Most products don't make it
This might seem like a strange thing for a store to say, but it's true. For every product you see on CartClick, there are dozens that got rejected. Our product team goes through a lot of samples, supplier catalogs, and trend data before anything earns a spot on the site.
We'd rather carry fewer products that are actually good than fill our store with filler to make it look bigger.
What we're looking for
When our team evaluates a potential product, there are a few things that matter more than anything else.
Build quality. Does it feel like it'll last? Or does it feel like it'll break the second time you use it? You'd be amazed how many products look great in photos but fall apart in your hands. Our Quality Lead spends real time with each sample — using it the way a customer would, not just glancing at it and checking a box.
Does it match the specs? If the supplier says a gadget has a certain battery life, we check. If they say it's made from a specific material, we verify. One of the fastest ways to lose our trust is sending specs that don't match reality.
Shipping reliability. This one's less obvious. A great product from a supplier who can't ship consistently isn't worth carrying. We've dropped products we liked because the supplier couldn't deliver on time or couldn't maintain quality across batches.
Photo accuracy. Every product on our site uses real photos. Not renders. Not images pulled from some generic catalog with perfect lighting and creative angles that make a ten-dollar item look like a hundred-dollar one. What you see is what you're getting.
The Quality Lead's checklist
Our Quality Lead has a process that the rest of the team lovingly refers to as "the gauntlet." Before any product goes live on the site, he personally reviews three things:
First, the physical product against the supplier's claims. Does it actually do what they say? Is the quality what they promised?
Second, the product listing itself. He reads every description to make sure we're not overselling what the product does. If a description says "professional-grade" and the product is really more "solid for everyday use," he makes us rewrite it. It's annoying. He's also right.
Third, the photos. He compares the listing images to the actual product in hand. If there's a meaningful discrepancy, the photos get redone.
This process slows us down. We've had products sit in review for days while he works through his checklist. But we've also avoided listing products that would've generated complaints and returns. The math works out.
What gets rejected
The rejection list is long. Here are the most common reasons something doesn't make it:
- Build quality that won't survive regular use
- Specs that don't match what the supplier claimed
- Suppliers with unreliable fulfillment or inconsistent quality between batches
- Products where the marketing claims are exaggerated beyond what the item actually delivers
- Items that already have a lot of negative feedback on other platforms (we check)
We've rejected products that would've sold well because they didn't pass the quality check. That's a hard call to make when you're a small business, but it's the right one. One bad product generates more damage in returns, support tickets, and lost trust than it ever would've made in revenue.
Why this matters
A lot of online stores just list whatever's available from their suppliers. Quantity over quality. We get why — more products means more chances for a sale. But it also means a higher chance of a customer getting something disappointing.
We've gone the other direction. Fewer products, all vetted. It means our catalog isn't the biggest, but we stand behind everything in it.
— The CartClick Team
Related: About CartClick — our story | What our customers say