How we research
Every profile on Fortuna Reviews is built from the store’s own website. We show where we read each fact and on what date. These are researched profiles, not first-hand reviews: we don’t buy from the stores to write them.
How stores are chosen
We start from the 822 online stores in our research and apply the same rule to every one, in this order:
- The store ships to the US, on the evidence of its own site.
- Its own pages state its shipping and its returns, in words we can quote and link.
- At most six stores per category, and at most six stores whose pages make health claims or sell health products, so the set stays broad.
- Within a category, stores whose own pages answer more of our questions come first.
Today that leaves 53 stores across 10 categories. Every store left out is recorded with the reason, in our research files.
Fortuna Reviews may profile stores that run a paying affiliate program, and may also profile stores that don’t. Every store profiled today runs one, through a network (Awin, Impact, CJ or ShareASale); that is how we make money, and a store’s commission never changes what its profile says. More on that.
What we read, and where
- What it sells, shipping, returns, payment and customer service: the store’s own home, policy, FAQ, help and contact pages. We quote the store’s words where we can, and link the page.
- Price range: the lowest and highest listed price on the store’s own catalog, leaving out gift cards, shipping protection, donations and other lines that aren’t products.
- Ratings: the score and review count on the Trustpilot page for the store’s own domain, attributed to Trustpilot and dated. We don’t use review aggregators, coupon sites or competitors as sources.
Dates, and what we don’t know
Each fact carries the date we read it. Stores change their pages, so a fact is what the page said on that date. If a store’s pages don’t state something, the profile says “Not stated on the store’s site.” If the store may state it but we haven’t been able to read it yet (a catalog that isn’t machine-readable, say), the profile says “Not yet in our research.” We never fill a gap with a guess.
Corrections
If a profile is wrong or out of date, tell us at the address on our About page and we’ll re-read the store’s page.