The short version
Where we recommend a coffee, the link goes directly to the roaster's own product page. Most of those links earn us nothing. A small number may earn a commission in future as we add affiliate partners. We never charge roasters to be listed. Affiliate relationships do not influence which coffees appear, what we say about them, or where they rank.
What an affiliate link is
An affiliate link is a tracked link to a third-party retailer. If you click one and buy something, the retailer pays us a small percentage of the sale. The price you pay is the same as if you had gone to the retailer directly. The commission is paid by the retailer out of their margin.
We use affiliate links because they let us recommend products without billing readers or roasters. It's a common way independent publishers fund editorial work.
How affiliate links are marked
When an affiliate link appears in editorial content, we flag it inline so you know it's an affiliate link before you click. On guides and "best of" pages, the page itself carries a notice at the top stating that some links are affiliate links.
Standard outbound links to a roaster's own website (the link from a coffee listing to the product page on the roaster's site, for example) are usually not affiliate links. They earn us nothing. They exist because they are useful to the reader.
Current affiliate partners
decaffeinate is not currently running any active affiliate programmes. Outbound links go to roaster product pages directly. When that changes, this page will be updated and the change logged on the corrections page.
Categories we are likely to enter affiliate relationships in, when we do:
- Specialty coffee retailers stocking multiple decaf roasters
- Subscription services that include decaf in their range
- Home brewing equipment retailers
We will only enter affiliate relationships with retailers we already think highly of. Joining a programme does not mean we will automatically recommend that partner. The affiliate side is downstream of the editorial decision, not the other way round.
Display advertising
decaffeinate does not currently run display advertising. If that changes, ads will be served by an ad network and will not be editorially selected. They will run alongside editorial content, never inside it.
If a display ad ever appears on decaffeinate for a coffee, roaster, or brand listed on the site, that ad placement is not editorial endorsement and does not change how we write about that business.
What we don't do
We don't accept paid listings. A roaster cannot pay to appear on decaffeinate, pay for a better description, or pay to rank higher.
We don't run sponsored editorial. No "this article is brought to you by", no roaster-paid features, no sponsored guides.
We don't take payment for "best of" lists. Coffees featured on curated lists are chosen on stated criteria, not commercial relationships. If a featured coffee is also linked via an affiliate, the affiliate relationship is disclosed on the page in line.
We don't insert affiliate links into coffee listing pages. Coffee pages link to the roaster's own product page. They don't redirect through an affiliate intermediary.
We don't track readers across other sites. When we add affiliate partners, their cookies are set by the partner retailer when you click through. decaffeinate itself does not run third-party retargeting or behavioural advertising.
How any future revenue would shape the site
Honest answer: affiliate revenue, when it arrives, will fund the time spent researching, writing, and maintaining the directory. Without revenue, the work doesn't get done. What it never does is determine the editorial output.
If a coffee we recommend has no affiliate route, that doesn't change whether we recommend it. If a partner with a generous affiliate programme is not actually a good coffee, we don't write about it. The chain of decisions is editorial first, monetisation second.