How we score and earn
What a board is
A board ranks one kind of product, for example cordless drills under £100. For each product we record, on one date, what the store shows: the star rating, the number of reviews, and the price. For Amazon we record them by hand. For shops on the Awin network the figures come from the product feed the shop publishes for its affiliates, which is meant for exactly this. The date and the store are printed at the top of the board.
The score
A star rating on its own misleads. Three reviews averaging 5.0 say less than eight thousand averaging 4.6, but a plain list of ratings would put the first one on top.
So each product's score is its rating weighed by how many people left one. It is a Bayesian average, the same idea film sites use for their top lists:
score = (v ÷ (v + m)) × R + (m ÷ (v + m)) × C
| Symbol | What it is |
|---|---|
| R | The product's star rating |
| v | How many reviews it has |
| C | The average rating across the products on the board |
| m | How many reviews it takes before a product's own rating counts for more than the average. We use 250 unless a board says otherwise |
A product with thousands of reviews keeps almost exactly its own rating. A product with a handful is pulled towards the board's average until it has earned more.
Who is left off
Anything with fewer reviews than the board's minimum (normally 50) is not ranked at all. It is listed under the board, with its rating and review count, so you can see what was left off and why.
The picks
Three picks sit at the top of each board, and each is worked out from the same figures rather than chosen:
- Best overall: the highest score on the board.
- Best budget: the highest score among the cheaper half of the board.
- Most reviewed: the product the most buyers have rated.
One product can hold more than one pick.
What the listing says, and what buyers mention
Each product has two panels side by side.
- What the listing says is the seller's own claims, taken from the product page. They are the seller's words, not ours, and we do not vouch for them.
- What buyers mention is our summary of the reviews we read: what buyers praise and what they complain about. It says how many reviews were read and when. We summarise in our own words and never quote a review.
The claim check
Where a listing makes a claim that buyers talk about, we set the two side by side and give one of three verdicts:
| Verdict | What it means |
|---|---|
| Holds up | Buyers' reports agree with the claim |
| Mixed | Some buyers agree and some do not |
| Disputed by buyers | Buyers commonly report otherwise |
A verdict is about what buyers report, not a test of our own. It is only as good as the reviews it summarises, which is why each panel says which reviews they were.
Prices
Shown as bands, such as £50–75, not exact figures. Prices change daily and the store's terms do not allow us to show its prices except through its own live feed. Check the current price on the store before you buy.
How these pages earn
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Boards for other shops, such as Wickes or Homebase, earn a commission from that shop through the Awin affiliate network, and say so at the top. Those boards also offer "Compare on Amazon" beside each product: it opens Amazon's own search for that product, and we may earn from Amazon if you buy there. The ranking still comes only from the shop's own customer ratings. If you buy through a link here we may earn a commission, at no cost to you.
- It never changes a score. The method above is the whole of it.
- Nobody pays to be on a board, and we do not accept free products in return for a place.
- The links are marked as sponsored for search engines, and every board says it earns at the top.
- These pages load nothing from the store. No images, no widgets, no scripts. The store sees our tag only when you click a link.
- Product photos are ours or licensed, and each says where it came from. Where we have none, the board shows a drawing of the kind of tool rather than borrowing the store's picture.
The apps on the rest of this site still carry no adverts, on any tier.
What we do not claim
We have not tested the products on a board unless the board says so. The scores summarise what the store's customers said; they are not our review of the product. Some boards have a video version, presented by Gaffer, an AI-voiced cartoon host. He reads out the same figures; he has not used the products either.
Corrections
If a figure on a board is wrong or out of date, email hello@oneappcompany.com with the board and the product, and we will check it and change the date.