Can a Company Ask Wirecutter to Review Its Product?
No. Wirecutter's own contact route rules it out. The “Reach out” link on Wirecutter's About page leads to a reader feedback form, and that page says: “Please note that we do not take product requests from manufacturers, creators, retailers, sponsors or any company or group. All requests to review or add a product to our lists from anyone associated with these groups will be deleted” (Wirecutter feedback page). The form's categories are feedback on recommendations, general feedback on the website, an error, and a question for Ask Wirecutter, its advice column. There is no category for companies.
The pages we read describe no other channel, such as a PR inbox or submission portal, for companies to propose products. We found none, and we do not repeat third-party claims that one exists.
| Question | What Wirecutter says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Can a company request a review? | No; product requests from manufacturers, retailers, sponsors or any company “will be deleted” | Feedback page |
| Who decides what is tested? | Its journalists, “totally independent of business considerations” | How Wirecutter Makes Money |
| Where do test units come from? | Requested from companies or bought by Wirecutter | Free stuff post |
| What happens to unsolicited products? | Declined and offered back; otherwise donated or discarded | Free stuff post |
| What happens to requested test units? | Offered back to the company after testing; picks may be kept for long-term testing | Free stuff post |
| Can a pick be sponsored? | “No pick on Wirecutter has ever been sponsored” | How Wirecutter Makes Money |
| Does Wirecutter earn from picks? | Yes, it may earn a commission when readers buy through its links | NYT Help Center |
How Does Wirecutter Decide What to Test?
Its writers research a category first, then pick contenders. In “The Anatomy of a Wirecutter Guide,” Wirecutter says writers begin with a “scout report” that asks questions including who the product is for, what matters most and “What are the most noteworthy brands and companies that make this item?” (Wirecutter, updated September 18, 2025). Its post on test products adds: “We start by thoroughly researching each promising item in a category before deciding which ones to test” (Wirecutter).
The New York Times Help Center describes the same process from the other side: Wirecutter “makes decisions about which products to feature based on editorial and product testing standards—not by affiliate deals or advertising relationships,” and “Testing is driven by comparison tables that assess each product’s features” (NYT Help Center). The About page says the site covers more than 1,000 product categories and draws on interviews with experts and on customer reviews of the products it assesses (Wirecutter About).
Two parts of every guide matter to a company that was not picked. “The competition” section, Wirecutter says, covers both tested products that did not make the grade and models it dismissed. “What to look forward to” is where it lists gear it plans to test or is testing, and product releases it is following (Wirecutter). Reading both shows whether a product is already on the editors' radar and why it was set aside.
Can a Company Send Wirecutter a Sample?
Only when Wirecutter asks for one. Once contenders are chosen, “we either request test units from companies, or Wirecutter purchases them,” the post says. “We never make the decision of testing an item based on getting a free review unit. If it’s something we believe warrants testing, we will always pay for our own.” It adds that Wirecutter spends “tens of thousands of dollars” a month buying models for testing (Wirecutter).
Unrequested product does not help. Wirecutter describes a “strict ‘no swag’ rule” and says that when companies or PR representatives send unsolicited items, extra units or gifts, “we politely decline and offer to return it to the sender. If they don’t want it back, we donate or discard it.” Requested test units are offered back after testing too, except for picks, which are often kept for long-term testing and later donated, recycled or discarded (Wirecutter).
The practical consequence: if Wirecutter requests a unit, respond quickly and send exactly what was asked. The post notes that “Sometimes we just don’t have time to wait for a company to ship us a test item” and buys instead. Our guide on whether a journalist can accept a gift or free product explains why outlets with strict ethics rules treat unsolicited product this way.
Does Affiliate or Advertising Money Affect Picks?
Wirecutter says no, and describes a wall between the newsroom and the business side. “How Wirecutter Makes Money” says its journalists make every editorial decision, “such as which products to test and which products to recommend—totally independent of business considerations,” and that “any discussions about business, partnerships, licensing, or affiliate revenue are handled after we’ve already made our picks” by a commerce team that is separate from the newsroom (Wirecutter).
Only after picks are made, the page says, does the business side decide where to send links, weighing price, a site's ease of use, shipping, customer service, whether Wirecutter can sell the item through its own store, “and, yes, affiliate rates.” The Help Center says writers and editors “are never made aware of any business relationships with retailers” (NYT Help Center). The About page lists Wirecutter's revenue as subscriptions, links to retailers, sales of products it reviews and affiliate programs (Wirecutter About).
These are Wirecutter's own statements, and we cannot audit the separation. For a company, they mean an affiliate rate, retail relationship or ad budget is not, by Wirecutter's account, a route to a pick. Digiday reported in October that Wirecutter is selling sponsorships around editorial franchises such as its Hall of Fame awards; that is advertising around picks, not a way into them, as our guide on Wirecutter's sponsored franchises explains.
What Can a Company Actually Do?
Make the product easy to find and easy to evaluate, then wait. The steps below are our recommendations, not Wirecutter rules; none of them is a request for coverage, which Wirecutter says it deletes.
- Read the category guide closely. The “How we picked and tested” section shows the criteria; “The competition” shows what was dismissed and why; “What to look forward to” shows what is coming. If the product fails a stated criterion, no outreach will change that.
