Honey (coupon browser extension) scam

[dlockers]

Not always, that could, say, have an arrangement with Very for a 5% code, but when Very themselves have a 10% code floating around too. Honey will use that 5% code they agreed with Very regardless. Probably had an arrangement with the retailer that they split the difference.

I detect faux outrage then. Honey could never have absolute visibility into every retailers code no matter what claims they make. Anyone who thinks it was a 100% fool proof way to get the highest possible discount should look up critical thinking in the dictionary/encarta/British library

 

[Raymond Lin]

I detect faux outrage then. Honey could never have absolute visibility into every retailers code no matter what claims they make. Anyone who thinks it was a 100% fool proof way to get the highest possible discount should look up critical thinking in the dictionary/encarta/British library

The low IQ of the public and what Honey claimed can both exists.

Just because people shouldn’t be stupid doesn’t make what Honey are doing are right.

 

[ttaskmaster]

Obviously not but how else are they supposed to make money from videos they put on the Internet for free

Stop putting them on the Internet for free... or just do something that actually earns money honestly. Making people buy something (which is what influencers are supposed to do) is basically whoring. Companies already have marketing and market researchers for this.

Even sponsorship promotion is walking the line IMO - Stick to paid slots in which advertisers can plug their wares themselves, rather than doing their donkey work for them and devaluing your own content.

 

[413x]

The claim (towards the end) that it also explicitly does not include 'better' discount codes which exist, but that the retailer has requested that Honey doesn't use is even more nefarious than the affiliate link replacement shenanigans. i.e. all of the Honey advertising claiming that 'you'll always get the best deal' is just plain lying.

From the couple of clips right and the end trailing the 'part 2' it looks like it even screws the retailers overs too! Hope PayPal get hammered over this if true.

Yes. For me this is the big one they could get in serious trouble for.

I'd actually never heard of honey before this thread. Which obviously means my life isn't polluted by influencers.

But claiming if it's not on honey it doesn't exist.. Then saying in to retailers.. We can rig the system together?

Yeah, that's dodge!

 

[413x]

No chance, 20 mins of some babbling youtuber makes me feel sick

I watched it. It waffled on about "poor old influencers" and eventually touched on the bit bad for consumers at the end.

 

[darael]

Why is Paypal still alive these days?

 

[Journey]

Obviously not but how else are they supposed to make money from videos they put on the Internet for free

Do more due diligence of the sponsor perhaps?

I used to watch a guy on YouTube, and one day his 'normal' adverts had gone e.g. NordVPN, and it was some advert for rubbish kitchen knives with some special discount, they were clearly a scam there was no real discount, and the product was questionable. I sent an e-mail to his channel and asked if they knew it was all rubbish, and it turned out he had hired a channel manager/marketing company, and they replied saying that they scrutinised the adverts and supplier offers very carefully. A few months later, long after I stopped watching the videos, an apology video popped up to say the management company were in bed with the sponsor company(s) so they were making money from both ends, making the channel more money, but also making a huge amount for their own benefit, I'd call them parasites. His channel lost loads of subscribers, and viewership went down, bad management and bad scrutiny can make your handwork disappear pretty fast. Greed perhaps is another word?

 

[413x]

Why is Paypal still alive these days?

To be fair I use it quite a lot as it allows me to use Amex in more places that I could otherwise

 

[Grim5]

Why is Paypal still alive these days?

Who knows, I haven't used PayPal for anything in 10 years

I used to use it until visa debit cards became a thing

But what's the point now, who doesn't accept Visa anywhere in the world? Ok maybe in Russia where Visa is sanctioned but apart from sanctioned countries, who doesn't accept Visa?

 

[dlockers]

Why is Paypal still alive these days?

They missed a massive opportunity tbh. Still good for converting credit card into cash and they often have 0% offers. Monzo, Klarna etc stepped in to take the digital wallet crown tho

 

[lovelyhead]

Could it also be the case that if you are using a cash back site like TopCashBack, that whilst checking out, the Honey pop up asking you to check for discount codes could then steal the affiliate link from TopCashBack stopping you from getting cashback from TopCashBack?

