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Honest Disclosure About How We Make Money

Smart Kitchen Picks earns commissions from affiliate links when you purchase products through our recommendations. This page explains exactly how this works and why it doesn’t compromise our reviews.

When you click on product links in our articles and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission from the retailer. You pay the same price whether you use our link or go directly to the store.

Amazon Associates Program

Smart Kitchen Picks is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

This means when you click an Amazon link in our reviews and buy something, Amazon pays us a small percentage (usually 1-4%) of your purchase. This commission comes from Amazon’s advertising budget, not from your pocket.

Other Affiliate Partnerships

We also partner with other retailers including:

  • Williams Sonoma
  • Target
  • Best Buy
  • Walmart
  • Sur La Table
  • Direct manufacturer websites

The same principle applies: we earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.

Our Editorial Promise

Here’s what affiliate commissions DO NOT change:

  • Our testing process: We buy products with our own money and test them thoroughly
  • Our opinions: We recommend what we’d actually buy for our own kitchens
  • Our rankings: Products aren’t ranked by commission rates
  • Our criticism: We’ll call out flaws even in high-commission products

Here’s what we DO because of affiliate income:

  • Focus on products you can actually buy (vs. discontinued items)
  • Spend more time testing popular products that readers are likely to purchase
  • Keep our site running without intrusive ads or subscription paywalls

How We Choose What to Review

We review products based on:

  1. Reader requests and search data
  2. New releases that might be worth your money
  3. Price drops on products we’ve tested
  4. Seasonal relevance (air fryer deals before summer, etc.)

Commission rates don’t influence what we choose to test. We’ve panned plenty of high-commission products and recommended alternatives that earn us less money.

Price Transparency

When we mention prices, they’re accurate as of publication. Prices change frequently, especially on Amazon. We update major price changes when we can, but always check the current price before buying.

Why This Model Works

Affiliate commissions align our interests with yours: we only make money when you’re satisfied enough with our recommendation to actually buy the product. If we recommended junk, you’d stop trusting us, stop clicking our links, and we’d stop earning.

This creates a natural incentive for honest, useful reviews.

What About Free Products?

Sometimes manufacturers send us products to test. When this happens, we clearly label it in the review. We test these products with the same rigor as products we buy ourselves, and we keep or return them based on our standard policies.

Free products don’t guarantee positive reviews. We’ve written negative reviews of plenty of free products.

Questions?

If you have questions about our affiliate relationships or want to know the commission rate for a specific product, contact us at contact@smartkitchenpicks.com.

We believe transparency builds trust. This disclosure explains how we keep the lights on while maintaining editorial integrity.

This disclosure complies with FTC guidelines (16 CFR Part 255). We update it as our affiliate relationships change.

Bottom line: We earn money when you buy products we recommend. This keeps our site free and funds our testing. It doesn’t change what we recommend or how we test.