CBS Essentials: How we choose the best products for your home, work and life

It’s simple: CBS Essentials is your trusted guide to online shopping. Our mission is to help you find solid, trusted products for your home, health and family, and to keep you up to date with the latest deals and news about the brands you love — all under the name is something you can trust.

Our writers and editors live and breathe online shopping, with years of collective experience covering the retail landscape and reviewing products. We curate expert advice, customer reviews and find just the right products to recommend. We’re connected to all the top retailers to make sure you know when deals drop, new products launch and sales kick in. And we provide hands-on reviews in the categories where shoppers want the most help in their decision-making — consumer tech, mattresses, robot vacuums, clothing, and more.

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

How we choose products.

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

1. Verified Reviews: We only consider products that have been extensively reviewed and reviewed with consistently high ratings by verified buyers and qualified experts. If a product doesn’t meet this high standard, it doesn’t make our buying guide.
2. Brand Trust: There’s a reason Americans trust some brands more than others, and we pay special attention to those with a proven track record, consistent sales and a solid reputation for quality and satisfaction. We’re always looking for new companies and products that your family might love, but we weigh our selection metrics in favor of the tried and true.
3. Buyer’s Thoughts: We constantly monitor what our readers buy, keep, return, repurchase. We listen to our readers and similar customers, and feed that data into the buying guides and deals we bring you.
4. Importance of news: We’re constantly on the lookout for new product drops and brands, and we test them with the same diligent standards we apply to every review and roundup. Whether it’s a fresh product that’s gone viral, or a new brand that’s impacting an entire business model, we make sure it meets our quality standards before recommending it.
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, kitchens, travel, fitness and deals—know what features matter, so you can, too.

At CBS Essentials, we aim to do rigorous research so you don’t have to, and recommend only the best products for your busy life.

How the CBS Essentials Team Works

The Essentials team adheres to strict content guidelines: all product selections and editorial decisions are our own. We have affiliate relationships with many retailers, from which CBS Essentials makes money. When you click on a link to purchase a product, we receive a share of the revenue from any resulting sale. This affiliate relationship does not affect our editorial decisions, and our mission is 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 this case, it will be clearly identified as “Sponsored Content”. We will always be upfront about this.

How we choose our deals.

Not every sale is a worthwhile one. Some offerings are rarer or more valuable than others. You can count on CBS Essentials to not only let you know when a new deal drops, but also how epic that sale really is. Some items may be out of stock by the time the links are clicked. Some deals may be gone by the time you read the article. These items are subject to retailer, and we work hard to keep deal and stock information up to date.

Maintaining CBS Essentials

There are many ways to get in touch with our team and coverage: