Review Policy

Are you a company that has a product you would like reviewed?

Send an email to Cookistry@gmail.com for a shipping/mailing address.

Before sending your product, please read our review policy.

Gadget and Small Appliance Reviews

We will give an honest review of your product, including pros and cons. Let's be honest, there aren't many (or any) products on the market that don't have some downside, whether it's cost, storage space, seasonality, or limited use.

We will NOT accept a product with the intention of giving a bad review, and we will not trash a product just to be mean or funny. We will take into consideration the intended market for the product. For example, some product are perfect for families with kids, but useless for empty-nesters.

If a product appears to be defective or broken, we will contact you before reviewing - we will not give a bad review because the delivery people dropped the product and it bounced down the side of a mountain before it arrived here.

We do not take payment for reviews; however, since we have no budget, we require that you send us the product. If you wish to have your product returned, provide a return shipping label and let us know ahead of time, so we don't toss the packaging.

The ability to keep a product or not does not impact the review.

I do review products I have purchased, but please don't expect me to pay for your product that I might not actually want, in order to review it.

Products received are not guaranteed to be reviewed - if I can't come up with something interesting to say, I might simply list your product in a roundup. Or I might not write about it at all. I will make an attempt to review the products I receive or at least mention them, because that's what this site is about. But nothing is guaranteed.

Reviews are not guaranteed to be timely, but I will try to review seasonal items in their most useful season.

I will always link to a place where your product can be purchased, for the benefit of my readers. I might also link to your website where readers can get more details.

If you want specific links included in the post, or specific facts published, or if you need the review to be posted during a specific timeframe, then what you're really looking for is a sponsored post.

Food Reviews (Tastings)

We're always hungry here and are more than happy to review your snack-worthy products. We have no allergies, so anything is fine. We don't like coconut or raisins, so please don't send coconut-covered raisins. If you do send a coconut-flavored product as part of a selection, I'll give it to a good home.

For products that are intended as ingredients, we may review them here as a tasting, or at our discretion, we may opt to use the item in a recipe on Cookistry. Depending on what the item is, we may do both, or we may continue to use the item in recipes on Cookistry and mention your brand on occasion, when it seems warranted.

Perishable Products

Please let us know in advance if you're over-nighting something that needs to be refrigerated, particularly in summer, or sending delicate foods that might be harmed by freezing in the winter.

Sponsored Posts

Sponsored posts are not reviews and will not be disguised as a review. Sponsored posts might consist of how-to's or descriptions of your item, but they will not include blanket endorsements of your product. I will be honest about what I like about your product and I will not gush excessively, no matter how much you pay me.

Sponsored posts will include a reasonable number of links for purchase, for more information about the product or company, and/or for instructional how-to's.

Cost for sponsored posts depends on what you're looking for. Email Cookistry@gmail.com for details.

Some sponsored posts are better suited to my food blog, Cookistry (see Recipe Development).

Endorsements

You don't have enough money to pay me to endorse a product I don't like. Don't even ask. If you have a product that I like, I'd endorse it, but I'd prefer other avenues. Ask me. We can talk.

Giveaways

This site is always willing to host giveaways. In general, we require that we receive one item for our use in determining whether we want to give away the product or not (I don't want to give away anything I don't like) and for use in writing the blog post about the product.

In some cases, we're willing to do a giveaway without receiving product. For example, I might do a giveaway for a product I am already familiar with or that I use regularly.

Some giveaways are run as standalone posts. Others are run in conjunction with sponsored posts here or recipe development on Cookistry. If you're interested in having a giveaway run here or on Cookistry, email me at Cookistry@gmail.com for more details.

Recipe Development

Recipe development for sponsors belongs on Cookistry, where I create recipes using sponsors products. This site will probably not include many recipes - possibly none. Email me at Cookistry@gmail.com for details on how I can create original recipes using your products.

While I'm always willing to try new products, if I don't like your product, I won't use it in a recipe since that implies that I'm recommending it. Sometimes I will ask for a product first, before I agree to creating recipes. If I am familiar with your product or it's similar enough to other items that I like, I won't need a test sample before we proceed.

Please note that if you're sending me a product to use for recipe development, a small sample may not be enough. That's fine for a tasting, but in order to actually develop a recipe, I need enough to work with. It might take several tries before I have a recipe that I like well enough to publish, and that looks good for photos.

I am also available to create original recipes for publication on your site. Email me!

But that's not all

Items that become my property after being sampled or reviewed are ... my property, and I will do with them what I please. I may give some things away to friends, family, or charities. I may give some things away on my blog.

If I really like an item, I might continue using it for creating recipes for Cookistry, or for use in photos on that site.

If I really love an item, I might post how-to posts on Cookistry - or here - depending on where I think the post will fit better. If the how-to is part of a recipe, it belongs on Cookistry. If it's a how-to about maintenance of a gadget, then it belongs here.

But ... those uses are at my discretion. If you want your product to become the official "whatever" of Cookistry, then we need to talk.