Affiliate disclosure
The short version: we earn a commission on qualifying purchases, it costs you nothing extra, and it is never a ranking factor.
Last updated
The disclosure
Slat & Shade is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
In plain terms: when you click one of our product links and buy something, Amazon pays us a percentage of the sale. You pay exactly the same price you would have paid without us.
Why commission cannot affect a ranking
Two reasons, one structural and one editorial.
Structurally, every product link on this site goes to the same retailer at the same commission rate. There is no product on any of our pages that pays us more than another, so there is no version of this site where recommending the wrong structure is more profitable than recommending the right one. That is not a promise about our character; it is an absence of the incentive.
Editorially, the methodology sets out the ranking criteria in order — published durability specs, anchoring realism, warranty coverage, materials, then price. Commission is not on the list, and the "What we cut, and why" section on every roundup shows what fell out and for what reason.
Where a cheaper product is the right answer, we say so. Where a manufacturer publishes no wind rating, we write that instead of filling the gap with an estimate, even though a confident number would convert better.
What the links do
- Product links route through `/go`. That is our own redirect, on our own domain. It lets us change where a link points — if a product is discontinued, or a better retailer becomes available — without rewriting the page it sits on. It sets no cookie of its own and collects nothing about you.
- Every earning link carries `rel="sponsored nofollow noopener"` and opens in a new tab, per Google's link-spam policy and the FTC's guidance on clear disclosure.
- Every product CTA has the disclosure next to it, not just here. You should never have to find this page to know a link is an affiliate link.
- Links to manufacturer spec pages are not affiliate links. The Spec source column in every Durability Table and the sources list at the foot of every page point to the manufacturer's own material and earn us nothing. They are there so you can check our figures.
Why we publish no prices
Our buy buttons say "Check price on Amazon" rather than showing a number. That is a deliberate choice and worth explaining, because most sites in this niche do show one.
Retail prices on these products move constantly, and a price printed on a page the day it was written is wrong within a week. Once it is wrong it is worse than useless — it is a figure you might make a decision on. We would rather send you to the live price than publish a stale one.
The same rule covers discounts: we do not publish "was $X, now $Y", we do not claim a lowest price, and we do not predict sales. If we cannot verify a number at the moment you read it, we do not print it.
Other programs, and what we don't do
Amazon is currently the only affiliate program this site participates in. If that changes — if a manufacturer's own store becomes a better option for readers on price, stock or warranty — we will say so on the pages it affects, and the same rule applies: whichever link is better for the buyer wins, regardless of what it pays.
We have never taken payment for a placement, a ranking or a review, and we do not accept sponsored content. No manufacturer has supplied us with a product. If either of those ever changes, it will be disclosed prominently on every page it touches — not in a footnote here.
Questions
If anything here is unclear, or you think a link is not properly disclosed, email contact@slatandshade.com. Our editorial policy covers how we handle corrections.