How Proud Tek earns money, which relationships could influence what we write, and what we label as commercial
Disclosures & Affiliations
Quick answer
Proud Tek is a Shenzhen-based RFID and NFC manufacturer. We make money when customers buy physical product from us — cards, keyfobs, wristbands, laundry tags, NFC business cards, hotel key cards — not from advertising, and not from paid placements in our editorial. Because we publish technical guides about the same product families we sell, that commercial interest is the one disclosure every reader should keep in mind. This page sets out where it could shape coverage, the firewall that keeps it from shaping accuracy, and every other paid relationship that could create a bias.
- Revenue comes from product orders placed with Proud Tek — we run no display advertising on proudtek.com.
- We are a manufacturer, not a neutral test lab: we publish about product families we sell, which is a disclosed conflict of interest.
- No paid placements, no sponsored reviews, and no affiliate links today — if that ever changes, it is disclosed here first.
- Reviewers can overrule a sales-preferred pick, and we recommend the cheaper or simpler option — even one we don't make — when it is the right answer.
- 2008 Founded — 18 yrs continuous operation
- 50+ Countries shipped to
- 6 Product families in-house
- 100% Functional read-test on every encoded unit
- NXP
- Infineon
- Impinj
- Alien
- EM Micro
- Quanray
- ISO 9001:2015
- RoHS 2011/65/EU
- REACH SVHC
- FCC Part 15 / 18
- CE EN 300 330
At a glance
Use these short answers to decide whether this page matches the project before moving into the detail.
Key takeaway
Revenue comes from product orders placed with Proud Tek — we run no display advertising on proudtek.com.
How Proud Tek makes money
The plain-language version of our business model, and where it could shape what we publish.
Next step
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Read the editorial policyHow Proud Tek makes money
The plain-language version of our business model, and where it could shape what we publish.
- We manufacture and sell NFC cards and stickers, RFID wristbands, hotel key cards, industrial-laundry tags (PPS / silicone / textile), UHF RAIN RFID tags, and custom metal and printed cards. Product orders are our only source of revenue.
- Our buyer guides compare options across these families because we make them. That commercial interest is disclosed on every comparison article, in the footer, and here.
- When we compare something we sell against something we don't (for example a QR-code approach vs. an NFC card), we say so in the article itself.
- We never reject a technically sound alternative because it competes with our product. Articles on /compare/* are required to recommend the lower-cost or simpler option whenever that is the right answer.
The commerce–editorial firewall
How we keep commercial pressure from deforming technical articles.
- Sales staff do not draft, edit or sign off editorial content. Commercial landing pages (/lp/*) are written by marketing, labelled as such, and never cross-linked as editorial.
- In comparison tables, chip and product specifications come from the public datasheet; our own figures appear only in rows explicitly labelled 'Proud Tek lab test'.
- Named reviewers at /about/review-board/ are told, in writing, that they can overrule a sales-preferred recommendation — and are expected to whenever the technical case requires it.
Affiliate, referral & sponsorship policy
Our policy today is simple: none of the below is in use. If that changes, it is disclosed on this page first and on the same day any monetised link goes live.
| Program | Status (as of 2026-07-05) | How it would be disclosed if live |
|---|---|---|
| Affiliate / referral links | None today — no outbound link on proudtek.com is monetised. | Every affiliate link tagged rel="sponsored" and disclosed in the article footer. |
| Sponsored articles / paid placements | Not accepted in editorial. Paid announcements run only at /news/press-releases/ under a visible 'Press release' label. | No editorial piece would carry sponsored content; any change would banner every affected article. |
| Reader-paid memberships / gated content | Not in use. | Clearly labelled if offered — and never gating corrections, methodology, or safety information. |
| Product review samples (inbound) | Occasionally received from reader OEMs. | Any article relying on a free sample discloses that fact in the sources block. |
Trademark & brand-name disclosure
We cite many third-party brands and standards. These disclosures cover all of them.
- 'MIFARE', 'DESFire' and 'NTAG' are registered trademarks of NXP Semiconductors, used to refer to the chip families NXP sells. Proud Tek is not an official NXP reference-design partner unless a specific product page says so.
- 'RAIN' and 'RAIN RFID' are marks of the RAIN Alliance, used to refer to UHF RFID technology under ISO/IEC 18000-63.
- 'NFC Forum' is the trademark of the NFC Forum standards body.
- 'Assa Abloy', 'Dormakaba', 'Salto', 'Onity', 'Saflok', 'Impinj', 'Alien Technology', 'HID Global' and 'Legic' are trademarks of their respective owners, used only to refer to the identified products.
- Use of any of these names on proudtek.com does not imply endorsement by, or affiliation with, the trademark owner beyond a commercial relationship explicitly disclosed in the article.
Your data & your reading
Our privacy policy (/about/privacy-policy/) covers data handling in full. The disclosure that belongs here is narrower: does reading our articles change what we sell or show you?
- It does not. We don't build advertising profiles, we don't sell reader data, and we don't retarget you based on which articles you read.
- Basic analytics (page visits, country, referrer) inform editorial planning, not third-party ad targeting.
- When you submit an RFQ or contact form it is handled as a business enquiry; newsletter content is commercial and carries a one-click unsubscribe.
Useful next pages
Use these linked product, guide and comparison pages to keep the next click specific and practical.
Editorial firewall in detail
Sourcing, reviewer accountability and the correction rules that keep commercial content from deforming editorial content.
How we test what we sell
Methodology plus negative disclosures — what our lab does, and what it deliberately does not.
Our named reviewers
The people authorised to overrule a sales-preferred recommendation, and their disclosed holdings.
FAQ
Do you earn a commission if I click a link and buy?
No. There are no affiliate or monetised outbound links on proudtek.com today. If that ever changes it is disclosed on this page first, every such link is tagged rel="sponsored", and the article footer says so. We make money when you buy product directly from Proud Tek.
Do you accept free samples from chip makers?
Occasionally, and only for an article that explicitly tests that chip. Free samples never trigger coverage — we choose topics from reader demand and the editorial calendar, then source chips (paid or sampled) to match. Any article relying on a chip supplied free discloses that in the sources block.
Do your writers own stock in any vendor you cover?
Contributors are asked to disclose equity in any chip maker, reader OEM, lock maker or standards-body company they write about; disclosed holdings are listed on the contributor's entry at /about/review-board/. Proud Tek itself is a privately-held manufacturer with no outside equity investors as of this page's date.
What if I think an article is unduly promotional?
Send the URL and the specific passage to editors@proudtek.com. We route it to a reviewer who was not involved in the original article and publish the outcome — a correction, a disclosure update, or a written justification — at /about/corrections/.
Proud Tek is a Shenzhen-based RFID & NFC manufacturer supplying hotel chains, transit operators, event venues and retail brands worldwide. Every order includes free samples, RF testing and dedicated project support.
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