How We Decide What Goes in the Store

We get asked this a lot: how do you pick your products?

The honest answer is that most things don't make it in. We look at a lot of products and most of them end up in the "no" pile — not because they're terrible, but because they don't clear the bar we set when we started Sowth.

Here's what that bar actually looks like.

It has to solve something real

Not a problem we invented to sell a product — an actual friction point in someone's day. A dog that overheats in summer. A paw that tracks mud through the house. A baby who needs to be soothed without a screen. We start with the problem, not the product.

It has to hold up

We check reviews across platforms, look at return rates where we can find them, and whenever possible, test the product ourselves or through people we trust. If it's getting consistent complaints about quality after a few weeks, it doesn't come in.

The price has to make sense

We're not trying to be the cheapest store on the internet. We're trying to be the one where the price actually reflects what you're getting. If we can't sell something at a fair price without cutting corners, we don't sell it.

It has to fit

Sowth isn't a general marketplace — we have a point of view. Pet gear, outdoor essentials, home finds, self-care basics. If something doesn't fit that world, it doesn't matter how good it is.

Why the catalogue stays small

That's the filter. It means our catalog stays small, which is intentional. We'd rather have 20 things we stand behind than 200 things we're indifferent to. We wrote more about that in Why we keep the catalog small on purpose.

If you ever have a product you think belongs here — or one you tried from us that didn't clear your bar — we want to hear about it. That feedback is how we stay honest.