FTC affilliate disclosure
…suppose the person works for the company that sells the product – or has been paid by the company to tout the product. Would you want to know that when you’re evaluating the endorser’s glowing recommendation? You bet. That common-sense premise is at the heart of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Endorsement Guides (pdf). – FTC1)
This wiki strives to illustrate/present options rather than make recommendations (glowing or otherwise). A link to a product or service is intended to help reader research and not to endorse anything.
Exception: individual contributors may endorse/recommend but that should be done in an obviously-personal inclusion in the article. “So-and-so recommends such-and-such”.
Still, this is your affiliate disclosure. If you follow a link to a retailer like Amazon or eBay the wiki or its contributors may get a referral fee from the sale. It doesn't change the price to the customer.
Amazon wants to see these specific words: as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
financial transparency
UPDATE! the rvwiki project finally broke even in May 2025. IOW, it generated enough to cover the hosting costs I've sunk into it. It's no guarantee future Amazon aff revenue will continue to cover costs but it's a nice milestone anyhow. – secessus, Jun 2025
Notes:
- this sheet tracks actual payments and not when the earnings were made. This can result in blank spots when either $0 was earned, or when the payout minimum was not met ($10, IIRC)
- the gap and negative number in 2023 is because a $154.94 was awarded then the buyer returned the product a couple months later. The deduction slurped up all other commission earnings for a few months
- the virtual server is priced in euros. It usually ends up being ~$15/mo so I used that figure here instead of tracking currency exchange rates.
- in Feb 2023 I changed from taking the commission payouts as Amazon gift certificates to direct deposit. There is little practical difference since I regularly order from Amazon, but one of my accounts waives the fee on months when there is a direct deposit.
- In 2024 Amazon started inviting me to programs that offer bonuses for meeting sales ~$1000. I've met this 2x and have received 2x $30 bonuses (boni?) as of June 26.