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.