A responsible human editor checks every page and every calculator change on Lead Cost Lab before it is published. That editor is Aaron. Until confirmed review happens, pages stay unpublished.
Three kinds of numbers
Most errors in acquisition-cost writing come from mixing numbers of different kinds. Every number on this site is one of these, and is labeled as such:
- Your input. Whatever you type into a tool.
- A sourced price or term. Taken from a provider’s own public page, with the mode (listed price, member price, minimum bid) and the date we checked it.
- An illustrative value. A teaching number we chose to make the arithmetic visible. It describes no provider, customer or market, and the text says “illustrative” next to it.
We do not publish a fourth kind, an outcome rate presented as typical, unless it comes from a documented dataset with stated scope, sample and method. No such dataset exists on this site today.
Changes to formulas
A change to any equation, rounding rule or validation rule is a substantive change. It is made in the shared calculator engine, covered by an automated test, reflected on the methodology page, and dated. If a change alters results a reader may have relied on, it is also logged on the corrections page.
Neutrality of results
The commercial relationship described on the disclosure page never enters a computation. We do not set provider-specific defaults, round in anyone’s favor, or hide a result behind a signup. A recommendation, where one appears, sits after the result and is labeled.
AI assistance
AI tools help draft explanations, propose test cases and check pages for missing caveats. They are not a source for any price, term or rate. Formulas are accepted only when they match the published contract and pass the automated tests. We claim human review only where it has actually been performed; at drafting time it had not.
Sources
Provider prices and terms come from the providers’ own pages, checked on the date shown. When a provider’s pages disagree, we show the mode we used or mark the value unresolved. We do not cite third-party price round-ups as evidence of a provider’s terms.
Bylines and dates
Pages carry the byline “Lead Cost Lab editors” unless a real, consenting author has a verified profile. Publication and modification dates are actual dates; cosmetic edits do not change them.
What we do not publish
Invented benchmarks, close rates, customer results or testimonials; claims that any provider is cheapest for every investor; numeric “value scores”; and email gates in front of results.