Hair Dryer Lab may earn a commission when you buy through our links. This doesn’t affect how we test or review products. That sentence appears on every commercial page on this site, and it is the whole disclosure in one line. This page explains the mechanics behind it — which retailers we link to, how the commission works, and why it changes nothing about our recommendations — because a disclosure you cannot verify is not worth much.
Who we work with
We link to retailers and to brand storefronts. We do not sell anything ourselves.
| Category | Who | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| Retailer | Amazon.ca | Outbound purchase links go here |
| Brand storefronts | Laifen, Dreame, Slopehill | Some recommendations link to brand-operated listings |
| Other retailers | Costco Canada, Best Buy Canada, Walmart Canada | Named for availability; we may or may not have a link |
Some models we recommend have no affiliate relationship at all. Where that is the case, we still recommend them if the evidence supports it. A dryer that pays us nothing can outrank one that pays us a commission — that is a rule in our editorial policy, not a marketing claim.
We do not publish the names of the affiliate networks or platforms we work through. That information is commercial and internal, and it is not useful to a buyer deciding between two hair dryers. What matters to you is the retailer you land on, and that is always visible in the link label.
How affiliate links work
An affiliate link is a normal retailer link with a tracking code attached. Here is the sequence:
- You click a link labelled with a retailer name, such as Check price at Amazon.ca
- The retailer records that the visit came from us
- If you buy something — usually within a set attribution window — the retailer pays us a percentage of the sale
- You pay exactly the same price. The commission comes out of the retailer’s margin, not out of your pocket
If you would rather not use our links, you can. Note the model name, go to the retailer directly, and buy it there. Your price is the same and our guidance is unchanged. We would rather you made the right purchase than the one that pays us.
Affiliate links on this site are marked rel="sponsored". That is a technical signal to search engines identifying a commercial relationship, and it is the standard way to disclose one in code.
How commissions affect our rankings — they do not
This is the part of the disclosure that actually matters, so here is how it is enforced rather than asserted.
What goes into a ranking position:
- Reliability signals from our coded review analysis — durability is the most negative topic in our dataset at 946 negative mentions and an 84% negative share, so complaint rate by price band is a ranking input
- Whether the listing is brand-operated and who holds the Buy Box, because that determines whether a warranty claim has a counterparty
- Verified price and rating, at a stated check date
- Fit for a stated buyer type
What is not an input: commission rate, brand relationship, advertising spend, or how prominently a brand has asked to be featured.
Two things that demonstrate it is real:
- Our guides have told readers to avoid models that sell extremely well. In our Laifen coverage we name the Swift gen 1 as a model to avoid — it has 442 ratings and sells steadily, and it carries the lowest rating in its range at 4.1 stars. Recommending it would be easy; the evidence does not support it
- We recommend products across price bands. Our top pick sits at about C$100 rather than at the top of the range, because the durability evidence supports it
Brands cannot buy any of the following, at any price:
- A ranking position
- A rating or a category conclusion
- The removal or softening of a criticism
- Withdrawal of a page
How to tell an affiliate link apart
Three reliable signals:
| Signal | What it looks like |
|---|---|
| Label | Outbound links name the retailer: Check price at Amazon.ca |
| Context | They appear in a price area or a buy call to action, never inside an editorial conclusion |
| Destination | They go to a retailer or brand storefront, not to another page on this site |
Links to our own pages are never affiliate links. When we link to our methodology page, a comparison, or a guide, there is no commercial relationship in that click.
Our editors keep editorial conclusions and commercial calls to action separate. We do not write “because it is great value, click here to buy”. We write the conclusion first, on its own, and place any purchase link separately.
Regulatory basis
Disclosing affiliate relationships is a legal requirement, not a courtesy, in the markets we serve.
- Canada — the Competition Act prohibits materially false or misleading representations, and the Competition Bureau’s guidance on endorsements and testimonials applies to affiliate content
- United States — the FTC’s endorsement guides require clear and conspicuous disclosure of material connections, which covers affiliate commissions for US readers
- Search engines — commercial links are marked
rel="sponsored", and paid or sponsored content is labelled and excluded from rankings
We do not publish a disclosure on the basis that it is required and then hide it. Every commercial page carries one near the top, and the footer carries it site-wide.
What we do not do
A disclosure page is only useful if it is specific, so here is the list.
- We do not accept payment for a ranking or a rating
- We do not accept payment to remove a criticism
- We do not publish sponsored content without labelling it, and sponsored content is excluded from rankings entirely
- We do not hide the retailer behind a redirect so you cannot see where you are going
- We do not use urgency tactics — no countdowns, no fake scarcity, no “limited time” unless a retailer promotion is being factually described
- We do not display current prices. Prices on this site are approximate figures from our own research, not live retailer pricing — the price that applies is the one on the retailer page when you buy
- We do not sell your data. See our privacy policy for what we do collect
How to support us
If you want to support the site, using our links costs you nothing extra. That is genuinely the whole ask.
If you would rather not, that is completely fine. Our recommendations are the product. Read them, use them, and buy wherever you prefer — directly from the brand, from a local retailer, or from whichever shop has it in stock. The guidance does not change.
The most valuable thing you can send us is a correction. If a price is stale, a specification is wrong, or a figure does not add up, email editorial@hairdryerlab.ca. See contact for how to reach us.
Frequently asked questions
Does Hair Dryer Lab earn money from its links? Yes. Hair Dryer Lab may earn a commission when you buy through our links. This doesn’t affect how we test or review products. You pay the same price whether you use our link or go to the retailer directly.
Do commissions decide which hair dryers you recommend? No. Commission rates are not an input to rankings. We have recommended products on the strength of durability data, price band and seller structure, and we have told readers to avoid models that sell extremely well. Neither decision is possible if commission drives the outcome.
Will I pay more if I use your link? No. The commission comes out of the retailer’s margin, not out of your pocket. The price you see is the same price you would pay going to the retailer directly.
How can I tell which links are affiliate links? Outbound links to retailers are affiliate links. Our calls to action are labelled with the retailer name, such as Check price at Amazon.ca. Links to our own pages are not affiliate links and never will be.
Do you accept payment for a ranking? No, and this is the commitment that matters most. No brand has paid for a ranking, a rating or the removal of a criticism. Brands cannot buy a position, and they cannot buy silence about a flaw. Our editorial policy sets this out in full.
What happens if I buy directly from the brand instead? Nothing changes for you and nothing changes for us. If you would rather buy directly from a brand or from a local retailer, do that. Our guidance is the same either way, and we would rather you made the right purchase than the one that pays us.
Why we show approximate prices
Amazon Associates requires that any Amazon price you display must be current. They publish that rule because a stale price misleads buyers, and we agree with the reasoning.
We do not have a live price feed. The prices in our guides come from our own research at a stated check date, so presenting them as exact current prices would be a claim we cannot keep accurate. Instead:
- Prices are shown as approximations — “about C$100” rather than a figure to the cent
- The exact figure still drives our analysis internally, which is why we can still tell you a dryer costs roughly four times another
- The price that applies is the one on the retailer page when you buy, and that is where our links take you
- We do not run a price-tracking feed, and we will not imply we do
What this changes for you. If you are comparing two dryers where the price difference matters to your decision, check both on the retailer page — our approximations are good enough for judging which price band a product sits in, and not precise enough to be a quote.