If that is the case then that is definitely Honey ripping off the consumer.

 

[NickK]

The mutton floggers (influencers) got their mutton flogged. A circle of life outcome.

Seems that there's a common theme of fleecing the unprotected (influencers) including Hawk Tuah..

If there's any contract then yes they're breaking the contract. If there's no contract other than a verbal agreement to promote without any renumeration agreed then there's no defrauding.

Otherwise no.. they're not breaking laws. No low broken who is redirecting who referred them. Now if the referrer stated that by clicking the link then the user agrees to be bound by contract as the referrer is the sole referrer and etc etc then the poor user will then be breaking contract.. but not Honey.. unless the users then raise a class action lawsuit.

 

[SDK^]

I’m just wondering why LTT didn’t make more of a fuss about it,

It's all about the money.
LLT were/are making so much of it they didn't care and moved on :/

 

[Chuk_Chuk]

No chance, 20 mins of some babbling youtuber makes me feel sick

So you want to participate in a discussion that is centred on a video but you don’t want to watch the video and you are hoping that someone will summarise a 20 min (10 min in 2x) video for you. Did I get that right?

You don’t think the YouTuber has done a good enough job to be deserve your time yet seem to think that others should spend their time to help you out.

 

[Diddums]

Could it also be the case that if you are using a cash back site like TopCashBack, that whilst checking out, the Honey pop up asking you to check for discount codes could then steal the affiliate link from TopCashBack stopping you from getting cashback from TopCashBack?

If that is the case then that is definitely Honey ripping off the consumer.

Yes, that's literally what it does.

 

[Chuk_Chuk]

Could it also be the case that if you are using a cash back site like TopCashBack, that whilst checking out, the Honey pop up asking you to check for discount codes could then steal the affiliate link from TopCashBack stopping you from getting cashback from TopCashBack?

If that is the case then that is definitely Honey ripping off the consumer.

Yep that’s the case. They replaced any and all affiliate links if honey had an affiliate link.

And from the teaser they may have made fake coupon codes but we need to wait for part 2.

 

[dlockers]

So you want to participate in a discussion that is centred on a video but you don’t want to watch the video and you are hoping that someone will summarise a 20 min (10 min in 2x) video for you. Did I get that right?

You don’t think the YouTuber has done a good enough job to be deserve your time yet seem to think that others should spend their time to help you out.

Yes exactly - a 20min video dedicated to a highly niche thing is never going to get mainstream if you can't summarise it in a bullet or two. So far it sounds like faux outrage - the number 1 click generator at the moment.

 

[lovelyhead]

Yep that’s the case. They replaced any and all affiliate links if honey had an affiliate link.

And from the teaser they may have made fake coupon codes but we need to wait for part 2.

I wonder if that is illegal?

 

[dlockers]

Could it also be the case that if you are using a cash back site like TopCashBack, that whilst checking out, the Honey pop up asking you to check for discount codes could then steal the affiliate link from TopCashBack stopping you from getting cashback from TopCashBack?

If that is the case then that is definitely Honey ripping off the consumer.

That's always been the case. Its in tcb and honeys t&C's. You can't stack offers so the final referrer wins. I guess honey being a browser extension opens that up to abuse (although aren't tcb and Quidco browser add-ons now too?)

 

[NickK]

Yes, that's literally what it does.

Then, depending globally the law in each country, they are likely to be accused of theft.

However if they are simply redirecting the coupon code and adding them into the loop now claiming the coupon but the coupon vendor is out of pocket - then yes they are again possibly going to incur legal challenges.

What is funny is that honey probably doesn't distinguish between legal domains hence they're likely to be legal in one country and surprise surprise illegal in another.

Having done global payment before I can say it's a really really mind bending (and costly) process to manage and maintain all the regulatory and legal compliances with each country and charging model.

In the EU if the code that he uses to create and redirect lies within a EU data centre he could find he's subject to any EU financial law. They treat it as a financial conduit and so expect tax (definitely for 'click to pay' logic, even if the agent tax model is allowed by local tax laws for a country outside of the EU is where the buyer is and the developer may also be outside the EU - the financial transaction 'click logic' is inside the EU).