How Better Nester Makes Money
Transparency is important to us. Here's everything you need to know about our business model and our commitment to editorial independence.
If you've read our articles or browsed our event recommendations, you may have noticed a line that appears throughout our site: "We independently review and recommend products and services. When you make a purchase through our links, we may earn a commission."
But what does that actually mean for you?
It means every recommendation we make—whether it's a travel destination, a home improvement product, or a local event—is based purely on our evaluation of its value to you, our reader. Our editorial team makes all content decisions completely independent of any business relationships or revenue considerations.
Who We Are
Better Nester readers are active, engaged, informed and like a good find, all in the name of creating the best experiences in life and home! We strive to inspire, educate, and bring you ideas and options to help elevate your best life! We curate content, services, deals, trends, and more, delivering to you across various platforms every week. If we do it well, you will smile, share, and engage. If we miss the mark at times, we want to hear from you – after all, YOU are the Better Nester!
Better Nester is about discovery, inspiration, special offers, and improving your lifestyle. We are curious, and are also Better Nesters ourselves!
Understanding Affiliate Marketing
The ideas, inspiration, education, and content we share are for your benefit and FREE! Our business model relies on partnerships with our trusted and curated partners. Better Nester operates as an affiliate partner with various retailers, service providers, and event organizers. Here's how it works:
Better Nester is an independent service supported by advertising. Most of the offers appearing on our site are from curated and approved companies from which we receive compensation. We receive payments from these approved companies through either a small payment from an affiliate if you click a link to purchase a product; A Sponsored Post by the maker of the product; And Paid Advertising.
For example, a local service provider or affiliate may pay us a fee if you connect or purchase from them. When a retailer or company (like Amazon, local event venues, or travel booking sites) establishes an affiliate program, they invite partners like Better Nester to share their offerings with our audience. If you click on one of our links and make a purchase, we typically receive a small percentage of that sale as a commission.
But don't worry, using our site will not cost you any more – in many cases, we work to curate the best pricing for you!
This practice is called affiliate marketing, and it's how many trusted content platforms sustain their operations while providing free content to readers.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requires that all affiliate relationships be clearly disclosed to readers, which is why you'll see our disclosure statement prominently displayed on pages containing affiliate links.
Our Editorial Independence
What sets Better Nester apart from many other recommendation sites is our unwavering commitment to editorial independence. Here's what that means in practice:
Content comes first: Our writers and editors research, evaluate, and recommend products, services, and events based solely on what we believe will genuinely benefit our 55+ community. Revenue potential never influences these decisions.
Clear separation: Our editorial team operates completely independently from our business operations team. Writers and editors are never pressured to recommend products based on commission rates or business partnerships.
Sponsored content policy: We work with advertising partners to create curated content that highlights specific products, which may be sponsored by one of our approved partners. In those cases, we will clearly mark it as 'Sponsored'. These sponsored posts are only accepted if they are complementary to our readers' interests, are reviewed and edited to fit our readers' interests and needs, and are only from partners we would recommend.
Authentic experience: Our content creators personally evaluate products, attend events, and research travel destinations to ensure our recommendations reflect real experiences and genuine value.
Important: Whether content is organic or sponsored, we maintain the same high editorial standards. Sponsored content is always clearly labeled, and we only partner with companies whose products or services genuinely benefit our readers.
Our Promise to You:
When you see a recommendation on Better Nester, you can trust that it was selected because our editorial team believes it will enhance your life—not because it generates the highest commission.
When Better Nester Makes Money
Our business operations team becomes involved only after our editorial team has already made their independent recommendations. Here's what happens behind the scenes:
Editorial team makes selections
Our writers and editors research and choose products, services, or events based purely on quality and value to our readers.
Business team determines linking strategy
After selections are finalized, our commerce team decides where to link based on factors like pricing, shipping costs, return policies, customer service reputation, and inventory availability.
Reader experience is prioritized
We choose retailers that offer fair prices, reliable service, and hassle-free returns—even if that means linking to a retailer that doesn't offer an affiliate commission.
In some cases, Better Nester earns no commission at all on a recommendation. This happens when the best source for a product or service doesn't participate in affiliate programs. We still recommend these options because your experience matters more than our revenue.
We will never direct you to a subpar retailer or service provider simply to earn a commission. Your trust is far more valuable to us than any single transaction.
Building and Maintaining Your Trust
We understand that trust is earned, not given. Here's how we work to maintain your confidence:
Our commitment includes:
- Honest evaluations: We share both strengths and limitations of products and services we recommend.
- Regular updates: We revisit recommendations periodically to ensure they still meet our standards.
- Responsive service: If a product or service doesn't meet expectations, we want to hear about it and will update our recommendations accordingly.
- Clear disclosure: We prominently display our affiliate relationships so you always know how we operate.
Here's an important point: when you return a product you purchased through our affiliate link, Better Nester doesn't earn a commission. This creates a natural alignment between our business interests and your satisfaction. We only succeed when you're happy with your purchases.
If you're disappointed with something you bought based on our recommendation, you're unlikely to trust our future suggestions. That's why maintaining editorial integrity isn't just the right thing to do—it's essential to our continued success.
Our Content Strives To Improve Lives
While our content may be read and enjoyed by people of all ages looking for inspired living ideas, our focus is on people who are engaged in an active lifestyle and are pre-retirement or post-retirement, with a healthy, active, and inspired lifestyle.
Our features include:
- Weekly events in the community to keep you connected and engaged
- Inspired home ideas to make the most of your home experience and in-home entertainment
- Travel to familiar destinations or bucket list experiences
- Health and wellness ideas and products that make life better
- Weekly hidden gems and offers to help you discover new favorites
Questions?
We believe transparency builds trust. If you have questions about our business model, our editorial process, or any specific recommendation, we welcome your inquiry.
Please visit our Contact Us page to get in touch with any questions or concerns.
Your Trust Matters Most
Since our founding, Better Nester has been committed to serving our 55+ community with integrity and authenticity. We see ourselves as your trusted friend in navigating life's next chapter—and friends don't compromise honesty for profit.