Disclaimer & Affiliate Disclosure

1. Affiliate disclosure (FTC, ASA & global compliance)

AffordableThing participates in affiliate marketing programmes, including the AliExpress Affiliate Programme operated by Alibaba Group and other programmes where applicable. This means that when you click certain product links, category links, or call-to-action buttons on our site and subsequently make a qualifying purchase, we may receive a financial commission from the retailer or marketplace at no additional cost to you.

This disclosure is made in accordance with:

• The United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guidelines on endorsements and testimonials in advertising (16 CFR Part 255)
• The UK Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) Code and ASA guidelines on digital and affiliate marketing
• The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) guidelines on online endorsements
• Australian Consumer Law (ACL) and ACCC guidelines on online advertising
• Canadian regulations under the Competition Act and applicable provincial consumer protection laws

We always disclose when content contains affiliate links. You will see language such as “This article contains affiliate links. We may earn a commission if you buy through our links, at no extra cost to you” or equivalent notices at the top of relevant articles, guides, or pages. This notice appears on every page that contains monetised links.

Affiliate relationships do not affect which products we cover, which products we recommend, or the tone or content of our coverage. For our complete editorial independence policy, see Section 4.

2. How affiliate links work in practice

Understanding exactly how affiliate links function helps you make informed decisions about clicking them.

The mechanics

When you click an affiliate link on AffordableThing, you are redirected to the retailer’s website (primarily AliExpress) as you would be normally. In the process, a small piece of code in the URL or a cookie placed in your browser attributes the referral to AffordableThing. If you complete a qualifying purchase within the affiliate cookie window (typically 30 days for AliExpress), we receive a commission.

Your price is unchanged

You pay exactly the same price whether you arrive at AliExpress through our affiliate link or navigate directly to AliExpress.com. Affiliate commissions are paid by AliExpress out of their marketing budget, not by you and not through a markup on the product price.

The commission we receive

Commission rates vary by product category and campaign. We receive aggregated commission reports from AliExpress’s affiliate platform. We do not receive information that identifies which specific individual made a purchase. We do not know your name, address, order details, or what you purchased.

When no commission is earned

We earn no commission if you navigate to AliExpress directly, if your browser blocks affiliate cookies, if you make a return that reverses the commission, or if you purchase after the affiliate cookie has expired. We mention this not to discourage direct navigation but to be transparent that our affiliate income is imperfect and commission-based affiliate pages also contain links to content where no commission is available.

Non-affiliate content

Many pages on AffordableThing, including troubleshooting guides, policy explainers, and informational articles, contain no affiliate links at all. We write this content because it is useful, not because it earns commission.

3. Google AdSense and advertising

We display advertisements on our website served by Google AdSense. These advertisements are shown to help us generate revenue to operate the site, which allows us to keep all content free for readers.

Key facts about our advertising:

• Advertisements are served automatically by Google based on page content and your browsing data (if you have not opted out of personalised ads).
• We do not control which specific advertisers or advertisements appear on our site. We can block categories of advertising (e.g., adult content, competing products) but cannot select individual ads.
• The presence of an advertisement on AffordableThing does not represent an endorsement by us of the advertiser, their products, or their services.
• We do not have commercial relationships with advertisers beyond the automated Google AdSense system. We do not receive payment from advertisers in exchange for positive coverage, editorial mentions, or preferred placement of their products in our guides.
• Advertising revenue does not influence our editorial content. We write the same guides regardless of who is advertising on the site at any given time.

For information about how Google uses data in connection with AdSense, see Google’s advertising policies. To opt out of personalised advertising, visit adssettings.google.com.

4. Editorial independence and our content rules

Our editorial independence is what makes our content worth reading. A site that recommends products based on commission rates rather than genuine quality is useless to consumers. The following rules are non-negotiable and apply to all content published on AffordableThing.

5. Content accuracy and its limitations

We make genuine efforts to ensure the information published on AffordableThing is accurate, current, and useful. However, the following limitations apply to all content on this site:

Price and availability

Product prices on AliExpress change frequently, sometimes multiple times per day. Promotional prices during events like 11.11 or Choice Day last for limited periods. Any price mentioned in our content reflects the price at the time of writing or research and may no longer be accurate when you read it. Always verify current pricing directly on AliExpress before making a purchasing decision based on a price we have mentioned.

Tax, customs, and import regulations

Our country-specific guides describe VAT rules, customs duty thresholds, and import regulations based on the information available at the time of writing. These rules change. VAT rates change. De minimis thresholds change. Countries introduce new compliance requirements for international platforms. We do our best to update our guides when significant changes occur, but we cannot guarantee that every piece of tax or customs information is current at the moment you read it.

Always verify current customs and tax rules with your national revenue or customs authority before making import decisions. In the UK: HMRC. In the US: US Customs and Border Protection. In Canada: Canada Border Services Agency. In Australia: Australian Border Force.

Platform policies and features

AliExpress updates its buyer protection policies, dispute process, payment methods, seller requirements, and interface layout regularly and sometimes without public announcement. Our descriptions of how the AliExpress buyer protection system, dispute escalation process, or tracking interface works may not reflect the most current version of the platform at the time you read them.

