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It’s simple: CBS Essentials is your trusted guide to online shopping. Our mission is to help you find solid, reliable products for your home, health and family, and plug in the latest deals and news from the brands you love — all from a name you can trust.
With years of combined experience covering the retail landscape and reviewing products, our writers and editors live and breathe online shopping. We compile expert advice, customer reviews and first-hand knowledge of how to find the right products to recommend. We’ve connected with all the top retailers to make sure we know when deals drop, new product launches and sales start. And we provide hands-on reviews in the categories where shoppers want help making their decisions the most — consumer tech, mattresses, robot vacuums, apparel and more.
And this is important: Our editors work independently of the CBS News newsroom; We operate independently of retailers; And we earn money when you buy things from our links. We will always be clear to our readers about this.
How we select products
Our team of experts looks at each product across five key metrics to ensure recommendations are complete, objective and useful.
Verified Review: We only consider extensively reviewed products with consistently high ratings from verified buyers and qualified experts. If a product doesn’t meet high standards, it doesn’t make our buying guidelines.
Brand Trust: There’s a reason why 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 innovative new companies and products your family will love, but we weigh our selections in favor of the tried-and-true.
Customer Feedback: We keep a close eye on what our readers buy, keep, return, and buy again. We listen to what our readers and similar consumers have to say and feed that data into the buying guides and deals we bring you.
Newsworthiness: We keep a constant eye on new product drops and brands, and test them with the same painstaking standards we apply to every review and roundup. Whether it’s a new product going viral or a new brand that’s disrupting an entire business model, we make sure it meets our quality criteria before recommending it.
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 previous versions and feature offerings against competitors. Our experts — in tech, furniture, appliances, kitchens, travel, fitness and deals — know what features matter, so you can, too.
At CBS Essentials our goal is to do the hard research so you don’t have to, and recommend only the best products for your busy life.
How the CBS Essential Team Works
The Essential team adheres to strict content guidelines: all product selection and editorial decisions are our own. We have affiliate relationships with many retailers, which is how CBS Essentials makes money. When you click on a link to shop for a product, we receive a portion of the revenue from any resulting sale. This affiliate relationship does not influence our editorial decisions and our goal is to bring readers the best deals.
Our articles are not influenced by retailers. Occasionally, a particular article may be sponsored by a brand. In that case, it will be clearly marked as “Sponsored Content”. We will always be pioneers in this matter.
How we pick our deals
Not every sale is a worthwhile one. Some offers are rarer or more valuable than others. You can count on CBS Essentials to not only know when a new deal has dropped, but also how epic that sale really is. Some items may be out of stock at the time the link is clicked. Some deals may be concluded while you read an article. These items are subject to retailer availability, and we work hard to keep deals and stock information current.
Keeping up with CBS Essentials
There are many ways to get in touch with our team and coverage:
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