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Community Best Buy: Information for businesses

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About Ethical Consumer's Community Best Buy Label for small businesses

Are you a small local eco shop which is too small for B Corp accreditation? 

Or a specialist ethical online retailer with an annual turnover under £100,000? 

If you're a small ethical business the Community Best Buy Label scheme may be what you're looking for. 


Community Best Buy Label 

Small and ethical businesses can apply to Ethical Consumer's Community Best Buy Label scheme to help promote their products and services.

The green ‘butterfly’ label can be used on packaging, websites, marketing and all other promotional material.

Below we explain more about:

  • the benefits for small businesses of the Community Best Buy scheme
  • how it works
  • how to apply

About the Community Best Buy Label 

The Community Best Buy is an affordable route to ethical accreditation for companies with an annual turnover of under £100,000.

The Community Best Buy label offers independent ethical recognition without the bureaucracy burden that can exclude micro businesses. 

The application process is simpler and proportionate, focusing on real-world practices rather than paperwork. This is a simplified version of the ethical screening process that we use for companies in our shopping guides, and gives applicants the space to demonstrate how their company provides a genuine environmental or social alternative. 

Features and benefits of the Community Best Buy Label

Why choose to apply for the Community Best Buy Label recognition?

  1. As the dramatic growth of the ethical sector continues, the Community Best Buy Label can be a valuable addition to your product's strategic marketing and positioning within an increasingly competitive market.
  2. The label is an endorsement from an established and trusted name within the ethical community, and helps to communicate the core environmental and ethical values of a product.
  3. A listing on the Community Best Buy page of our high traffic website. This will become something of an ethical directory as the scheme grows.
  4. Community Best Buy companies will be endorsed in any relevant magazine guide or articles.
  5. We will announce new certifications in our weekly email newsletter (almost 30,000 readers) and magazine (13,000 paid subscribers).

Note that the Community Best Buy label scheme does not currently include the giveaway deals & more active co-promotion included in our conventional Best Buy service. This is a lower cost option with a simplified process and more hands off approach. 

Micro companies are able to apply for our ‘conventional’ Best Buy label – costs start at £295 per year plus a £225+VAT screening fee (this is a more complex screening process). This service includes options for affiliate links, reader giveaways and more. 

See our Best Buy page for more information about our conventional Best Buy service.

How much does it cost?

The Community Best Buy label license costs £15+VAT monthly or £160 annually, plus a £70+VAT one time set up fee.

We are also running a ‘pioneers’ discount scheme for the first 10 companies to sign up, with a £60 initial sign up fee and £12 per month / £140 per year subscription fee, all plus VAT.

How do I apply?

Companies can apply via the online application form. 

The questionnaire shouldn’t take more than an hour to complete, and is an opportunity for a company to demonstrate how it provides a social or environmental alternative.

If our researchers deem it likely that you’ll make the grade, we’ll be in touch and may ask for more evidence if necessary. Once both sides are happy we can progress with licensing the label.

If an application doesn’t meet our standards we will also let you know, and you may be able to put into place a few policies and practices and come back in a relatively short time to score yourself again. If it's looking tricky and you'd like some help, perhaps with policy development, Ethical Consumer can arrange a formal advice session with one of its researchers. Costs start at around £300.

There is no charge for completing the questionnaire itself, we’ll only charge the sign up fee if you are to progress to the next stage.

Any questions? Email the team at communitybestbuys[at]ethicalconsumer.org to find out more.

Apply online

 

 

See list of current Community Best Buy Label holders

We launched the scheme at the end of January 2026 and two businesses have joined already.

Read their profiles on the main Community Best Buy web page.

We always check the ethics of our advertisers

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