Affiliate disclosure

Version 3.0 · Last updated: 2026-06-05

This is the complete, plain-language disclosure of every commercial relationship that funds OutletPicks. It is published in compliance with the U.S. FTC 16 CFR Part 255 Endorsement Guides (including the 2023 amendments), the EU Unfair Commercial Practices Directive 2005/29/EC and its 2024 Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition update (Directive (EU) 2024/825), the UK Competition and Markets Authority’s Online Reviews and Endorsements guidance (CMA 2023), and the German UWG.

Table of contents

1. How we make money
2. Programs and commission ranges
3. Attribution model
4. Editorial independence
5. What commissions never determine
6. Sponsored content (we accept none)
7. Advertiser blocklist
8. Cookies and opt-out
9. Sub-id and attribution transparency
10. Affiliate links in email
11. Affiliate links on social
12. Per-page disclosure
13. No medical recommendation
14. Reporting concerns
15. How to verify our independence

1. How we make money

When you click “Get deal” on OutletPicks and complete a purchase at the Merchant within the program’s attribution window, the Merchant pays us a commission out of its own marketing budget. The price you pay is the same as if you visited the Merchant directly — affiliate commissions are not added to your order.

All outbound affiliate clicks pass through our self-hosted /go/<dealId> redirect, which logs the click for our own engagement metrics, applies the correct affiliate parameters for the destination network, and forwards you to the Merchant. You can see the final destination URL in your browser’s status bar before clicking.

2. Programs and commission ranges

We participate in the following programs. Commission ranges are illustrative; exact rates vary by product category, sale price, and the program’s current schedule.

3. Attribution model

• Last-click within window. If you click a deal on OutletPicks and then click a different affiliate’s deal before purchasing, the other affiliate gets the commission. We do not pursue first-click attribution.
• No cross-device tracking by us. Attribution is the Merchant’s; we only see aggregate reports.
• Returns void the commission. When you return a product, the Merchant claws back the commission. We do not pursue or shame returns.
• No commission on free trials or sample-only orders.

4. Editorial independence

Affiliate commissions never determine editorial ranking, the order of results in “Best of” or “Cheapest” pages, the score on a brand review, or what content is published. Our published methodology explains the exact criteria we use: real cost-per-unit normalisation (price divided by the unit that matters for each category — per quart, per ml, per diaper, per page, per kg, per cartridge) and pack-size transparency. The Amazon commission rate is not an input to any ranking.

5. What commissions never determine

• The order of deals in any sorted list (hottest, cheapest, newest, etc.).
• Whether a brand is “tested” or “unverified” in our vetting system.
• The decision to publish or remove a piece of editorial content.
• The visibility or prominence of any specific brand on the site.
• The presence or absence of a brand on comparison pages.
• The content of search-result snippets, headlines, or summaries.

6. Sponsored content (we accept none)

We do not currently accept paid placement, paid reviews, paid “featured” slots, native advertising, or any arrangement that conditions positive coverage on payment. If we ever do:

• Every sponsored item will be labeled sponsored on the deal badge, in the URL slug, and in the visible content.
• Sponsored content will be excluded from default sort order and from “Best of” or “Cheapest” rankings.
• It will be surfaced in a clearly separated section above or below editorial content.
• The sponsor will be named.
• This page will be updated in advance to announce the policy change.

7. Advertiser blocklist

We do not accept commissions from the following kinds of products even when an affiliate program offers them: prescription-only medicines, counterfeit or grey-market goods, and any product subject to a current safety warning or recall by a regulator we cover.

If you find a deal on the site that links to a blocklisted product, please report it via the in-page Report button or email [email protected].

8. Cookies and opt-out

Affiliate networks set tracking cookies to credit referrals. In the EU, UK, and similar ePrivacy jurisdictions, these require your explicit consent — see our cookie banner on first visit, or revisit it from /cookies. You can browse OutletPicks without consenting to affiliate cookies; click-through purchases will still work for you but will not be credited to us. Our editorial coverage of a brand is not affected by whether you have affiliate cookies enabled or not.

9. Sub-id and attribution transparency

Our /go redirect can append a sub-id parameter that identifies the source page on OutletPicks (e.g. best-vitamin-d, brand-thorne) so that Merchant reports tell us which content converts. The sub-id does not identify you personally. We use this for content optimisation and fraud detection, not for cross-site user tracking.

10. Affiliate links in email

Our weekly digest and deal-alert emails include affiliate links. Every such email includes an explicit affiliate disclosure in the footer, in line with FTC 16 CFR 255.5 and the equivalent EU rules. The unsubscribe link is in every email and works in one click.

11. Affiliate links on social

On any social channel where we share affiliate links, the post leads with #ad or #sponsored as the first hashtag, as required by the FTC 2023 Endorsement Guides and the UK CMA Online Reviews and Endorsements guidance. We do not use #affiliate, #spon, or bare branded hashtags as a substitute — Awin and eBay explicitly reject those as insufficiently clear to consumers.

12. Per-page disclosure

Pages that contain affiliate links carry a visible disclosure block above the fold (typically immediately after the page title), in addition to the disclosure in the footer and on this page. The disclosure links to this page so any reader can verify the full programme list.

13. No medical recommendation

Affiliate-linked products are not personally recommended for any individual reader. Prices and availability are last-checked snapshots that change — always confirm the live price on Amazon before buying.

14. Reporting concerns

If you believe OutletPicks content is misleading, inaccurate, or violates an affiliate program’s policy, contact us at [email protected]. We respond to every legitimate concern and publish material corrections on the changelog.

15. How to verify our independence

• Read the published methodology and check that our rankings are reproducible from the inputs (real price, pack size, cost per unit) you can see on the deal cards.
• Read the editorial standards for our conflict-of-interest, AI usage, and corrections policy.
• Check the transparency report for live moderation statistics and brand-coverage breakdowns.
• If you spot a ranking that seems to favour a higher-commission product, send us the case at [email protected] — we publish responses to credible challenges in the changelog.

This page is a living document. Updated: 2026-06-05.