Six checks before anything gets a page.
Most things don’t make it. Here’s what a product has to clear.
- 01
Original design
The brand or workshop has to own the idea. No clones, no lookalikes, no copied 3D models. If a design looks borrowed, it’s out.
- 02
Build quality
Materials we can name — an e-ink panel, a microphone, an ESP32 chip — and a maker who can document them. If we can’t confirm a material yet, the page says TBA.
- 03
Honest testing
Every piece goes on a real desk before we sell it. Each product page has a “Tested on our desk” line; today it says “Not yet” for everything, because that’s the truth.
- 04
Compliance checks
Anything with a radio needs an FCC ID for the US (and CE for Europe). Batteries need UN38.3 transport papers. Coatings and plastics need material declarations. We look these up and ask the maker before anything ships.
- 05
Fair price, real gap
We compare the price at home with what similar products cost in the US. If the maker already sells it cheaply abroad, there’s no point in us — so we skip it, or only carry it with their blessing.
- 06
Looks good on camera
We show products on video, so the details have to hold up in close-up. That’s also how you’ll see them before they’re for sale.
What we turn down
Products whose maker already sells them cheaply where the buyer lives. Products that only work with an app that isn’t available in English. Designs we suspect are copies. And sometimes just things that don’t sell — a concrete pen holder was an easy no.
The price-gap test is written up in The test every product has to pass.