Affiliate Disclosure – Auto Artificer

This page explains, honestly and in plain terms, how AutoArtificer does and does not make money — and what that means for the guidance you read here.

Where things currently stand

At present, AutoArtificer does not carry affiliate links, display advertising, sponsored posts or paid product placements. Nothing published on this website earns a commission today, and no company has paid for a mention.

That is stated plainly because a disclosure page that describes arrangements a website does not actually have is not a disclosure — it is decoration. If that changes, this page changes with it, and the sections below explain exactly what will happen when it does.

If affiliate links are introduced

AutoArtificer is intended to cover maintenance, repair, product comparisons and buying guides. Topics like these often point readers towards tools, parts, fluids and accessories, and affiliate links are a common way for an independent website of this kind to support the work involved.

If affiliate links are added in future, the following will apply:

Every page containing them will say so, clearly and near the top — not hidden in the footer or buried at the end of a guide.
The price you pay will never increase because you used a link here. An affiliate commission is paid by the retailer out of their own margin.
You are never obliged to use them. Anything recommended here can be bought anywhere you prefer, and you are encouraged to compare prices.
This page will be updated to name the programmes involved before any such link goes live.

If advertising is introduced

The same principle applies to display advertising. If advertising is added to this website in future, this page and the Privacy Policy will both be updated first, so readers know what is being shown to them and what data an advertising network collects.

What will not change

Whatever happens to the monetisation of this website, the following does not move:

Recommendations are never included simply to fill space or to encourage a purchase. Where products, tools, replacement parts or accessories are mentioned, they are mentioned because they are relevant to the topic being discussed and may genuinely benefit the reader.

A commission will never buy a recommendation. No commission arrangement will ever determine whether a product is recommended, how favourably it is described, or whether its shortcomings are mentioned. If a part is a poor choice for a particular vehicle, the guide will say so, regardless of whether a link to it would earn anything.

"Buy nothing" stays on the table. Often the right answer to an automotive question is that no purchase is needed — that the existing part is fine, that the cheaper option is genuinely sufficient, or that the job should go to a mechanic rather than be attempted with a newly bought tool. Those answers will keep being given even when they earn nothing.

Editorial independence comes first. The purpose of this website is education, not promotion. Maintaining that independence is what keeps the educational value in front, and it is what the Editorial Policy commits to in full.

Why this page exists now

Disclosure of a material connection between a publisher and a seller is required by consumer protection rules in many countries, including the United States Federal Trade Commission's endorsement guidelines. It is also simply the right way to treat readers.

This page exists before there is anything to disclose so that the standard is set first and the commercial arrangements have to meet it — rather than the other way round.

Questions

If anything about how this website is funded is unclear, or you believe a disclosure has been missed somewhere, that is worth raising. A contact route for doing so has not been published on this website yet.