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La Pincée

Affiliations

Here's how La Pincée pays for itself, in full. We think this disclosure is the bare minimum you're owed before you trust a single recommendation — and in the US and UK it's also required by the FTC's endorsement guides and the UK CMA's rules on clearly labeling paid links. So: the plain version.

1. What an affiliate link is

An affiliate link is a link to a merchant that, when you click it and then buy, pays a small commission to La Pincée. The merchant pays it — never you. The price is identical with or without the link. On the site these links are flagged with the words "affiliate link" right next to them and carry the rel="sponsored" attribute, per Google's guidance.

2. The programs we're in

For the English site (US + UK), La Pincée works with:

  • Amazon Associates (US and UK) — via a single OneLink script that automatically sends you to amazon.com or amazon.co.uk and applies the right store tag. Commission varies by category, generally a few percent on grocery. We always store the canonical amazon.com URL; OneLink handles the UK redirect.
  • Jacobsen Salt and Burlap & Barrel — via the Awin network.
  • Diaspora Co and Spicewalla — via the ShareASale network.
  • Sous Chef and Steenbergs (UK) — editorial links, not affiliate links. As of June 2026 these merchants run no public affiliate program, so we earn nothing when we point you to them. We point you anyway, because they're often the right place to buy.

This list is updated within seven days of joining or leaving any program.

3. Why the commission can't move a rating

Three concrete mechanisms, not just a promise:

  • The order of operations is reversed. A product earns its place on the list, and its score, before we look at who sells it or who runs an affiliate program — see How we rate. Flavor scores are assigned blind. Only at the very end do we go find the merchants and check which ones we can earn from.
  • Non-affiliate products get recommended exactly the same. Plenty of what we cover — direct-from-farm cooperatives, certain PDO products, the two UK merchants above — pays us nothing. It's recommended anyway. When there's no affiliate link, we send you to the producer or a non-affiliate seller, and we earn zero.
  • We force merchant diversity. Each product lists two to four places to buy. When only one affiliate seller stocks something, we always name at least one non-affiliate alternative too.

4. How this differs from the rest of the market

Some comparison sites take a cut of up to 15% and let that cut shape their rankings. That's not us. A product's score at La Pincée is independent of the merchant's commission rate — a product never climbs a ranking because a seller pays more. The reason we can tell you "the supermarket one is fine here" or "skip the upgrade" is precisely that we earn on referral, not on selling stock. The independence is the product.

5. The disclosure you'll see on the page

Per the FTC endorsement guides (US) and the CMA's guidance on labeling (UK), every page carrying affiliate links shows this at the foot:

"This page contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, La Pincée earns a commission from the merchant, at no extra cost to you. That commission does not affect our rating."

6. Where the money comes from

La Pincée runs on a 100% affiliate model — we sell no products of our own. Our kits aren't own-brand goods; they're curated combinations of products we recommend, with links out to the merchants. So essentially all of our revenue is referral commission paid by third parties, never a margin on a direct sale. Any occasional, clearly labeled editorial partnership (see §7) is a small minority. We publish this mix once a year for transparency.

7. Editorial partnerships and sponsored content

We may occasionally accept a clearly labeled editorial partnership — a piece made with a producer, say. When we do, it's flagged at the top and bottom ("Made in partnership with [name]"), explained in a box stating the nature and the terms of the deal, and every link in it carries rel="sponsored". Sponsored content is under 5% of our annual output and never enters the rating of a product on the list.

8. Opting out of tracking

If you'd rather not be tracked by our affiliate cookies, you can decline tracking cookies on the consent banner, block third-party cookies in your browser, or browse privately. None of this affects your access to a word of the editorial content — the affiliate links simply stop earning us anything, even if you buy the product.

Questions about any of this? Write to us via Contact.