Roasterlist runs as an independent publication. To keep doing that without charging roasters or readers, we use affiliate links and display advertising. This page sets out exactly which is which, and why neither one shapes what we write.
Some links on Roasterlist earn us a small commission if you click through and buy something. We never charge roasters to be listed. Affiliate relationships do not influence which roasters appear, what we say about them, or where they rank.
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 exactly the same as if you'd 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. They're a common way independent publishers fund editorial work.
When we use an affiliate link 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 profile to the roaster's homepage, for example) are not affiliate links. They earn us nothing. They exist because they're useful to the reader.
We only enter affiliate relationships with retailers we already think highly of. Joining a programme doesn't mean we'll automatically recommend that partner. The affiliate side is downstream of the editorial decision, not the other way round.
Current affiliate partners:
| Partner | What they sell | Programme details |
|---|---|---|
| Clumsy Goat | Coffee subscriptions and beans from a curated set of UK and European roasters | Recurring commission on subscription sign-ups via Refersion |
| Coffee Hit | Home and prosumer coffee equipment, grinders, accessories | Commission on equipment sales via their affiliate programme |
| Amazon UK | Wide range; we use it mainly for accessories and equipment that isn't readily available elsewhere | Amazon Associates programme (UK), variable rate by category |
We may add or remove partners. When we do, this table is updated and the change is logged on the corrections page.
Roasterlist plans to run display advertising through Mediavine Journey once we cross the eligibility threshold. Display ads are served by the ad network and are not editorially selected. They run alongside editorial content, never inside it.
If a display ad ever appears on Roasterlist for a roaster listed in the directory, that ad placement is not editorial endorsement and does not change how we write about that roaster.
We don't accept paid listings. A roaster cannot pay to appear on Roasterlist, 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. The roasters we feature on curated lists are chosen on stated criteria, not commercial relationships. If a featured roaster is also an affiliate partner, the affiliate relationship is disclosed on the page in line.
We don't insert affiliate links into roaster profile pages. Profile pages link to the roaster's own website. They don't redirect through an affiliate intermediary.
We don't track readers across other sites. The affiliate cookies are set by the partner retailer when you click through. We don't run third-party retargeting or behavioural advertising on Roasterlist itself.
Honest answer: affiliate revenue funds the time spent researching, writing, and maintaining the directory. Without it, the work doesn't get done. What it never does is determine the editorial output.
If a roaster we recommend has no affiliate programme, that doesn't change whether we recommend them. If a partner with a generous affiliate programme isn't actually a good roaster, we don't write about them. The chain of decisions is editorial first, monetisation second.