The Honey Scam

Hacky McAxe

Hacky McAxe

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Interesting one that has popped up the last few days. Figure that there's many people here that use the Honey browser plugin.

For those that don't use it, it's a browser plugin that helps you find cheap deals. When you get to checkout while buying something online, it pops up saying it will find you the best deal. Then it enters a bunch of coupon codes and you save money.

Problem is, the whole thing is a bit of the scam. Honey is owned by PayPal, and a recent investigation found that the whole thing is dodgy.

First dodgy point - Creators:

When content Creators promote Honey, they also have their own affiliate links. That basically means if a content creator suggests something and you click a link that takes you to an online store, that content creator will get a little bit of money for promoting the item. Except if the buyer has Honey installed. If they do, Honey pops up and takes the money from the creator and sends it to PayPal instead. So the Creators promoting Honey end up getting screwed over.

Second point - buyers:

That first point just affects content creators and marketing. The second point affects everyone else. When you click the Honey link, it enters a bunch of codes it found then either saves you a little bit of money, or no money at all and Honey says, "we searched the net and you have the best deal". Turns out, that's bullshit. They designed it so it won't find the best deals because the less you spend, the less of a commission Honey/PayPal gets. So they tell you that they couldn't find good codes even though there are good codes available


TLDR; if you have the Honey browser extension, get rid of it. Other than the sly marketing data PayPal is getting from you, it's ripping off content creators and you


 
Never heard of it. But I'm not typically an online shopper. But it really shows that money hungry grubs will do anything to make those few extra dollars.
 
They sure will Alan, scum are everywhere lurking.

I also have not heard of it and I am a regular online shopper.
Not that their great for everything imaginable but I buy a fair bit of stuff through Catch and all has been fine bar for one fairly insignificant packaging ballsup which they rectified with a voucher anyway.
 
conspiracy theory hacky at it again, next will be a thread about bigfoot
 
When I read the heading, I thought is was about actual honey.
 
I thought I was about fake honey that contains nanobots....

I blame Chai-nah
 
ASSASSIN said:
I thought I was about fake honey that contains nanobots....

I blame Chai-nah
Click to expand...

it’s funny you said china because they do actually mod honey.

justbeehoney.co.uk

What is fake honey and how to spot it

Stories about fake honey have been in the headlines several times over the last 5 years. In most cases the term 'fake honey' is used to describe small amounts of real honey that have been mixed with various other less expensive sugars and syrups. Not only are these syrups, such as corn or rice...
justbeehoney.co.uk justbeehoney.co.uk
 
Hacky McAxe said:
Interesting one that has popped up the last few days. Figure that there's many people here that use the Honey browser plugin.

For those that don't use it, it's a browser plugin that helps you find cheap deals. When you get to checkout while buying something online, it pops up saying it will find you the best deal. Then it enters a bunch of coupon codes and you save money.

Problem is, the whole thing is a bit of the scam. Honey is owned by PayPal, and a recent investigation found that the whole thing is dodgy.

First dodgy point - Creators:

When content Creators promote Honey, they also have their own affiliate links. That basically means if a content creator suggests something and you click a link that takes you to an online store, that content creator will get a little bit of money for promoting the item. Except if the buyer has Honey installed. If they do, Honey pops up and takes the money from the creator and sends it to PayPal instead. So the Creators promoting Honey end up getting screwed over.

Second point - buyers:

That first point just affects content creators and marketing. The second point affects everyone else. When you click the Honey link, it enters a bunch of codes it found then either saves you a little bit of money, or no money at all and Honey says, "we searched the net and you have the best deal". Turns out, that's bullshit. They designed it so it won't find the best deals because the less you spend, the less of a commission Honey/PayPal gets. So they tell you that they couldn't find good codes even though there are good codes available


TLDR; if you have the Honey browser extension, get rid of it. Other than the sly marketing data PayPal is getting from you, it's ripping off content creators and you


Click to expand...
Even more concerning is that it's PayPal affiliated.
 
The New Legacy said:
it’s funny you said china because they do actually mod honey.

justbeehoney.co.uk

What is fake honey and how to spot it

Stories about fake honey have been in the headlines several times over the last 5 years. In most cases the term 'fake honey' is used to describe small amounts of real honey that have been mixed with various other less expensive sugars and syrups. Not only are these syrups, such as corn or rice...
justbeehoney.co.uk justbeehoney.co.uk
Click to expand...
Wow bro, I should of known lol
 
@Hacky McAxe I’m not sure this is new? Honey has been called out before, going back a couple of years. This just seems to be a more recent rant from a YouTuber. PayPal have long claimed ownership of Honey and in some markets it’s actually called ‘Honey by PayPal’. I reckon the whole coupon model is broken more than anything. Also I largely ignore influencers - the idea of buying something because someone tells me to (and more’s the point because they’re getting paid to) is odd. I prefer product review websites where people have already bought something, tested it and then give honest feedback about the experience.
 
DinkumDog said:
@Hacky McAxe I’m not sure this is new? Honey has been called out before, going back a couple of years. This just seems to be a more recent rant from a YouTuber. PayPal have long claimed ownership of Honey and in some markets it’s actually called ‘Honey by PayPal’. I reckon the whole coupon model is broken more than anything. Also I largely ignore influencers - the idea of buying something because someone tells me to (and more’s the point because they’re getting paid to) is odd. I prefer product review websites where people have already bought something, tested it and then give honest feedback about the experience.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the video covers that. There was one content creator that called it out years back but they didn't go into depth and no one really noticed. It was only after an indepth investigation that they found all the real issues.
 
Hacky McAxe said:
Yeah, the video covers that. There was one content creator that called it out years back but they didn't go into depth and no one really noticed. It was only after an indepth investigation that they found all the real issues.
Click to expand...
Fair - I didn’t watch the video - I just remembered that Honey has been called out before. I still think coupons leave a bit to be desired overall though and that’s why Google etc didn’t buy the likes of Groupon when they would’ve had that sort of money in their ashtray.
 
Disposable Hero said:
don't shoot down PSA threads, any browser plugin is a scam 90% of people know this.
If Hacky saves 1 person from being scammed it is worth a thread.
Click to expand...

oh yeah just like he saved people from the Y2K disaster back in the day lol

i tried to save 95% of australians from a scam and hacky did this to me ffs
 
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