How we review
Every review on this site follows the same rubric, whether the subject is a sneaker marketplace or a video editor. Here is the whole method, including the parts that make our reviews less impressive than some others.
The five criteria
Each brand is scored from 0 to 10 on five axes, weighted equally, and the headline score is their average. Criterion names shift slightly between physical retail and software, but the questions behind them do not.
| Criterion | The question it answers |
|---|---|
| Range & availability | Can you actually get what you came for, in your size, in your country, today? |
| Pricing | Is the advertised price close to the price you pay, and how does the total compare with the obvious alternative? |
| Trust & authenticity | Do you know who you are buying from, and is the product what it claims to be? |
| Support & returns | When something goes wrong, who owns the problem and how hard is it to resolve? |
| Value for money | Taking all of the above together, would we tell a friend to buy here? |
What an editorial score is and is not
Our scores are editorial judgements. They come from published policies, terms of service, help-centre documentation, pricing structures and the patterns we see repeated across a category, combined with hands-on use where we have it.
They are not aggregated customer ratings, they are not the output of a laboratory test, and they are not a claim that we have bought every product a company sells. Where a review draws on direct experience we say so in that review. Anywhere else, the assessment is exactly what it looks like: an informed opinion, shown with its reasoning so you can disagree with it.
What we deliberately leave out
You will not find specific prices, fee percentages or "current deal" figures in our reviews. Those change weekly, and a review that quotes them is wrong within a month while still looking authoritative. Instead we describe how the pricing works: where fees are applied, what a membership changes and which categories are excluded. That stays useful for longer.
We also do not publish discount codes. Most large retailers no longer issue public codes, and the ones circulating for them are mostly dead. Here is what replaced them.
How the money works
No affiliate programme is currently recorded in the site configuration. Outbound brand links are still labelled conservatively, and this page will name each active programme before monetisation begins.
Three rules keep that away from the reviews. Scores are set before any commercial relationship is considered. Ranking within a category is by score, never by commission. No brand can pay for placement, a higher score, an earlier publication date or the removal of a criticism. None of them see a review before it goes live. Read the full disclosure.
Updates and corrections
Policies change, and a review that was accurate in March can mislead by September. Each review shows when it was last reviewed. When a company changes a return window, fee structure or membership term that affects a score, we update the review rather than leaving it to age quietly.
If you spot something out of date or wrong, use our corrections route. Material corrections are noted so readers can see what changed.
What we will never do
- Publish a code we have not seen work, or invent a discount to fill a page.
- Present a paid placement as a review.
- Quote a price or fee figure that will be stale in a fortnight.
- Claim we tested something we did not.
Questions we get about the method
Why do some brands score low but still get reviewed?
Because people are going to use them anyway. A review that only covers good companies is a shopping list, not a review section. The useful thing is explaining exactly what you are trading away.
Do you accept payment for reviews?
No. We earn affiliate commission on some outbound links, which is disclosed on every page. Payment for coverage, placement or a score is not something we accept.
How often are reviews updated?
Whenever a policy that affects a score changes, and on a rolling schedule otherwise. The "last reviewed" date on each page is the honest answer for that page.
Can a brand ask you to change a review?
They can ask for a factual correction, and if they are right we make it and note it. They cannot ask for a score change, a softer conclusion or the removal of a criticism.