GachaGachaMeister is an independent editorial website, but it is also a business. One of the ways we may make money is through affiliate and referral relationships with some of the companies and services we cover.
In simple terms, this means that if you click or tap on certain links from GachaMeister and complete a qualifying action (like making a purchase) through the company we link to, GachaMeister may receive compensation from that company.
We don’t think there’s anything inherently wrong with affiliate marketing, when it’s done responsibly. It helps to fund our research, testing, tools, and content that goes into running a large site like GachaMeister, and it allows us to continue providing our services to readers like you for free.
What does matter, however, is that readers know when a commercial relationship exists - and that the possibility of earning money never gets to decide what we say about a company. This Affiliate Disclosure explains how that works.
How GachaMeister May Earn Money From Affiliate Links
Some links on GachaMeister may be affiliate or referral links. If you choose to follow one of these links and then complete the qualifying action (defined by the relevant affiliate programme), GachaMeister may receive compensation from the company involved.
Exactly what counts as a qualifying action, how a referral is attributed and how GachaMeister is compensated can vary between programmes. As a result, we can’t make any blanket claims on things like commission rates, tracking periods, or other programme terms.
Not every company we cover will necessarily have a commercial relationship with GachaMeister, and not every external link on the site should be assumed to be an affiliate link.
How We Disclose Affiliate Links
We don’t expect you to find and read this page before clicking every link on GachaMeister, which is why, when a page does contain an affiliate link, a monetised recommendation, or another commercial action that requires disclosure, we do our best to make that relationship as clear and transparent as possible.
This page explains our overall approach to affiliate relationships, but it does not replace the disclosures that you’ll see alongside monetised content elsewhere on GachaMeister.
An Affiliate Link Does Not Mean We Recommend Something
Importantly, where we do have an affiliate relationship with a platform, this does not mean we recommend it above others. We recommend companies, platforms and services based on our findings - not our commercial arrangements.
Not every platform we cover has an affiliate relationship with us, either. Some platforms we review simply because they’re relevant to collectors - regardless of whether or not we earn anything.
Similarly, just because we use an affiliate link does not mean that GachaMeister necessarily recommends the company, product, or service that it points to.
If we reach a positive or negative conclusion about something, that conclusion should be based on the evidence available to us and the methodology relevant to that type of content. Whether an affiliate programme exists - and whether we’re a part of that programme - does not make that evidence stronger, or weaker.
In simple terms: Platforms, sellers and companies cannot pay to improve their reviews or rankings.
What We Do and Don't Accept
Commercial relationships can take many forms. GachaMeister may earn affiliate commissions from companies we cover. Companies may sometimes provide access, testing credit, free products or other resources that allow us to research and review their services.
We do not accept:
- Payment for positive reviews or inflated ratings
- Sponsored reviews presented deceptively as independent editorial content
- Payment, commercial pressure, or other incentives to remove, delete, edit, or suppress an evidence-based negative finding simply because a company doesn’t like what we say
If a company provides evidence showing that something we published is wrong, outdated, or no longer accurately reflects its service, that’s different, and we, of course, want any factual errors to be corrected. That process, however, is controlled by our evidence and corrections standards, not by whether the company has a commercial relationship with us.
Editorial Independence
Ratings are not adjusted based on affiliate payout, and negative findings are published regardless of commercial relationship.
A commercial relationship cannot be used to buy a better score, improve a verdict, move higher in a ranking, become recommended when we would not otherwise recommend something, lower the evidence standard we apply, suppress supported criticism, or prevent a factual correction.
The same principle works the other way around, too. A company doesn’t necessarily need to have an affiliate relationship with GachaMeister to receive positive coverage or a recommendation - and having a commercial relationship with us does not protect a company from criticism or a poor review.
Companies and platforms we cover are always welcome to submit corrections to us, using factual information and evidence, and they may also challenge our findings or explain why they feel we’ve got something wrong. A commercial relationship, however, does not give them editorial control over what that conclusion should be.
You can read more about these rules in our Editorial Independence Policy.
Free Products, Credits and Special Access
Access to platforms for the purpose of testing and reviewing (free pack credits, trial access, etc), is always disclosed where applicable. If a platform has provided us with complimentary access or credits for review purposes, this will be made clear in the relevant review.
Free access absolutely does not guarantee positive coverage, a particular score, a recommendation, or even any coverage at all.
What special access can change is the experience we’re able to actually test. For example, if it differs from what an ordinary customer would receive, we then take that limitation into account rather than presenting it as an “everyday” experience for most other users.
Our Wider Editorial Standards
Affiliate disclosure is only one part of the wider system we use to keep commercial interests separate from our editorial work.
- Our Editorial Independence Policy explains what companies we cover can, and can’t influence.
- Our Review & Evidence Methodology page explains how we research, test, and review the various companies, platforms, products, and services covered by GachaMeister.
- Our Evidence & Verification Policy explains what evidence we use, how we distinguish between different types of evidence, and what happens when GachaMeister is unable to verify something properly.
- Our Corrections & Right of Reply Policy explains how factual challenges, corrections and material changes are handled.
In practice, however, our principle is simple: GachaMeister needs to make money to be able to operate (and keep its services free of charge to users), but the way we make money does not get to decide what our readers are told.
Contact
If you have any questions about our commercial relationships, want to know more about our editorial approach, or simply want to say hello, please head over to our Contact Us page, or reach out at the channels shown below:
Email: hello@gachameister.com