Affiliate Links Without the Sleaze
You can recommend products you actually use and earn from it. Here's how to share affiliate links in a way that builds trust instead of eroding it.
The affiliate link problem
Affiliate links have a reputation problem. And honestly, they earned it.
Open any "best of" list from a content farm and you'll see the pattern: 30 products the author has never touched, all with Amazon links, all there because they pay a commission. The recommendations aren't curated. They're calculated. Readers can feel it, even if they can't articulate exactly what's off.
This is why people distrust affiliate content. Not because earning from recommendations is inherently wrong — it's because most affiliate content prioritizes earnings over honesty.
But there's another way to do it. And it starts with actually using the things you recommend.
When affiliate links are fine
There's nothing wrong with affiliate links when:
You actually own and use the product. You bought a lens. You shoot with it every week. Someone asks which lens you use. You share a link that happens to be an affiliate link. That's not sleazy. That's earning a small commission for a genuine recommendation you'd make anyway.
The recommendation exists independent of the commission. If you'd recommend the same product whether or not an affiliate link existed, the link doesn't change the recommendation — it just means you get a few dollars for the referral instead of nothing.
You're transparent about it. A simple disclosure like "these are affiliate links" is enough. People don't mind affiliate links when they trust the recommendation behind them. They mind when they suspect the recommendation exists because of the link.
Where most affiliate tools fail
The standard approach to sharing affiliate links is one of these:
A Linktree or link-in-bio page. A flat list of URLs with no context, no product images, no explanation of what you're linking to or why. It's functional, but nobody's clicking a Linktree link and thinking "wow, this person really knows their stuff."
Amazon lists. Locked to Amazon products. No room for notes explaining why you chose something. Plastered with "customers also bought" recommendations that compete with your picks. The list doesn't feel like yours — it feels like Amazon's.
A blog post. Better for context, but blog posts get buried. They're dated. They require updating the entire post when you swap one product. And the format encourages padding — 2,000 words of SEO filler before anyone sees a product link.
A spreadsheet or Notion page. No product images. No clean sharing experience. Nobody's tapping an affiliate link in a Google Sheet on their phone.
None of these tools were built for what creators actually need: a permanent, organized, visual page of products they use, with affiliate links built in and context for every pick.
Building an affiliate-friendly gear page
Here's what a good affiliate page looks like — and how to build one on Teed.
1. Create a bag for each category. Don't dump everything into one page. A "Studio Setup" bag, a "Travel Kit" bag, a "Golf Bag" — separate collections that match how people actually search and browse.
2. Add your products with context. Each item gets a photo (yours, not a stock image), a name, and a "why I chose this" note. The note is the trust signal. "Switched from the Sony A7III after three years — the autofocus tracking alone was worth the upgrade" tells people this is a real recommendation, not a commission play.
3. Add your affiliate links. Each item supports multiple links — Amazon, B&H, REI, direct from manufacturer. Teed can automatically convert product links to your affiliate links if you've set up your affiliate tag. Readers see clean "Buy" buttons, not raw URLs full of tracking parameters.
4. Organize with sections. Group items logically. A camera kit might have Body, Lenses, Lighting, Audio, and Accessories sections. People scanning for a specific category don't have to scroll past everything else.
5. Share one URL. Your bag gets a permanent URL like teed.so/u/yourname/studio-gear. Drop it in your YouTube descriptions, Instagram bio, newsletter, anywhere. One link that answers "what do you use?" with affiliate links already built in.
Why this format works better
A curated gear page with affiliate links works better than a blog post or flat link list because:
It's always current. Swap a product? Update that one item. Your link stays the same. No need to republish a blog post or create a new list.
It looks credible. Product photos, organized sections, personal notes — the page itself signals that you care about what you're recommending. Compare that to a bulleted list of Amazon links.
It's built for mobile. Most affiliate clicks happen on phones. A gear page renders cleanly on any screen. A spreadsheet doesn't.
It supports any retailer. Amazon Associates, B&H affiliate program, REI's program, ShareASale, direct retailer links — you're not locked into one store. Your page can include the best price from whichever retailer carries each product.
It separates the recommendation from the content. Your YouTube video or blog post is about the content. Your gear page is where the recommendations live. The video links to the gear page. The gear page has the affiliate links. Clean separation.
The disclosure part
Teed has built-in affiliate disclosure support. When you have affiliate links in a bag, a disclosure notice appears automatically at the bottom of the page. You can customize the text to match your preferred disclosure language.
This isn't optional. If you're using affiliate links, disclosure is required by FTC guidelines and most affiliate program terms of service. Having it built into the platform means you don't have to remember to add it manually every time.
Start with your most-asked-about gear
Don't try to build affiliate pages for everything at once. Start with the one category people ask you about most. For most creators, that's their main setup — camera kit, desk setup, studio gear, golf bag, whatever your thing is.
Add 5-10 items. Write honest notes. Add your affiliate links. Share the URL. You'll have a permanent, credible affiliate page that earns while you sleep — and one you'd be proud to share even if the affiliate links didn't exist.
That's the test: would you share this page without the affiliate links? If yes, the links belong there.