What cookies are
Cookies are small text files a website stores in your browser. They let a site remember a preference, measure how pages are used, and — in our case — let a retailer recognise that you arrived from here. This policy also covers similar technologies such as local storage, pixels and tracking scripts. It sits alongside our privacy policy.
The cookies we use
| Category | Purpose | Typical lifetime |
|---|---|---|
| Strictly necessary | Security, load balancing, remembering your cookie choices, and keeping forms working. The site cannot function without these and they do not require consent. | Session to 12 months |
| Preferences | Remembering choices such as units (miles or kilometres), currency and dark or light display. | Up to 12 months |
| Analytics | Aggregate measurement: which pages are read, how people arrive, where the site is slow or broken. Set only with your consent where consent is required. | Up to 14 months |
| Affiliate tracking | Set by retailers and affiliate networks when you click a product link, so a resulting purchase is attributed to this site and we are paid commission. | Amazon: typically 24 hours. Other networks: typically 7–30 days. |
We do not use cookies to build advertising profiles, we do not run third-party ad networks on this site, and we do not sell cookie data.
How affiliate cookies work
When you click an affiliate link, the retailer places a cookie in your browser that records where the visit came from. If you buy something before that cookie expires, the retailer attributes the sale to us and pays a commission. Amazon’s window is short — generally the current session or 24 hours, extended only if you add an item to your basket. Other networks run longer windows.
These cookies are set by the retailer, not by us, and are governed by that retailer’s own privacy and cookie policies. We receive aggregate reports — that a sale happened and what we earned — not your name, address or payment details. For what the commission does and does not mean, see the affiliate disclosure.
Your choices
- Consent banner. Where consent is required (for example in the UK, EEA and Switzerland), non-essential cookies are not set until you accept them, and you can change your choice at any time via [the “Cookie settings” link in the footer].
- Browser controls. Every major browser lets you block or delete cookies, including third-party cookies. Blocking third-party cookies will stop most affiliate attribution — the site keeps working, we simply are not credited for purchases.
- Extensions and private browsing. Tracker blockers and private windows also prevent most of this tracking.
- Global Privacy Control. Where we are required to honour a GPC signal as an opt-out of sale or sharing, we do so.
Blocking strictly necessary cookies may break parts of the site, including forms and your saved preferences.
Changes
As the services we use change, so will this list. The revision date at the top of the page shows when it was last reviewed. Questions go through the contact page.