Everything you need to know about CBS Essentials, your guide to online shopping

Here’s everything you need to know about CBS Essentials, from our writers to our business model.

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It’s pretty simple: CBS Essentials is your complete guide to online shopping. Our mission is to help you find great products for your home and work life, and to plug you into the latest deals and news about brands you love.

Our writers and editors live and breathe online shopping, with years of collective experience covering the retail business and reviewing products. We compile expert advice, customer reviews and first-hand experience to find just the right products to recommend. We are in constant contact with retailers to make sure we know when deals drop, new products launch and sales begin.

And this is important: Our editors work independently of the CBS News newsroom; we work independently of retailers; and we make money when you buy things from our links. We will always be clear with our readers about this.

How the CBS Essentials team works

The Essentials team sticks to rigorous content guidelines: All product selections and editorial decisions are our own. We have affiliate relationships with many retailers, which is how CBS Essentials makes money. When you click a link to shop for a product, we receive a portion of the revenue from any resulting sales. This affiliate relationship does not affect our editorial decisions, and our mission remains to bring readers the best deals.

Our articles are also not influenced by retailers. Occasionally, a particular article may be sponsored by a brand. In that case, it will be clearly identified as “sponsored content.” We will always be upfront about this.

Some items may be out of stock by the time links are clicked. Some deals may be over by the time you read an article. These things are subject to the retailer, and we work hard to keep current on deal and stock information.

How we select products

Our team of experts look at each product across five key metrics to deliver recommendations that are thorough, objective and useful.

1. Verified reviews: We only consider products that are widely reviewed with consistently high ratings from verified buyers and qualified experts. If a product doesn’t meet that high standard, it doesn’t make our buying guides.

2. Brand trust: There’s a reason why Americans trust some brands more than others, and we give special attention to those with a proven track record, consistent sales and a solid reputation for quality and satisfaction. We’re always looking for innovative new companies and products your household might like, but we weigh our selection metrics in favor of the tried-and-true.

3. Customer feedback: We keep a steady eye on what our readers buy, what they keep, what they return, what they buy again. We listen to what our readers and similar consumers have to say, and feed that data into the buying guides and deals we bring to you.

4. Newsworthiness

5. Features and history:

Whether it’s a brand-new washer-dryer set or the latest smartphone, features and capabilities matter. We evaluate each product’s feature offerings against its previous versions and competitors. Our experts — in tech, furniture, appliances, kitchen, travel, fitness and deals — know what features matter, so you can, too.

Our goal at CBS Essentials is to do the rigorous research so you don’t have to, and recommend only the best products for your busy home.