4 ms·

If Honey is inserting themselves between the blogger and the seller and then pocketing the commission, how is this not “stealing/hijacking” the commission?

sparky_z 7y ago
I have no special knowledge about Honey, but I think the distinction being made is that Honey redirects them to a _new_ seller that offers a cheaper price, essentially poaching the customer. The blog's affiliate never makes a sale in the first place so of course it never pays out. For the blog, the outcome is the same as if you took the time to price shop manually and ended up picking a different retailer. Honey's just automating that process.
- lamps12 7y ago
  > the distinction being made is that Honey redirects them to a _new_ seller that offers a cheaper price, essentially poaching the customer. The blog's affiliate never makes a sale in the first place so of course it never pays out. Based on what you surmised, Honey essentially acts as a middle man between two businesses. Did I get that right or am I missing something here?
- viraptor 7y ago
  No, that's not correct. You can get rewards from the page you're already on, whether it's the cheapest or not. You're not redirected and you're not incentivised to switch the retailer. I'm getting their points from doing online grocery order directly from the supermarket site for example.
  - sparky_z 7y ago
    But is that superceding another site's affiliate link, or did you just go straight to the website yourself?
    - viraptor 7y ago
      I'm going directly to the website.
      - dillonmckay 7y ago
        How do they (Honey) know, though?
        IanCal 7y ago
        It's a browser extension.
        joking 7y ago
        Ok, I get how they do technically, but how the shops let honey insert they affiliate id and take a cut when the user has come directly from a newsletter?
gamblor956 7y ago
Honey isn't inserting themselves between the blogger and the seller automatically. The user is doing that when they use the Honey add-on after visiting the blogger's website. This is no different then a user visiting a different website about the same product and clicking through the affiliate link on that new blogger's page before making the purchase.
- gnicholas 7y ago
  What percent of the time does “using the honey add on” result in selecting a different vendor? That is, if you read a blog post and get linked to an Amazon page, does honey not try to capture a commission there? What if you open the add on to compare prices but still end up purchasing from Amazon? Sorry if this is a dumb question, but I don’t use honey so don’t know the mechanics of how it works.
- geitir 7y ago
  Do you work for them? It sounds like you work for them. Based on your description, the crux of it is they exactly do insert themselves between a blog / affiliate link and their incentivization towards a specific seller exactly does replace whatever commission the blog would have seen
  - deelowe 7y ago
    Agreed. The parent is coming across as obtuse to the point where I wonder if it's intentional.
    - gamblor956 7y ago
      It sounds a lot like the two of you work for one of Honey's competitors. You both are coming across as obtuse to the point where I wonder if it's intentional. Oh wait, you say you're just a guy on the internet and you don't work for anyone in the industry? Yeah, pal, same here. The difference is that I base my comments on having used Honey as a customer, not on some random comment based on a random comment by someone who hasn't actually used the product we're all talking about it. It's fine if you guys want talk out of your rears but at least be honest about what you're doing.

sparky_z 7y ago

I have no special knowledge about Honey, but I think the distinction being made is that Honey redirects them to a _new_ seller that offers a cheaper price, essentially poaching the customer. The blog's affiliate never makes a sale in the first place so of course it never pays out. For the blog, the outcome is the same as if you took the time to price shop manually and ended up picking a different retailer. Honey's just automating that process.

lamps12 7y ago
> the distinction being made is that Honey redirects them to a _new_ seller that offers a cheaper price, essentially poaching the customer. The blog's affiliate never makes a sale in the first place so of course it never pays out. Based on what you surmised, Honey essentially acts as a middle man between two businesses. Did I get that right or am I missing something here?
viraptor 7y ago
No, that's not correct. You can get rewards from the page you're already on, whether it's the cheapest or not. You're not redirected and you're not incentivised to switch the retailer. I'm getting their points from doing online grocery order directly from the supermarket site for example.
- sparky_z 7y ago
  But is that superceding another site's affiliate link, or did you just go straight to the website yourself?
  - viraptor 7y ago
    I'm going directly to the website.
    - dillonmckay 7y ago
      How do they (Honey) know, though?
      - IanCal 7y ago
        It's a browser extension.
        joking 7y ago
        Ok, I get how they do technically, but how the shops let honey insert they affiliate id and take a cut when the user has come directly from a newsletter?

gamblor956 7y ago

Honey isn't inserting themselves between the blogger and the seller automatically. The user is doing that when they use the Honey add-on after visiting the blogger's website. This is no different then a user visiting a different website about the same product and clicking through the affiliate link on that new blogger's page before making the purchase.

gnicholas 7y ago
What percent of the time does “using the honey add on” result in selecting a different vendor? That is, if you read a blog post and get linked to an Amazon page, does honey not try to capture a commission there? What if you open the add on to compare prices but still end up purchasing from Amazon? Sorry if this is a dumb question, but I don’t use honey so don’t know the mechanics of how it works.
geitir 7y ago
Do you work for them? It sounds like you work for them. Based on your description, the crux of it is they exactly do insert themselves between a blog / affiliate link and their incentivization towards a specific seller exactly does replace whatever commission the blog would have seen
- deelowe 7y ago
  Agreed. The parent is coming across as obtuse to the point where I wonder if it's intentional.
  - gamblor956 7y ago
    It sounds a lot like the two of you work for one of Honey's competitors. You both are coming across as obtuse to the point where I wonder if it's intentional. Oh wait, you say you're just a guy on the internet and you don't work for anyone in the industry? Yeah, pal, same here. The difference is that I base my comments on having used Honey as a customer, not on some random comment based on a random comment by someone who hasn't actually used the product we're all talking about it. It's fine if you guys want talk out of your rears but at least be honest about what you're doing.