How We Rate Whether a Tool Is Legit

The four factors and their weights

Scoring scale (0–2 per factor)

• 2 points: rating ≥ 4.0 with 500+ reviews and active in the last 90 days (Trustpilot); clear refund policy with buyer protection and no complaint cluster (refunds); full public company details with a 3+ year domain (transparency); a real test record we can reproduce (hands-on).
• 1 point: rating 3.0–3.9, or 50–499 reviews, or a high rating with a thin review base; a vague or store-credit-only refund policy; partial company info or a 1–3 year domain; second-hand evidence with a source (no first-party test).
• 0 points: rating below 3.0, fewer than 50 reviews, no Trustpilot profile, or a concentrated negative-complaint storm; no refund policy, no support channel, or irreversible payment only; fully anonymous, sub-1-year domain, or a parked/transferred domain; no test and no sourced evidence.

A missing Trustpilot profile is not the same as "scam" — we state it as a signal and let the other three factors carry the score. "Not Operating" (domain parked, store closed) is its own special verdict, not a 0.

Final score formula

Each factor is scored 0–2, multiplied by its weight, and scaled to 100:

Score = (Trustpilot × 0.30 + Refund × 0.25 + Transparency × 0.25 + Testing × 0.20) × 50

• ≥ 80 — Recommended. We are comfortable sending readers to this tool.
• 60–79 — Conditional. Works, but with caveats we spell out.
• < 60 — Not Recommended. We say why, with evidence.

Where the data comes from

• Trustpilot profiles — linked live, with the rating and review count as shown on the profile page at the time of writing (date noted on each page).
• Official refund policies — the vendor's own page, quoted directly.
• BBB profiles and company registries — linked where they exist; "no BBB profile" is stated as a fact, not assumed to be a failure.
• Our own test records — screenshots, order references, and support-ticket summaries. Anything second-hand carries a source URL.

Rule: no source URL, no score. Every number on a legit page traces back to a linked source or an explicit "we have not tested this yet" statement.

Update frequency

Rubric weights are reviewed quarterly. Individual tool scores are re-checked when a Trustpilot profile moves materially (rating or review count), when a refund policy changes, or when we complete a new hands-on test. Each legit page shows its last verified date.

Limitations we admit

• Trustpilot data is a snapshot in time — a profile can change after we publish. We re-verify quarterly.
• Hands-on testing covers one order flow, not every edge case a vendor has.
• A high score is "legit enough to consider", not a guarantee against future problems. We update pages when evidence changes.

Affiliate disclosure

Some links on this site are affiliate links (we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you). Commissions never affect a legit score: the rubric above is applied the same way to tools we promote and tools we don't. Our Spocket review, for example, scores 52.5/100 (Not Recommended) and stays that way with both sides of the evidence shown.

See it in action

• Is MagicDrop Legit? — our first Branch-A page (score after platform closure)
• Is GearLaunch Legit? — pilot page, 2,562 words
• Is Spocket Legit? — 52.5/100, Not Recommended, with both sources shown