Our methodology
Most “best tools” lists are written by people who never opened the product. Ours aren’t. This page explains exactly how a tool earns — or loses — its score on SellerTested, so you can judge our judgment.
The rules we never break
- We use the real product. Every review starts with a real account (paid with our own money when there’s no trial) connected to a real store or real product data.
- Same rubric for every tool. Scores are comparable because the test is identical within a category.
- Commissions never touch scores. Some links earn us a referral fee. Tools can’t pay to be included, ranked higher, or have criticism removed. Ever.
- Reviews get re-tested. Software changes monthly. Every review shows its last-tested date, and we re-run the core tests when a tool ships major changes.
The scoring rubric
Every tool is scored 1–10 across five weighted dimensions:
- Does the job35%
- Data accuracy & output quality25%
- Ease of use15%
- Pricing fairness15%
- Support & docs10%
Does the job is weighted heaviest because nothing else matters if the tool doesn’t deliver its core promise. For a product-research tool that means: do its opportunity estimates match what actually happens on the marketplace? For an AI writing tool: do its listings actually convert?
What the scores mean
- 9–10 — Exceptional. We use it ourselves and would re-buy at full price.
- 7.5–8.9 — Strong recommendation with minor trade-offs, clearly flagged.
- 6–7.4 — Good for a specific type of seller; read the “best for” line before buying.
- 4–5.9 — Works, but a listed competitor does it better for the same money.
- Below 4 — We tell you to keep your money.
Who does the testing
Tests are run by SellerTested on the live tools themselves — fresh accounts, the same seed keywords, the same day — and every review shows in-product screenshots from our own accounts. If we couldn’t test something first-hand (a card-gated trial, an enterprise feature), the review says so explicitly and marks the score provisional.
Corrections
Got a score wrong? Found data that contradicts ours? Tell us. We publish corrections directly in the review with a dated note.