Disclosure
Affiliate Disclosure
Penny & Pick is reader-supported. This page explains exactly how that works, in plain language, with nothing buried.
Last updated
The short version
Penny & Pick is free to read and is funded by affiliate commission. When you click a product link on this site and buy something, the retailer may pay us a small commission. You pay exactly the same price either way - the commission comes out of the retailer's margin, not your pocket.
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
That is the whole funding model. There are no ads, no sponsored posts, no paid placements, no newsletter sponsorships and no paywall.
How the links work
Product links on this site carry a tracking identifier that tells the retailer the visit came from us. Clicking one takes you to the retailer's own page, where you buy from the retailer under their terms - we are not the seller, we do not take your payment, and we never see your card details, your address or your order.
Links pass through a short redirect on our own domain before reaching the retailer. That is so we can keep every link in one place and repoint it when a product is discontinued, instead of leaving broken links scattered across hundreds of pages. The redirect does not profile you and sets no advertising cookie of ours.
Every commercial page on this site carries a disclosure above its first product link, so you know the arrangement before you click rather than after.
Which programs we participate in
Amazon Associates is our primary and default program, and for most products on this site it is the only one. Amazon's commission rates vary by product category, typically in the low single-digit percentages.
We may add other retailer and brand programs over time where doing so is genuinely better for you - a brand's own store with better stock, a better warranty, or a lower price than Amazon. When that happens the link goes to whichever option is better for the buyer, not whichever pays us more.
Where we link to a retailer we earn nothing from, we link anyway and the page says we earn nothing there. A reference link that helps you is worth more to us than a missing one.
What commission cannot do
This is the part that matters, so it is written as rules rather than reassurance.
Commission cannot change the order of a roundup. Picks are ranked from research before any link is attached, and a higher-paying product has never been moved up a list.
Commission cannot buy inclusion. No brand can pay to appear here, and none has.
Commission cannot remove criticism. Every pick on this site carries a stated tradeoff - the thing you give up at this price - and no brand can have one softened or deleted.
Commission cannot stop us recommending something cheaper, or nothing at all. Several pages here send readers to a lower price tier than they arrived looking for, and some say plainly that the honest move is to save up. Those pages earn us less. They stay as they are.
- Ranked before linked - the order comes from research, not rates.
- No paid inclusion - a brand cannot buy a slot at any price.
- Tradeoff stays - criticism is not negotiable.
- Cheaper wins when cheaper is better - even when it pays us less.
Prices on this site
We do not display product prices, and that is a deliberate choice rather than an oversight. A price typed into a page is stale within days, and on a site built around price ceilings a wrong number is the most damaging possible error.
So every buy button reads "Check price on Amazon" and takes you to the live retailer page, where the price is current by definition. Where a page discusses what a budget buys, it talks in tiers rather than exact figures. We never publish a discount percentage, a countdown, or a claim that a deal expires soon.
FTC compliance
United States Federal Trade Commission guidance requires a clear and conspicuous disclosure of a material connection between a publisher and the products it recommends. We meet it in four places at once: this page, a disclosure block above the first buy link on every commercial page, a label on each outbound product link, and a standing statement in the site footer.
If you think any disclosure on this site is unclear or too easy to miss, that is a bug and we want to hear about it.
Who to contact
This site is published by MadGrey LLC. Questions about this disclosure, about a specific link, or about anything else on the site go to contact@pennyandpick.com or through the contact form.
Common questions
+Does it cost me more to buy through your links?
No. You pay the retailer's normal price. Any commission comes out of the retailer's margin, not out of your purchase price, and there is no surcharge of any kind.
+Do you earn more on the products you rank first?
Not by design, and not as a factor in the ranking. Positions are decided from research before links are attached. In several roundups the top pick is the cheapest product on the page and therefore the one that earns us the least.
+Do you see my order details?
No. The retailer handles the entire transaction. We receive aggregate reporting of whether a purchase occurred - never your name, address, card details or order contents.
+What if I would rather not use an affiliate link?
Search for the product name directly at the retailer, and nothing is tracked to us. The site stays free either way and we would still rather you bought the right product.
Something here wrong, out of date, or missing? Tell us and we will fix it - get in touch.