Independent brand guides
Brands that actually exist.
Online marketplaces are full of brand names that were generated last year and will be gone next year. We research the companies behind everyday products — where they are registered, how long they have been trading, where else they sell — and publish what we find, with the evidence.
- 6
- Category guides
- 9
- Method articles
- 6,500+
- Verified companies
Real brands, by category
The categories where disposable brands crowd out the real ones hardest, and the companies that hold up.
- Kitchen knivesKitchen knives from brands that actually existSearch Amazon for a chef's knife and most of the first page is marketplace brands that did not exist two years ago. These are the companies behind the knives that are real.
- Cast iron & cookwareCast iron cookware from real foundriesCast iron is simple enough that anyone can have it made, which is why Amazon is full of brands with no foundry behind them. These companies own theirs.
- Hand toolsHand tools from companies tradespeople actually buyTool listings are full of brands that exist only as a logo on a drop-shipped set. These are the companies whose names turn up in working toolboxes.
- Dog gearDog gear from brands with something to loseHarnesses and chew toys are safety equipment, and the marketplace brands selling them will not exist by the time one fails. These companies will.
- Garden toolsGarden tools worth keeping for a decadePruners and hose fittings are where generic brands are densest, because both fail slowly enough that the seller has moved on. These companies stand behind theirs.
- Storage & organisationStorage bins and organisers that will still stack in five yearsStorage is the category where generic brands are hardest to tell apart, because every bin photographs the same. The difference is the plastic.
How we decide a brand is real
A name is not a company. Every brand we list has passed the same three checks, and every listing shows you the evidence rather than asking you to trust us.
- 1
It exists outside the marketplace
A website that predates the listing, other retailers that stock it, press that mentions it. A company with nothing beyond a storefront is a storefront.
- 2
It is on a register somewhere
A corporate registry, a trademark filing with a named owner, a place it is based and a year it started. Facts a reader can look up independently.
- 3
It has something to lose
A warranty it has honoured, parts it still sells for old models, a reputation built over years. Disposable brands have none of that, by design.
Guides
How marketplace brands work, and how to read a listing for yourself.
- What happens when the brand you bought from disappears
Marketplace shell brands are designed to be abandoned. Here is what that abandonment actually means for someone who owns the product, item by item.
- When buying from an unknown brand is perfectly fine
For a lot of what people buy, the brand carries no information and a no-name product is the sensible choice. The trick is knowing where that stops being true, and why.
- What the Amazon's Choice and Best Seller badges actually mean
Both badges are real measurements of something. Neither measures the company behind the product. Here is what each one is, what it is not, and what to look at instead.
- Why star ratings can't tell you a brand is real
A 4.6 average from thousands of ratings feels like evidence. Here is why it is a property of a listing rather than a company, and what reviews are actually still good for.
- How to read the 'sold by' line on a product listing
Every marketplace listing involves up to three different parties, and the page only makes one of them obvious. Learning to separate them takes a minute and tells you more than the reviews.
- How to check whether a brand is a real company in ten minutes
A six-step method using public records — trademark registers, company registries, domain history and the seller profile — with a plain account of what each step does and does not prove.
- What Amazon's Brand Registry does and doesn't guarantee
Registered brands, the Amazon's Choice badge, and Best Seller tags all mean something specific — and none of them mean what shoppers assume.
- Why Amazon is full of random-letter brands
The names are not random and they are not a moderation failure. They are the rational output of a specific set of incentives. Understanding those makes them easy to read.
- How to spot a fake Amazon brand
Marketplace shell brands follow patterns you can learn to read in about two seconds. Here is the exact method our filter uses, including where it fails.
Also available
Prefer it done automatically?
RealBrand Filter is our free browser extension. It applies the same verified company list while you shop, dimming or hiding brands that fail the checks above. No account, no data collection.
Run a real company? Get listed.
If you make products under a brand you intend to keep, we would like to know about it. Tell us where you are registered and where else you sell, and we will review it.