Affiliate Link Policy

As of 2016 we no longer run any affiliate referral schemes. We do not sell any products. We have no store.

This page no longer applies, but explains how we used to use affiliate links and recommendations. By all means use this for your own research purposes.

Affiliate links

All visitors can view Traditional Painter content for free and without logging in.

While browsing you may find that we sometimes use links preceded by an asterisk e.g. * best paint brush

These are affiliate links to help support the running cost of our site.

If you do decide to make a purchase based on our recommendation, these links pay us a small percentage commission by way of compensation.

LEGAL DECLARATION

In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website.

Through this website you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of Traditionalpainter.com

We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those 3rd party sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.

Traditionalpainter.com may be compensated if consumers choose to follow these links in the content, and ultimately sign up for services or purchase products.

Basis of recommendations

Our recommendations are always based on the merits of the items. They are invariably based on Traditional Painters’ extended use of the services and items in daily work on site and general business dealings.

We also make supplier recommendations with no trackable affiliate link, and therefore no affiliate referral.

Other recommendations paying a small commission

Occasionally, we may provide a reference code to readers that may result in them receiving a small discount. If a purchase is made, we may receive a small percentage referral.

In any case, our readers should pay the same price as anyone else who finds these products and supplier sites via their own online searches. In some cases, there may be a lower preferential price available for our readers.

Trade Corner

No longer functioning

Just like every painting business, we have working relationships with manufacturers and suppliers. Some of the more outstanding companies are listed on Trade Corner.

We have worked more closely with those companies and used some of their most outstanding products for at least a year, most for many years. On that basis we are happy to help champion their cause, and they trust us to be fair-minded and constructive with their brand.

We are biased, but in favour of products that we believe deliver outstanding performance. We don’t overstate the benefits of a product, we don’t rave about every product offered by a recommended supplier. We couldn’t possibly trial and use all available product ranges on a daily basis. No company has a 100% super product range either!

We are not in the habit of trashing product or businesses either. For the most part, we don’t even mention products that don’t make the grade, in our opinion.

The “how” on affiliate links in articles

What comes first the link or the article?

The article! In other words, we won’t publish a biased review for the sole purpose of profiting from affiliate sales. That goes against our principles.

Our affiliate links are added manually.

That is not quite as obvious as it sounds! There is a whole word of automated linking and ad network tech that can scan text and add in money-making links after an article has been written. If badly implemented, this approach turns readers away, ending up with no revenue for a website, not more! At this time we don’t use Amazon Associates and VigLink to retroactively and automatically convert eligible links.

Some of our past affiliate campaigns. Notable partners included MyPaintbrush for recommended decorating sundries; assorted web companies like MDD Hosting, VidaHost, MaxCDN, all of which I know well and would offer a good value service for our readers.

Do you declare the provenance of products that you recommend?

I have a very strong (and probably contrarian) opinion on declarations about the who, what, where and how much of a product under review or recommended.

We aren’t lab rats and this is not a conventional review site. The whole premise of the website is to publish content that is a reflection of real work in action. Most times therefore, we mention products we have purchased ourselves, and I don’t feel the need to repeat “I bought this and used it on all my work for a year etc”, every time we write about a product. Our product knowledge and whether a product fits our bill should shine through in the article.

From time to time we are sent products to trial, and report back on. Not all our reports are made public.

Even if we are sent product for free to try, it wouldn’t affect our view, which is what readers are after.

I think there is a misconception out there that freebies are some sort of bonus and privilege and destroy our ability to be objective! Or if we are getting something for nothing, or we are paid to write, we cannot possibly be trusted to keep our heads. We speak as we find. We have our own standards and work very hard to adhere to them in order to provide consistency. If you don’t agree with our view or you think our standard is not yours, that is fine. We have put our head above the parapet, most critics won’t!

We don’t charge for reviews

We could. (I have turned down a lot of money to write what a supplier wanted me to publish)

It actually costs us time, therefore money and effort upfront, to test and write a review, so it would be legitimate to charge, but we choose not to.

We don’t write about products on the basis we could earn good referral fees on them. Back to the integrity of reviews again. If we were to write nonsense and then add an affiliate referral link to try and recoup some costs, we shoot our credibility in the foot. I have always said, our only currency online is credibility. I believe we understand better than many the huge consequences of misleading the public, and we won’t wilfully do it.

We are signed up to the Dispute Resolution Ombudsman as a declaration of our commitment to do right by customers. Let us know if our reviews and recommendations are misleading and we will look into it.

We are not a review site as such, in fact we approach the business of product recommendation back to front to the norm.

– We are only interested in what works well for us as working professionals.
Our clients expect the highest quality finishes. Therefore by definition, we are only going to recommend products that we come across that help us produce the best result. As we already work to a high standard, most of our research is looking for systems that enable us to maintain standards but in a more efficient or improved way.

– We don’t have much to say about prices,
This again, is a different approach to the norm in our trade. We view value based on the return on investment, not “how much is the upfront cost?” Some of the biggest game-changer products in our trade are several hundreds to buy and we highly recommend them. On the other hand, many of the products we think are holding the trade back are low cost and we never mention them.

– We are very selective about what we review and recommend
Many review sites will review and publish information about any and all products in their field. They tend to pick the (few) benefits out of products under review. Even a sub-standard piece of kit will have PROS, which leaves the reader to decide if that product (even though it is fairly useless!) adds up to good value. We would tend to not review such products. In fact it is highly unlikely you will see a poor product (in our opinion) mentioned on our website. We are not into slating other companies, we are all just trying to earn a living, right!

traditionalpainter.com currently receives no affiliate payments for any product purchases.

This affiliate link policy was inspired by the best practice from UK based MoneySavingExpert.com (identifying affiliate links with the asterix, in particular) and US based http://www.makeuseof.com/affiliate-disclaimer/

In the UK, affiliate schemes are not so well understood, but it is a perfectly legitimate way to fund a business, if approached fairly. Certainly beats adverts, of which there are none on this site. There is no legal requirement to declare any of this for readers outside UK, but in the US there are laws related to affiliate marketing and we have endeavoured to meet the expectations of our US readers.

Or in formal terms:
Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links on traditionalpainter.com are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, we will receive an affiliate commission. We are disclosing this as a courtesy to UK readers, and in accordance with the US Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Traditional Painter is an invitation-only, nationwide network of independent businesses, with years of professional experience. Every member of our team guarantees a showroom-quality, hand painted finish for your kitchen, with exceptional customer service at every stage.

Our transparent pricing structure ensures unwavering quality and service for kitchens of every style or size.

If you would like to employ the services of your local recommended TP kitchen & furniture painter, please use the map widget below.