No. We're a gallery. Every "Shop this part" button links out to the manufacturer or to Amazon. We earn an affiliate commission on qualifying sales, which is how the site stays free for browsing.
Why no comments or likes?
Moderation cost. Comments add real expense without lifting commerce — Reddit, Discord, and YouTube already do the social layer. We're the catalog. We may add a save/upvote signal in v2 once the gallery is large enough to need it.
How do you make money?
Six streams: Amazon Associates and Impact Radius affiliate commissions, BS Pro subscriptions, brand-sponsored placements on the homepage and category pages, newsletter sponsorships, display ads on long-tail SEO pages, and (eventually) a private-label accessory line. Roughly in that order of size.
If I post my setup, who owns the photo?
You do. By posting, you grant us a non-exclusive license to display the photo on BattleStationGear and in our promotional channels (YouTube weekly digests, IG/X posts, ambassador shoutouts). You can request removal at any time and we will honor it within 7 days.
Why strip affiliate tags from URLs I paste?
Two reasons. First: if you're a free user, our Amazon Associates tag is the only one that should ever fund the site. Second: even Pro users get cleaner URLs that won't break when affiliate networks update their tracking formats. Your Pro tag (if you have one) is applied at click-time, not at paste-time.
Where does the build data go?
Submitted setups are stored in our Supabase Postgres database, behind row-level security policies. Photos live in Cloudflare R2 with a public CDN. We do not share your private data with third parties beyond what is necessary to run the site (e.g., Stripe for billing).
How are the calculators calibrated?
PSU wattage uses real component TDP figures with category-tested headroom multipliers (1.25× stock, 1.35× OC, 1.5× sustained). The ATX 3.1 buffer accounts for transient spikes specific to RTX 4090/5080/5090 cards. Case compatibility uses manufacturer-published max GPU length and cooler height; we conservatively warn at ≤20mm of clearance. Monitor PPI is the standard diagonal-pixel formula; Retina viewing distance uses the 1-arcminute angular resolution rule.
Can I export my setups?
Yes. Your account dashboard has an "Export my data" button that returns a JSON dump of every setup, photo URL, and tag you have submitted. We can also email you a one-time download link on request.
Why is the gallery preloaded with setups I didn't create?
The site started with curated seed setups so the filters, search, and parts pages had content to work against from day one. Your own submissions appear at the top of the gallery as they are published and feed into the same filter logic.
Where can I follow build releases and tips?
YouTube weekly digest (top 10 setups of the week), monthly newsletter, and the social accounts in the footer. The YouTube channel is intentionally the loudest distribution channel — that's how we feed new traffic back to the site.