Every “best of” list online has fifteen winners. That’s not a recommendation — that’s a catalog with commissions attached. The Product Shortlist exists because choosing shouldn’t require a research project. We do the research project. We buy the product, use it until it proves itself or breaks, argue about it, and publish a verdict — including the verdicts that cost us money to publish.
Short lists. Real verdicts. Receipts. That’s the whole model.
The scoreboard, live
These numbers update automatically as verdicts publish. Nothing here is padded — when the SKIP column grows, it grows in public.
Notice what’s missing so far: we haven’t handed out a single WORTH IT. That’s not strictness for its own sake — it’s what happens when verdicts are decided before anyone checks what a product pays. Some categories just haven’t produced a safe, unremarkable yes yet.
The four verdicts
SHORTLISTED — a top pick; it earned its place in a real test. WORTH IT — does what it claims at a fair price; a safe buy even if it isn’t a category winner. SITUATIONAL — right for a specific buyer or condition, which we name precisely. SKIP — doesn’t justify its price, and we tell you what to get instead. Every product we evaluate gets exactly one of these. There is no fifth verdict for products that pay well.
Who does the testing
Reviews here are published under the byline of Frank Mason, who tests products the way he ran network installs for 37 years: measure it, use it until it breaks or proves itself, and never trust the box. He’s put hundreds of products through real daily use — tools, kitchen gear, tech, and whatever readers ask for next. Every review is bought, used, and earned. When a brand supplies a unit instead, the review says so plainly, on the page, near the top — and it changes nothing about the verdict.
You can see every verdict he’s filed, with test durations and dated prices, on his author page.
Who runs this
The Product Shortlist is owned and operated by Mynians, LLC, a Florida company based in Winter Garden, Florida. The fastest way to reach us about anything on this site is the contact page or hello@theproductshortlist.com — corrections get answered first, always. The full legal details live in our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
How we make money
Affiliate commissions when readers buy through our links — and that’s the complete list. No sponsored verdicts, no paid placements inside shortlists, no selling your email address. Verdicts are finalized before monetization is checked, which is why SKIP reviews still link to the product: a reader who buys against our advice is still a reader served, and we have nothing to hide by keeping the link on the page. The plain-English version of every arrangement lives at /affiliate-disclosure/, and the method behind the verdicts at /how-we-test/.
Help decide what we test next
Reader requests set the testing queue — the products and categories that confuse real buyers get tested first. Name yours at /submit-a-product/. And if you want the week’s verdicts without checking back: five picks, once a week, that’s it.