Disclosure Policy

The Federal Trade Commission requires that owners of blogs and websites disclose any relationship we might have with retailers, product manufacturers, or service providers who are mentioned in any article or post on our sites. This is to protect readers from misleading recommendations based on conflicts of interest that are not disclosed. In other words, if a blogger says that XYZ product is the bees-knees, she is required by law to tell you that her uncle owns the company, or that she was paid to endorse the product. You’d think that basic ethics would cover this, but that is not always the case, unfortunately.

When I review a product or service here on Buy or DIY, these are the guidelines you can count on:

• I never accept payments to review products or services. If that ever changes, I’ll let you know in writing. And woe to the advertiser who asks me to review a less-than-ideal product, ’cause I wouldn’t pull any punches.
• This website is all about helping you to compare your options when considering a project and helping you to decide whether buying, hiring, or doing it yourself in whole or in part will be in your best interest. I may not always be right, and I may not always have the advantage of knowing all of the variables for any given project, but you will always get my full and honest opinion.
• Sometimes I will link to products or services that I recommend, and I may get paid a commission if you purchase the product or service. These links are added after I write my post. I will never write a post for the purpose of persuading you to buy something from which I might profit financially.
• No advertiser or affiliate entity will ever influence the content published on this website.
• Other writers may post their own opinions or offer services or products on this website from time to time. Before I publish anything written by another person that promotes anything from which they may stand to gain financially, I will do my best to ensure that they do not have a conflict of interest. If guest posters link to their own blogs, you should ask about their disclosure policies if you have any concerns; I cannot control what others do on their websites.
• Disclosure statements related to individual posts will be included at the end of the posts.
• Please let me know if and when you have any questions or concerns about anything I post on this blog, especially if you feel I may have violated my own disclosure policy. I fully realize that I am only as good as my recommendations, and I sincerely appreciate your trust in me.

The purpose of this website is truly to help you make difficult choices and let you compare your options side-by-side. Buying or hiring helpers is not always more expensive than doing it yourself, and DIY projects are not always more time consuming or less professional than buying the equivalent goods or services. Only you can decide which trade offs are acceptable to you–time versus quality, budget versus time, etc.–but I can help you understand how your choices may play out in the real world and present you with options that you may otherwise  not have known about.

If you have any questions about this policy please contact me at info@buyordiy.com.