Affiliate Disclosure
Crampons.net is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
What this means in practice
When you click a link on this site that leads to Amazon and then make a purchase, we may receive a small commission. This comes out of Amazon's margin, not your pocket — you pay exactly the same price whether you arrive through our link or type the URL yourself.
How it affects our content — and how it doesn't
- Commissions fund the site's hosting and the time that goes into research and testing.
- Product rankings are determined before, and independently of, any commission consideration. Several of our top picks are lower-commission items than their competitors.
- We link to products because we recommend them; we never recommend products because they link well.
- Prices and availability shown on Amazon are accurate as displayed there at the time of your visit and may differ from anything referenced on this site.
What an affiliate link changes, and what it cannot
| Question | Answer | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Does an affiliate link change the price you pay? | No | The fee is paid by the retailer out of its own margin after the sale |
| Does it change which products get recommended? | No | Picks are decided on fit, security and terrain suitability before commission is considered at all |
| Does it change the ranking order within a list? | No | Order follows who the reader is, not what any item pays |
| Can a brand pay for placement, a link or a mention? | No | Placement is not sold, and no arrangement of that kind exists on this site |
| Does a review sample buy a recommendation? | No | A sample creates no obligation to publish, or to publish favourably |
| Does it affect whether we say "don't buy this"? | No | Sending readers to cheaper gear, or to no purchase at all, is routine here |
| Does it affect what data we see about you? | No | Affiliate reporting reaches us in aggregate, with no personal identifiers |
| Does blocking the link cost you anything? | No | It costs us the commission; your price and the page are unchanged |
Identifying affiliate links
Any link on this site pointing to Amazon should be assumed to be an affiliate link. Buttons labeled "Check price on Amazon" always are. A disclosure notice also appears at the top of every page containing such links.
Internal links — the ones pointing to other pages here, such as how to choose crampons or crampon safety basics — earn nothing and carry no tag. Trust pages like this one contain no product links at all.
Why the incentive is disclosed rather than hidden
A site funded by purchases has an obvious pull toward recommending more gear, and more expensive gear. Naming that pull is the only way a reader can weigh what they are reading. Ours is answered by writing the pages that reduce spending: microspikes versus crampons exists largely to tell people they need less hardware than they came looking for, and the crampon roundup routes whole categories of reader away from its own picks. Those pages earn less than the alternative. They are also the reason the recommendations mean anything.
Trademarks
Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. All product names, brand names and trademarks referenced on this site are the property of their respective owners and are used for identification purposes only.
Questions
If anything about how this site is funded is unclear, ask us via the contact page. You can also read about our editorial standards on the about page, and what an affiliate click means for your data in the privacy policy.
FAQ
Do I pay more by using your links?
No. The price is set by the retailer and is identical either way. The commission is deducted from the retailer's margin after the sale, which is why using a link costs you nothing and skipping one saves you nothing.
Are higher-commission products ranked higher?
No. Commission rates are not part of how picks are chosen or ordered, and several top picks pay less than the products they beat. Where two models are genuinely equivalent, the page says so and points you at fit or price rather than nudging you toward the better-paying one.
What happens if I block affiliate cookies?
The site works normally, because the pages are static and nothing here depends on the tag. A blocked or expired attribution simply means no commission is credited. That affects our income and not your price or your reading.
Does Amazon tell you what I bought?
Not in any way that identifies you. Affiliate reporting arrives as aggregate figures — items ordered, quantities, fees earned. There is no name, address or payment detail attached, and no route from an order back to a person.