CBS Sports Essentials: How we choose our products

What is CBS Sports Essentials? Good question. It’s simple, really. CBS Sports Essentials is your trusted guide to online shopping. Our mission is to help you find the best treadmills, top-rated activity trackers, deals on protein powder and other fitness essentials, not to mention fun summer games and more. We’ll even help you find LeBron James’ sneakers.

We love deals, and we know you do, too. That’s why spend a lot of time (emphasis on a lot) of time curating the best deals on everything from just-dropped team gear to killer discounts on fitness products designed to make life just a little bit sportier.

Who is CBS Sports Essentials?

We’re fans. We’re sports fans and we’re online shopping diehards. We love talking about last night’s game and we can’t wait to chat about the latest smart watch (and just how much it was reduced on our favorite retailer).

As a team, we have collective years of experience covering trending sports stories, curating deals we can’t wait to share with friends (that’s you!), and we’re as passionate about our favorite products as we are about our favorite teams.

The CBS Sports Essentials mission

Do we play favorites? Yes, but only if our readers count as our favorites. Our only mission is to help you find the best deals on the best gear from the most trusted brands. We’re not here to convert you as a fan of our favorite team. We respect your fandom, and we know you respect ours.

Think of us as that friend who can tell you where to get just about anything, and how to get the best deal doing it. We’re that trusted companion who’s done the research so you don’t have to.

And this is important: Our writers work independently of any team, league or player. We work independently of retailers, though we make money when you buy things from links we’ve suggested. You should also know we work independently of the CBS Sports newsroom. Our only allegiance is recommending quality products, with the best deals possible, from trusted brands and retailers.

How we select products

Your trust is important to us. How you spend your time (and money) means a lot to us and we don’t take that lightly. Whenever we recommend products, we use five qualifiers to make our recommendations.

1. Verified reviews: We care what buyers are saying about a product and only make recommendations that receive high ratings from verified buyers — four stars or better. If reviews aren’t stellar, the product doesn’t make the cut.

2. Trusted and known brands: When it comes to recommendations, we like to find products and deals you might not find yourself, but we’ll only suggest products from trusted, known brands with consumer-friendly policies. We want to find you the best deal, but we also want to make sure you’re valued as customer. That means quality products, great prices, easy shipping and return policies from well-known brands with a consistent sales record.

3. Customer feedback: Deals and shopping are our passion, so we’re constantly watching what products are trending and which retailer is offering the best price. We update our recommendations regularly so they reflect bigger markdowns or price changes. Know that we’re paying attention to what our readers like, so we can give you more.

4. Newsworthiness: We’re always watching out for price drops, new releases, and great deals. We painstakingly vet reviews, product drops, and brands. Whether it’s the latest shoe drop from your favorite NBA star, or new fitness tech, we put all products through our quality benchmarks before we suggest them to you.

5. Features and history: How a product works and what it does are important to us. We’ll share our review of a product’s feature, even comparing it to previous versions when appropriate. Our experts — in sports, tech, fitness and deals — know what features matter, so you can, too.

Our goal at CBS Sports Essentials is to do the rigorous research so you can focus on other things, like your favorite team or workout.

How the CBS Sports Essentials team works

The Essentials team sticks to rigorous content guidelines: All product selections and editorial decisions are our own. We have affiliate relationships with many retailers, which is how CBS Sports Essentials makes money. When you click a link to shop for a product, we receive a portion of the revenue from any sales. This affiliate relationship does not affect our editorial decisions, and our mission remains 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 that case, it will be clearly identified as “sponsored content.” We will always be upfront about this.

How we pick our deals

Not all deals are created equal, which means not every markdown is worth sharing. When CBS Sports Essentials shares a deal with you, trust the markdown is substantial (especially in relation to other retailers or previous sales) and that it’s a sale worth you checking out.

Essentials will not only update articles to reflect current pricing, we’ll tell you when a new deal drops. We try not to recommend sales with low inventory but know that sometimes a sale is so hot, product inventory will be low by the time readers click over.