Cookie policy
Contents9 sections
This page explains what cookies and similar technologies are, which ones we use on theratchetshop.com, why we use them and how you can control them. It was last updated in October 2026.
What is a cookie?
A cookie is a small text file placed on your device when you visit a website. It lets the site recognise your device and remember information about your visit. Some of the technologies we use work in a similar way without being cookies, such as local storage in your browser and small pieces of code (often called pixels or tags) that tell a service when a page has been viewed. In this policy we call all of these "cookies".
Your choices
When you first visit our site we ask whether you accept cookies. Only strictly necessary cookies are used before you choose. Preference, analytics and marketing cookies stay off until you agree, and you can accept or reject each type.
You can change your choice at any time using the Cookie settings link at the bottom of every page. You can also block or delete cookies in your browser settings, but if you block strictly necessary cookies your basket and checkout will not work.
The types of cookie we use
Strictly necessary
These keep the shop working: your basket, checkout, account sign in, security and remembering your cookie choices. Our shop runs on Shopify, which sets these on our behalf. They do not need your consent.
Preferences
These remember things for you and run our live chat, such as your recent searches and your chat conversation as you move between pages. We only use them if you agree. If you have not agreed, our live chat only loads when you click the chat button to start a conversation.
Some features save information in your browser only when you use them, such as your choice to show prices with or without VAT, products you add to compare, and items you add to a quote request. These are needed for the feature you asked for and are not used to track you.
Analytics
These help us understand how visitors use the site, such as which pages are popular and where people get stuck, so we can improve it. We only use them if you agree.
Marketing
These measure how well our advertising works and help us show relevant ads on other sites and social media. PayPal's Pay Later messages and our live chat offers also count as marketing, because the providers use cookies to track them. We only use them if you agree.
Cookies and services we use
| Provider | Purpose | Type | Examples and how long they last |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shopify (our shop platform) | Basket, checkout, sign in, security, remembering your cookie choices | Strictly necessary | _shopify_essential, cart, secure_customer_sig, _tracking_consent, localization. From the end of your visit up to 1 year |
| Shopify (our shop platform) | Visit and sales statistics for our own reporting | Analytics | _shopify_analytics and similar. Up to 1 year |
| Shopify (our shop platform) | Attributing sales to our marketing | Marketing | _shopify_marketing and similar. Up to 1 year |
| The Ratchet Shop | Remembering your VAT display choice, compare list and quote request, only when you use those features | Strictly necessary (local and session storage) | trs-vat, trs-cmp, trs-quote. Until you clear your browser data, or the end of your visit |
| The Ratchet Shop | Remembering your recent searches and speeding up review loading | Preferences (local and session storage) | trs-recent-searches, trs-rv. Until you clear your browser data, or the end of your visit |
| Google Tag Manager | Loads our Google and advertising tags, only after you consent | Analytics and marketing | Does not set its own cookies |
| Google Analytics | How visitors use the site | Analytics | _ga, and _ga_ followed by our property ID. Up to 2 years |
| Google Ads | Measuring conversions from our Google ads | Marketing | _gcl_au and similar. Up to 90 days |
| Microsoft Advertising (Bing) | Measuring conversions from our Bing ads | Marketing | _uetsid, _uetvid. Up to 13 months |
| Meta (Facebook and Instagram) | Measuring and improving our Facebook and Instagram ads. Meta also receives order events directly from Shopify | Marketing | _fbp, _fbc. Up to 90 days |
| Gorgias | Our live chat, so you can message us and keep the conversation as you move between pages | Preferences. Loads only if you agree, or when you click the chat button to start a chat | Chat session and conversation identifiers, and _dd_s, which Gorgias uses to monitor that the chat is working. Varies |
| Gorgias | Live chat offers and messages shown while you browse | Marketing | Campaign and visit identifiers. Varies |
| REVIEWS.io | Showing our verified customer reviews and star ratings. Reviews are fetched from REVIEWS.io without placing cookies on your device | None | No cookies set |
| PayPal | Paying by PayPal at checkout, including fraud prevention | Strictly necessary, only if you choose to pay with PayPal | Set on PayPal's own domain. Varies |
| PayPal | Pay Later messages on product and basket pages | Marketing | ts, ts_c and similar, set on PayPal's own domain. Varies |
| YouTube (privacy enhanced mode) | Playing our product and how-to videos. Videos only load if you press play, or play automatically if you have accepted marketing cookies | Marketing | Browser storage set by YouTube once a video plays. Varies |
Cookie names and durations are set by each provider and can change. These companies have their own privacy and cookie policies explaining how they use information.
More information
For how we handle your personal information more generally, see our Privacy Policy. If you have any questions about cookies, email info@theratchetshop.com or call 01638 731 608.