- Publish the facts a tester needs. Model numbers, full specifications, US availability, price, warranty and return terms, and replacement-part availability should be on the company's own site, since Wirecutter says it researches contenders before choosing what to test.
- Be a noteworthy brand in the category. The scout report asks which brands are most noteworthy; that reputation comes from earned coverage, customer reviews and expert recognition. Our guide on earned versus paid media covers the difference.
- Do not use the feedback form for product requests. Wirecutter says such requests are deleted.
- Do not ship unrequested product. It will be declined and offered back.
- If a writer asks for a unit, respond fast. Ask what model and configuration they want, ship it, and expect to be offered it back.
Whether a company may email an individual Wirecutter writer about a new model is not addressed on the pages we read. The feedback page's rule covers “requests to review or add a product,” so a note framed as a request for coverage falls within it in spirit, in our reading. Our general guides on pitching a journalist by email and how many pitches journalists receive describe ordinary practice at other outlets; they do not override Wirecutter's stated policy.
What Does a Wirecutter Pick Prove?
That Wirecutter's journalists preferred the product to the others they assessed at the time. Testing is described as comparison-driven, and Wirecutter keeps picks in long-term testing: “certain problems and performance issues really make themselves known only over the long term,” its post says, and it gives an example of a runner-up footrest demoted to the competition section after three years (Wirecutter). A pick can be lost.
A company that earns one should quote it exactly, link to the guide and date the claim. The pages we read do not set terms for using Wirecutter's name or logo in packaging or ads, and the money page mentions licensing only as a business-side discussion that happens after picks; check with Wirecutter's business side before any commercial use.
What This Means for Anyone Buying a Placement
A Wirecutter pick cannot be bought or requested, and anyone who sells one is describing something Wirecutter's own pages say does not happen. Sponsorship of a Wirecutter franchise or an ad on its pages is advertising, labeled as such, and is separate from the recommendation. If a vendor offers “Wirecutter coverage,” ask which page it will appear on, whether it will be labeled as sponsored, and who at Wirecutter agreed to it. If the answer is a guaranteed pick, walk away.
Methodology and Limitations
Four limits apply. First, every policy here is Wirecutter's own description of its practice, read on October 19, 2026; we did not test it or speak with Wirecutter staff. Second, two of the pages are blog posts updated in January 2024 and September 2025, so practice may have moved since. Third, the pages do not say whether companies may contact individual writers, and we do not fill that gap from third-party webinars or directories. Fourth, we cannot measure how often a company's own outreach has led to testing.
Conclusion
Wirecutter's answer to brands is unusually explicit: product requests are deleted, unrequested samples go back, and its journalists choose what to test before anyone talks about money. For a company, the work is upstream: be a product that a researcher building a shortlist would find, publish what a tester needs to know, and respond quickly if a writer asks for a unit. Anything sold as a shortcut is, by Wirecutter's own account, not real.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I submit my product to Wirecutter for review?
No. Wirecutter's feedback page says it does not take product requests from manufacturers, retailers, sponsors or any company, and that such requests “will be deleted.”
Does Wirecutter accept free samples?
Only units it asks for. Wirecutter says it either requests test units from companies or buys them, and that unsolicited products are declined and offered back to the sender.
Can I pay Wirecutter for a pick?
No. Wirecutter says no pick “has ever been sponsored by a manufacturer or retailer or anyone else,” and that business discussions happen only after picks are made.
How does Wirecutter decide which products to test?
Its writers research a category first, including which brands are most noteworthy, then choose contenders. The NYT Help Center says testing is driven by comparison tables that assess each product's features.
Does Wirecutter make money from its recommendations?
Yes. It may earn a commission when readers buy through its links, and also earns from subscriptions and its store. Wirecutter says its writers are not made aware of those business relationships.
What happens to products Wirecutter tests?
Wirecutter says it offers company-sent test units back after testing, otherwise donating, recycling or discarding them. Picks are often kept for long-term testing first.
Sources and Methodology
This guide is built from Wirecutter's and The New York Times' own pages about how Wirecutter chooses, obtains and handles products, all read October 19, 2026. Recommendations on what a company can do are ours, not Wirecutter rules. We did not contact Wirecutter, test any outreach route or use third-party accounts of how brands pitch the site.
- official The New York Times, Wirecutter Wants to Hear From You, May 21, 2024. The policy that product requests from companies are not taken and will be deleted; form categories. Reached from the About page's “Reach out” link. Read October 19, 2026.
- official Wirecutter, “Yes, I Work at Wirecutter. No, We Don't Get a Bunch of Free Stuff.” by Christina Colizza, updated January 4, 2024. How test units are obtained, returned, kept for long-term testing; handling of unsolicited items. Read October 19, 2026.
- official Wirecutter, How Wirecutter Makes Money” by Jason Chen, updated March 3, 2026. Editorial independence, separate commerce team, no sponsored picks, how links are chosen. Read October 19, 2026.
- official Wirecutter, The Anatomy of a Wirecutter Guide” by Christina Colizza, updated September 18, 2025. Scout reports, the competition and what-to-look-forward-to sections. Read October 19, 2026.
- official Wirecutter, About Us. Revenue sources, more than 1,000 categories, editorial standards. Read October 19, 2026.
- platform documentation The New York Times Help Center, Wirecutter Product Recommendations. Selection standards, comparison tables, commission, separation from retailer relationships. Read October 19, 2026.