Seller quality

Seller quality on AliExpress varies and can change over time. A seller we describe as reliable based on research at a point in time may have changed ownership, changed suppliers, or declined in quality by the time you purchase from them. We do not maintain real-time monitoring of individual sellers. Always read current buyer reviews and check the seller’s current statistics before purchasing.

Delivery times

Delivery time estimates mentioned in our guides are based on typical experience for standard shipping methods. Actual delivery times are affected by seller processing speed, carrier performance, customs delays at your country’s border, public holidays, extreme weather events, and other factors outside both AliExpress’s and our control. Treat all delivery time estimates as approximate ranges, not guarantees.

Product quality

AliExpress is a marketplace where hundreds of millions of products from thousands of sellers are listed. Product quality varies enormously between sellers, between product categories, and even between batches from the same seller. Our guides describe how to evaluate sellers and products, but we cannot guarantee the quality of any specific product or seller. Read current buyer reviews before purchasing.

6. Our relationship with AliExpress

AffordableThing is an independent website with no affiliation to, employment by, endorsement by, or special commercial relationship with AliExpress, Alibaba Group, or any of their subsidiaries beyond our participation in AliExpress’s publicly available affiliate programme.

We are not a spokesperson for AliExpress. We do not have advance knowledge of platform policy changes. We do not have special access to AliExpress systems, dispute outcomes, or seller data. We cannot contact AliExpress on your behalf, access your orders, or escalate your disputes through any channel that is not available to you directly.

Our guides explain how to use AliExpress’s own Help Center and buyer protection system. For actual support with an AliExpress order, go directly to AliExpress’s Help Center within the app or at aliexpress.com.

We write critically about AliExpress when doing so is warranted. We describe where the platform’s systems fail, where policies are unclear, and where buyers regularly encounter problems. Our independence from AliExpress is what makes this honest assessment possible.

7. No professional or specialist advice

Nothing published on AffordableThing constitutes, or should be relied upon as, professional legal, financial, tax, customs, regulatory, or investment advice.

Specifically:

• Our descriptions of VAT, GST, customs duties, and import regulations are provided for general informational purposes only. They do not constitute tax advice. Tax law is complex, jurisdiction-specific, and changes frequently. Consult a qualified tax professional or your national tax authority for advice specific to your circumstances.
• Our descriptions of consumer rights and protections (Section 75, Australian Consumer Law, FTC protections, etc.) are provided for general informational purposes. They do not constitute legal advice. For specific legal questions, consult a qualified legal professional in your jurisdiction.
• Our descriptions of AliExpress’s buyer protection, dispute, and refund systems are based on our experience and research. We cannot predict or guarantee how AliExpress or any third party will handle a specific dispute in a specific case.

8. External links

AffordableThing contains links to external websites, including:

• AliExpress product pages and seller stores
• Carrier tracking portals (USPS, Royal Mail, Canada Post, Australia Post, etc.)
• Government customs and tax authority websites
• Consumer protection authority websites
• Payment platform help pages (PayPal, etc.)
• Other consumer information resources

We include these links because we believe they are useful to our readers. We are not responsible for the content, accuracy, privacy practices, or security of any external website. The inclusion of any external link does not imply endorsement of that website, its operator, or its content by AffordableThing.

External websites operate under their own terms and privacy policies. If you follow a link from our site to another website, we encourage you to review that website’s own policies.

9. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, AffordableThing, its owners, authors, contributors, and affiliates disclaim all warranties, express or implied, including but not limited to warranties of accuracy, completeness, merchantability, or fitness for a particular purpose.

We shall not be liable for any loss or damage, including but not limited to:

• Financial loss arising from purchases made on AliExpress or any other platform based on information from this site
• Loss arising from reliance on descriptions of tax, customs, or import rules that have subsequently changed
• Loss arising from reliance on descriptions of AliExpress platform features, policies, or processes that have subsequently changed
• Loss of data, loss of profits, loss of business, or any consequential or indirect losses
• Damage caused by viruses or other harmful material that may infect your device as a result of following a link from our site

Some jurisdictions do not permit the exclusion or limitation of certain types of liability. Where such mandatory provisions apply, our liability is limited to the minimum extent permitted by law.

Nothing in this disclaimer excludes or limits our liability for fraud, personal injury caused by our negligence, or any other liability that cannot be excluded by law.

10. Jurisdiction-specific notices

United Kingdom

UK consumers retain all rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, and other applicable UK consumer protection legislation. Nothing in this disclaimer affects those statutory rights.

If you believe we have violated UK advertising standards, you may report this to the Advertising Standards Authority at asa.org.uk or the Competition and Markets Authority at gov.uk/cma.

United States

Our affiliate disclosures are made in compliance with the FTC’s Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. If you have questions or concerns about our affiliate practices, contact us via our Contact page or contact the FTC at ftc.gov.

European Union

EU consumers retain rights under the EU Consumer Rights Directive, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and other applicable EU legislation. Nothing in this disclaimer affects those rights.

Australia

Australian consumers retain rights under the Australian Consumer Law (Schedule 2, Competition and Consumer Act 2010) including consumer guarantees that cannot be excluded. Nothing in this disclaimer affects those statutory rights. Our affiliate disclosures are made in accordance with ACCC guidelines on online advertising.

Canada

Canadian consumers retain rights under the Competition Act and applicable provincial consumer protection legislation. Nothing in this disclaimer affects those rights.