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The 40 Method

Affiliate Disclosure

How we make money.

FTC-compliant disclosure of our affiliate relationships and how they affect — and don’t affect — our recommendations.

Amazon Associates Program disclosure

The 40 Method 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.

The short version

The 40 Method earns commissions when readers purchase products through links on our site. These commissions don’t influence which products we recommend — but they do fund the work of independent editorial. Here’s how it works.

How we make money

  • Amazon Associates. This is our primary affiliate channel. When you click a link to Amazon from a page on this site and complete a purchase, The 40 Method earns a small advertising fee from Amazon. The price you pay is the same.
  • Direct retailer programs. When a brand or retailer offers a meaningful direct affiliate relationship, we may participate. The same disclosure applies to every link.
  • Outbound links without commission. Some product links on our site go directly to the retailer without any affiliate tracking. We earn nothing from those purchases — the link is there because the product is the right recommendation, not because it pays.
  • Display ads.Currently none. If this changes, we’ll disclose clearly and update this page.
  • Sponsored content. Currently none. If this changes, sponsored pieces will be labeled clearly and kept separate from editorial.
  • Newsletter. Currently not monetized. If we ever introduce sponsored sections in the newsletter, those sections will be labeled.

What “affiliate link” means

An affiliate link is a tracked URL that earns The 40 Method a small commission when readers purchase a product through it, at no additional cost to the reader. The reader pays the same price they would have paid otherwise. We’re paid by the retailer, not by the reader.

How affiliate relationships affect our recommendations

They don’t determine which products we recommend. They do, practically, limit our coverage to products with available retail channels — Amazon, brand DTC, big-box. Some excellent products may not appear in our guides simply because we have no way to track sales. We disclose that trade-off here so you can factor it into how you read us.

We don’t recommend products because they pay better. When a product we earn on is wrong for the reader, we say so — or we leave it out entirely. The absence of a recommendation is information.

How to identify affiliate links

Every commercial page on this site carries an affiliate disclosure block above the fold. Affiliate links are not individually labeled in body copy because the page-level disclosure covers the whole article — but the disclosure is always visible before the first product CTA.

Networks and programs we work with

  • Amazon Associates (Amazon Services LLC Associates Program) — our primary affiliate program
  • Direct retailer programs — when a brand or retailer offers a meaningful direct relationship

What we will never do

  • Pay-for-placement: a brand cannot buy its way onto our list.
  • Undisclosed sponsorship: if a piece is sponsored, the label will be visible.
  • Fake reviews or fake testers: every byline on this site is the editorial team.
  • Cookie-stuffing or other dark-pattern affiliate behaviour.

The legal frame

The 40 Method participates in affiliate programs in compliance with the US Federal Trade Commission’s endorsement guidelines. If you believe we’ve fallen short of those standards on any specific page, please email hello@the40method.com with the page URL and the specific concern. Editorial corrections are the fastest queue we run.

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