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Affiliate Policy

If you are reading this page it is because you have noticed the Affiliate Policy either in the menu at the top of the blog or at the top of a post you were reading. As many of you will know, I started madaboutthehouse in 2012 and have never, in all that time, used any affiliate links.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with them, it is a piece of code added to a brand’s link in a post that means if a sale is made within 30 days of clicking on said link, I may earn a small commission on that sale. It doesn’t change the price of the thing you are buying.

So if you read a post on, for example, the five best bar stools, and decide to click through and buy one within that 30 day time frame, I make a little bit of money. If you ignore that link and decide to visit the site independently I don’t make anything.

Now, for obvious reasons, these links can be controversial as readers may feel they are being recommended products a writer wouldn’t normally like but, since they stand to earn money from linking to them, standards can slip.

Having written about thousands or products since 2012 and never earned anything from any links I post, I hope you will trust that I will continue to write about things I like and would, given a limitless budget and elastic walls, have in my own house.

For those that are wondering, I make money from brand collaborations, written as part of the Wednesday Ad break (details of which are in the About Me section) where I am paid a flat fee to advertise a brand. I do not make any extra money on sales.

Several years ago one company rang to ask if they could advertise on the blog. I said no, explaining that I didn’t take advertisements. “Well you’re missing a trick,” he said: “You included a link to one of my sofa beds and I sold £40,000 worth of them in a year.”

Of which, since there was no affiliate link, I got nothing. I didn’t change my mind though.

So, why now? Well, firstly I am working on a project which will require affiliate links and in order for that to launch (hopefully at the end of October 2020) I need to have the software (Skimlinks) on the blog and fully disclosed according to ASA standards (Advertising Standards Authority).

Secondly, the pandemic has meant that freelance income for many of us in this world has dried up and we need to find new ways to pay the mortgage. This is one way that the blog can contribute to that.

For the last eight years I have written four posts a week offering free advice and recommendations and I hope you trust me to continue to do so, but with the possibility of earning a small income alongside.

Time will tell if it amounts to anything more than the odd pair of shoes. My posts won’t change but if you feel uncomfortable clicking the links you can always visit a site directly rather than through the blog. And you can click to look without anything happening. It’s only when a sale is made that a commission is earned.

And now, as they say, pay attention: here comes the legal bit:

Skimlinks provides software that adds affiliate links to sites such as The Guardian, The Telegraph, and many others. Skimlinks software turns some standard weblinks, for firms Skimlinks has a current advertising programme with, into tracked links in some of the blog posts.

Skimlinks then anonymously tracks clicks from this site and, if a purchase is made, Mad About The House gets a small commission of this. Skimlinks will place a tracking cookie on your device, which does not gather any personal details, to check if a purchase is made after clicking an affiliate link.

You will be asked by Skimlinks, via a pop-up box, to confirm your cookie choices. If you do not see a pop-up box the first time you click on an affiliate link on this site, it will be because you have previously set your Skimlinks cookie preferences on another site that uses the same software.

As Skimlinks aggregates together multiple affiliate networks, they know which networks require consent and which do not. Skimlinks perform a live check if you have already given consent here or elsewhere on the Internet, so that they don’t duplicate the request and consent is only sought when it is required but not yet granted. If you would like to learn more about Skimlinks, visit Skimlinks.com

www.madaboutthehouse.com cannot guarantee or verify the contents of any externally linked website despite their best efforts. Users should therefore note they click on external links at their own risk and this website and its owners cannot be held liable for any damages or implications caused by visiting any external links mentioned.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding any affiliate links added by Skimlinks to this site, contact Mad About The House via the contact form here.