In 2015, the Federal Trade Commission released its new rules for Disclosure Compliance. These rules ensure that readers or viewers of web media (blogs, YouTube, videos, etc.) know if the blogger/presenter is sponsored, endorsed, or partnered with a different company. In blog terms, the readers need to know if the blogger is making money by sharing a link or product.
In compliance with the FTC guidelines, please assume the following about links and posts on this site: Any/all of the links first-hand-life.com are affiliate links, of which I receive a small compensation from sales of certain items.
What are affiliate links?
Purchases are made on external affiliate company websites: When a reader clicks on an affiliate link on first-hand-life.com to purchase an item, the reader buys the item from the seller directly (not from first-hand-life.com. Amazon and/or other companies pay first-hand-life.com a small commission or other compensation for promoting their website or products through their affiliate program.
Prices are the same whether you purchase through an affiliate or non-affiliate link. You will not pay more by clicking through the link.
I use two main types of affiliate programs:
1. Amazon affiliate links.
first-hand-life.com participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon properties, including, but not limited to, amazon.com. Amazon offers a small commission on products sold through their affiliate links.
If a blogger links to an Amazon product (with a unique code for affiliates embedded in the link), and a reader places an item in their “shopping cart” through that link within 24 hours of clicking the link, the blogger gets a small percentage of the sale. Amazon links are not “pay per click.” If you click on the product link, stay around Amazon and purchase something else, I will get a commission on that sale.
Anytime you see a link that looks like astore.com/… or amazon.com… it can be assumed that it is an Amazon affiliate link.
2. Product affiliate links.
These affiliate links work the same way: if you click the link and buy the product, the blogger gets a percentage of the sale or some other compensation. E-book bundles, e-courses, and online packages are usually affiliate links. Again, prices are not different if you use these affiliate links. You will not pay more by clicking through the link. These links are not “pay per click” unless otherwise denoted.
What about sponsored content?
I do not write sponsored posts. I want to bring you accurate, unbiased information. However, if a company sponsors a post and it is a paid sponsorship, I will disclose this clearly at the beginning of the post.