That is a real incentive and it points toward recommending purchases.
Several things on this site push back against it, and they are structural rather than promises:
- Every roundup names something to skip - a popular product we recommend against, with the reason. That is revenue we deliberately do not pursue.
- Several pages tell you to buy less. The $250 tier page says plainly that buying the cheaper chain and keeping the change is a reasonable answer. The rings page tells you not to buy a whole category.
- Commission rate does not affect ranking. All the retailer commission on this site comes from a single program at a single category rate, so there is no higher-paying alternative to be tempted by.
- The cheapest option wins frequently. An $8 steel chain is the top pick on several pages, which is close to the worst possible outcome commercially and the right answer materially.
The conflicts of interest we do not have
This is where an affiliate publisher has a genuine structural advantage over the alternatives, and it is worth spelling out:
| Publisher type | Can say 'do not buy plated'? | Why not |
|---|---|---|
| A jewelry brand | No | They sell the material in question |
| A retailer's own guide | No | They stock everything, including the bad options |
| A brand-funded review site | No | The funder is one of the options being compared |
| An independent affiliate publisher | Yes | No stock, no brand, no manufacturer relationship |
We have no inventory to clear, no brand to defend and no manufacturer relationship to protect. That is why this site can write “at this price, in this material, do not buy it” - and it is the only durable advantage we have, so it appears on every page.
What we have never done and will not do
- Accepted payment for a placement, a ranking or a mention.
- Accepted a free product. We have not handled any of the jewelry on this site.
- Let a brand see copy before it published.
- Changed a ranking because of a commission rate.
- Removed a criticism of a product we earn from.
- Invented a review, a rating, a testimonial or a test result.
What the commission actually pays for
Hosting, the retailer API access that keeps prices live and honest, and the time spent reading regulations and compiling specifications. There is no office and no staff.
The live price layer is the most visible thing it buys: every price on this site is pulled from the retailer and date-stamped, and it expires automatically after 48 hours rather than sitting there quietly going stale. That costs something to run and it is the right way to do it.
If you want to support the site without buying anything
Genuinely: do not buy something you do not need. If a page here talks you out of a purchase, that is the site working as intended, and we would rather be the source you come back to than make four dollars today.
If a specification here is wrong, telling us is worth more than a purchase. The contact page is how.
More detail
The affiliate disclosure covers the legal and technical specifics. The methodology covers how picks are chosen and scored. The editorial policy covers corrections and independence.