What an affiliate link is
Many of the product links on First Pull are affiliate links. That means if you click one and buy something, the retailer pays us a small commission — a percentage of the sale — at no extra cost to you. You pay the same price either way.
What it pays for
Those commissions are what keep First Pull free: the testing, the writing, the interactive tools, the hosting. Without them, we'd need subscriptions or paywalls. We'd rather stay free and be upfront about the trade.
What it doesn't change
- Recommendations come first. We decide what to recommend from hands-on testing and what's genuinely best for beginners. The commission rate never decides the ranking.
- No paid placements. Brands can't pay to appear in our guides or to get a better review.
- We link what we'd buy. If a product isn't good enough for a beginner's money, we don't link it — commission or not.
- Bad products get called out. If something popular is a poor value for beginners, we'll say so, even if linking it would earn more.
How we mark it
You'll see a short disclosure notice on pages with affiliate links, plus the site-wide notice in our footer. We're also compliant with FTC endorsement guidelines: any material connection between us and a retailer is disclosed where the recommendation appears.
Questions?
If anything about this feels unclear, ask us — we'd rather over-explain than leave you guessing.