How marks are given

A brand is Best in class when the catalog returns one of its products rated 4.7 stars or more from 500 or more reviews. It is worked out each time the page opens, from the shop’s own listing, and the brand page names the product that earned it.

This is Ask Around’s own rule. It does not come from any publication or award, and a brand can lose it the day its ratings drop.

A brand has this mark when its own home page, about page, warranty page or refund policy says “lifetime warranty” or “lifetime guarantee” for what it sells. The brand page quotes the words, links the page and gives the date we read it. 18 brands have it today.

A warranty the page limits to one product line, or to purchases before a date, does not count. We read every match before it shipped and left those out, with the reason, in our records.

A brand has this mark when its own pages say it is a certified B Corp. The brand page quotes the words and links the page. 6 brands have it today. We take the shop at its word and show where it said it; we did not check the B Lab directory, which refused our requests.

The year a brand’s own pages say it was founded or has been going since, quoted with the page and the date read. A year that turned out to be about something else, such as a sales record or a parent company, was left out.