Affiliate disclosure & how we make money

The short version

Some outbound shopping links on this site are affiliate links. If you buy through them, the retailer pays The Cast Index a commission — at no extra cost to you. Every affiliate link is labelled before or alongside the link, and carries rel="sponsored" so search engines can identify it as paid. Commissions never decide what we review, how we score it, or where anything ranks.

Every way we earn money

• Affiliate commissions. When you click a labelled affiliate link and make a qualifying purchase, the retailer or network pays us a percentage. The price you pay is the same.
• Cast Index Pro subscriptions. £49/seat/month for industry data tools.
• Paid directory listings. £19/year for a profile listing in the directory.
• Event listings. £29 for a listing in the events directory.
• People’s Choice nominations. £5 to nominate in the public vote.

The firewall: no payment, commission, listing, submission, donation or vote buys, influences or guarantees any editorial ranking, review, score, evidence or coverage. Affiliate content follows the same evidence standards as the rest of the index: real products, named sources, and summaries in our own words. People’s Choice is a separate public popularity vote and does not affect the editorial Index. Paid listings are labelled as paid services and are kept separate from the editorial index.

Giving

The Cast Index donates 10% of profits to World Animal Rescue Network (WARN), funding partner-led animal rescue across 17 countries. The pledge cannot buy, move or soften a ranking. It is separate from any personal donation you make on WARN’s site.

Full note: About · Giving. Partner: World Animal Rescue Network ↗.

United States — FTC disclosure

Under the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s Endorsement Guides (16 CFR Part 255), an affiliate commission is a “material connection” between us and the retailer, and it must be disclosed clearly and conspicuously. Here is how we comply:

• A plain-English disclosure appears before or directly above any block of affiliate links — not buried in a footer or a distant page.
• Affiliate links are labelled in the surrounding text and marked in code with rel="sponsored".
• This page is linked from the site footer and from every disclosure box.

Amazon Associates

The Cast Index participates (or intends to participate) in Amazon Associates Programmes. The UK Operating Agreement requires this statement clearly and prominently on the Site:

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

The Cast Index is a participant in the Amazon Associates Programme; as an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

That disclosure covers every Amazon marketplace we enable (for example Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, Amazon.co.jp). Each marketplace uses its own Associates Store ID — we never reuse a UK tag on a US URL.

• Amazon CTAs are labelled (paid link) when live, in addition to the site-wide Ad / Affiliate disclosure.
• We use only properly tagged Special Links (SiteStripe / Associates link builder / our own ?tag= links). We never cloak, shorten, or disguise Amazon destinations.
• We do not quote live Amazon prices as fixed — prices and availability change on Amazon’s side; Amazon’s checkout terms govern any purchase.
• We prefer Amazon Retail / brand-store listings over unverified third-party marketplace sellers when recommending products.

Full agreement: Amazon.co.uk Associates Operating Agreement ↗.

United Kingdom — ASA / CAP Code

Under the UK CAP Code, affiliate marketing is advertising, and The Cast Index is the “marketer” for CAP purposes on pages carrying affiliate links. We comply by making affiliate content obviously identifiable:

• An Ad label appears on affiliate shopping blocks and CTAs.
• A plain-English disclosure appears under the page title or directly above shopping links (not only in a footer).
• Affiliate anchors use rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" and data-affiliate-partner.
• Editorial rankings, Season Beauty Index finishes and model scores remain independent of commissions.

Beauty shopping lives on the Season Beauty Index; wardrobe shopping on the Fashion Edit. If you believe any content breaches the CAP Code, complain to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) — and please tell us first so we can put it right.

For how we handle your data when you click outbound links, see our Privacy Policy and Cookies & storage notice.

Affiliate programs we work with

• Amazon.co.uk Associates (UK)

  Links to Amazon.co.uk carry our Associates tag; qualifying purchases earn The Cast Index a commission at no extra cost to you.

• Amazon.com Associates (US)

  Links to Amazon.com carry our Associates tag; qualifying purchases earn The Cast Index a commission at no extra cost to you.

Programs may be added or removed over time; any active program is listed above and covered by the disclosures on this page.

Questions

Anything unclear about how a link makes us money? Ask the desk: desk@thecastindex.com.