Frequently asked questions

Many of the big online retailers such as Amazon and eBay operate affiliate schemes. By linking to these retailers other sites are able to earn commission on purchases made via these links. Good Buying operates on exactly the same principle except that instead of going to us, the commission we make is donated in full to charity.

Yes we are, and that's what makes us different to other charity shopping sites. Most of them only give a percentage of the money they make to charity (and keep the rest for themselves), whereas we donate absolutely everything we receive. We even fund the site's running costs ourselves, so we really are non-profit making in every sense.

You can see a full list of all the retailers we use here.

That depends on the individual retailer, as different stores offer different amounts. Sometimes it also varies slightly depending on what you buy, but generally it's around 5% of whatever you spend. You can find out exactly how much commission the different retailers offer here.

Every time you access an online retailer using a link on our site they will recognise that you came from Good Buying via a cookie on your computer and ensure we receive the right amount of commission on anything you spend. However, if you visit that store again in the future it won't necessarily remember us, so you must make sure you visit via our link every time you shop online.

There are two common mistakes that may not lead to a contribution:

We're doing everything we can to provide assurance that the money we make really does go to the charities we support. We publish the amount we raise each month and the causes it goes to in order to make the process as transparent as possible. Where we receive thank you notes or emails from the charities concerned we publish those too.

We also insist that every cause we support is a registered charity. Here in England and Wales that means they are regulated by the Charity Commission, but other countries have their own equivalents. We have very strict criteria for acceptance because we want to choose organisations that everybody can support.

Finally, we are very open about who runs this site and we make it easy for you to contact us. Please feel free to ask us if you have any questions.

We support three charities at any one time and the money we make is split equally between them. We change these charities every three months. For a list of the charities we are currently supporting please click here.

We check out these charities beforehand to make sure we are making the best possible use of the money we raise. It's always difficult to choose because there are so many great causes out there, but we try to ensure a good range of projects and select charities that everybody can support (for example, we avoid charities where the money raised might be used to fund abortions or testing on animals). We also work to make sure we support causes around the globe.

We support three charities at any one time and change them every three months, so that's twelve charities per year. Obviously that means we can't possibly accept every suggestion we receive! However we are always looking for new ideas, so if you would like to suggest something to us then we would love to hear from you.

The site first went live in November 2007. You can find out how much we've raised so far and how many visitors the site has received by clicking here.

Yes it is. All the sites we work with are trusted online retailers and once you click on a link from our site you are taken directly to them. We do not collect any personal information from you.

No, absolutely not. The commission we receive comes from the retailers themselves and there is no additional cost to you. The prices you will pay are exactly the same as if you accessed the retailer's site directly.

Actually the financial cost of running this site is reasonably small (about GBP £20 per month). However, we feel strongly that all of the money raised from Good Buying should go directly to charity so it's a cost we cover ourselves. All the time spent updating the site, replying to emails, sending out money etc. is done on a voluntary basis.

The best way to get in touch with us is via email. Visit our contact page for more information.