How outbound links work here
Some links on this site leave it. Most of them point at a public catalogue; a few point at a service page. Some of those links are commercial, and this page explains exactly what that means, how such links are marked, and why a conclusion here can point away from a link that would pay.
Which links leave this site
Most links on these pages stay inside the site and lead to a step, a tool, a note or the ledger. Some leave it, and those fall into two groups. The first group points at a public catalogue so that a reader can see the listing being discussed, its displayed price and its options at first hand. The second group points at a service page, where a reader can read what that service publishes about itself.
Links in the first group are informational: they exist so that a claim about a listing can be checked against the listing. Links in the second group may be commercial, which is to say the desk may receive something if a reader arrives through one and goes on to use that service. Both kinds open in a new tab, and neither changes what a page concludes.
How a commercial link is marked
Commercial links are disclosed in the page markup and in the footer line that appears on every page. Every link that leaves this site is marked in the same way, whether it points at a catalogue listing being discussed or at a service page: it carries the rel attributes sponsored, nofollow and noopener, and it opens in a new tab so that a reader keeps their place here. The browser is also instructed not to pass the address of the page being read to the destination, so a destination learns only that a visit began from this site.
That uniformity is deliberate. A destination may attribute a visit that starts here and may pay the desk as a result, so marking only some links would invite a reader to guess which ones carry that relationship and which do not. Where a page leans on a particular service, the page text says so, the profile at /providers records what could be checked about it, and this disclosure describes the arrangement behind the link. Nothing here is paid placement, and no page is sponsored by a service.
How the desk may be paid
When a reader follows a commercial link and later uses the destination’s services, the destination may pay the desk a commission or a referral fee. The amount, if any, is set by the destination, is not visible to the reader, and does not change what the reader pays for anything. A reader pays the destination’s own charges and nothing further on account of this arrangement.
No payment is received for publishing a page, for including a service in a comparison, for the position of a service in any list, or for a favourable conclusion. The desk does not accept sponsored articles, does not sell placements inside tables, and does not run advertising. Where a service is discussed critically, a link to it may still appear on the page, since removing it would make a criticism harder to check rather than fairer.
Why a conclusion can point away from a paying link
The arrangement only means something if the arithmetic is allowed to disagree with it. A clear example sits in the merge pages. Consolidating items into one parcel is the pattern these services are organised around, and a reader who follows it usually spends more on postage than one who keeps two parcels separate. The worked comparison nevertheless concludes that merging is not automatically cheaper, because a large, loosely filled box can measure out to a higher chargeable weight than the two denser parcels it replaced, and because one larger declared value can cross a threshold that two smaller values stay under.
Similar reversals appear elsewhere: reported arrival spreads are sorted against the lines the desk would earn most from, and a service’s own operating claims are labelled not verified even while a link to that service remains on the page. Where the evidence is thin, the page says so rather than resolving the question in the direction that pays. That is the standard the desk holds itself to, and it is what a reader should test the pages against.
How to check what is written here
Every figure on the site is meant to be traceable. The ledger at /ledger shows each checkable value with its basis, its source and the date it was read, and marks the values that could not be confirmed as not verified rather than filling them in. Pages carry the same Reviewed date near the top, so the age of a statement can be judged at a glance.
A reader who wants to test the arrangement described on this page can do three things: compare a page’s conclusion against the commercial links on it, look for a case where the two disagree, and send the address of any page where money appears to have shaped a conclusion to [email protected]. A reply is promised within seven days, and a correction that changes a number is recorded in the ledger’s change log with the date and the reason.
Questions and contact
Questions about this disclosure, about a specific link, or about whether a page has been influenced by the commercial arrangement are welcome at [email protected]. The same address handles corrections, permission requests and complaints, and all of them receive an answer within seven days. Nothing sent there is published without permission, and a reader who asks not to be quoted will not be. No third party is given the address of anyone who writes in.
Related pages carry the rest of the arrangement: /brief explains how the desk works and what it cannot check, /privacy explains what is stored in the browser and what is never collected, /terms covers permitted use and the limits of what is promised, and /ledger holds the dated record of what has been verified and what has not. The index at /index lists every page with the date it was last checked, which is the quickest way to judge how current a claim is before relying on it.