People Call Out 40 Products That Are Huge Scams Yet People Still Like Them For Some Reason
We’ve all been warned not to click suspicious links that we find in our inboxes and not to provide any personal information over the phone to unknown callers. But these obvious scammers aren’t the only ones trying to take more money from us than they should.
Reddit users have recently been discussing products and businesses that are beloved by many but might actually be scams. Whether it’s an item being marked up at ridiculous rates or a service that doesn’t actually do anything, we’ve gathered some of these potential scams down below. So enjoy reading through, and be sure to upvote the things you’d be hesitant to spend your money on!
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I feel like streaming platforms are starting to swing into scam territory by baiting everyone into joining with no ads and a low price. Then, raising the prices and bringing back ads.
How about the fact that paying the employees at restaurants is somehow considered the customers responsibility.
You refer to tipping? Employees at a restaurant should be paid a normal wage. Tipping should only be done in the case of exceptional service and then it should go into the pockets of the employee(s), not the owner. Don't tip and/or don't go to that particular establishment anymore. Also get organised!
Paying for 3 different insurances, health, vision, and dental, when last time I checked the last two are part of your body therefore should fall under one, health insurance.
Anything purporting to "cleanse" your body. As long as you've got a functioning liver and kidneys, you're already cleansing toxins from your body
"If we lower taxes on the rich, it'll come back down to us!"
Minor textbook upgrades that the colleges require students to pay hundreds for to pass the class.
and all that on top of the thousands you have to pay for everything else
Salvation, as in the type sold by televangelists
Friggin printer ink/cartridges. What a racket. Especially new printers that don't work if you use 3rd party inks, and that none will even print in black if any of the colour ink is low/out.
Influencers on social media. Many promote a product for the money, and then don’t mention the item ever again. Some even backtrack months/years later stating they don’t like the product, yet still promoted it to young people on limited budgets.
social media in general!! theyre tracking everything you view to know just what to promote to you to make you waste money.
For women, almost any product with a different "Women's" version, that is only different because it is pink. This is actually called "the pink tax," because these products are nearly always more expensive than the men's version.
On a much smaller scale, men have a "jock" tax, where products for their genitals are more expensive than the same thing for other parts of the body. One example I saw recently was cream for jock itch, three times the price of the same antifungal cream sold for foot fungus.
'Jock itch' is athletes foot, just on a different part of the body. *Pro tip for men: put on your socks BEFORE your underwear. This way your feet don't touch your underwear.
Uber Eats and Doordash (other food delivery apps) They mark up the prices of food, have huge delivery fees, and pocket all the money while their drivers get shafted with minimal pay and little to none of the delivery fee actually going to the driver. It is a major scam.
Flushable wipes! They’re not really flushable. Spend the money on a bidet and never look back.
Spend a few days in a country where bidets are normal, and you'll come back wondering why you haven't always had one. The answer is, it's bulky. There are kits you can add to a regular toilet, but if they aren't cleaned with every use, they can become unsanitary and spray bacteria. A proper design involves a second throne, which takes up a lot of space. Wipes are a poor substitute that you don't dare use with a septic. Honestly, the regular waste management system doesn't like them either. They don't break down like they say they do.
Social Media Influencers or Celebrities promoting products...
Alkaline water.
I make my own with 9 volts. It's a little "tangy", but you get used to it, especially knowing how much you are helping your body and the kid's! Top Tip, when cutting open the 9 volts, wear gloves so you don't get acid in your eyes, save that goodness for your water. Your children WILL thank you for it.
Herbalife, they must have done something special to manage to sell it to a lot of people
homeopathic anything
I can't believe that this nonsense caught on in the first place, let alone that anyone still believes in it. Some nutter just made it up one day out of nowhere - it's utter gobbledygook.
"Healing" crystals
Also, a lot of the time, the "crystals" are just glass
Oh, so you're saying I just need to make sure to get genuine healing crystals, not just glass. Duh, no wonder it didn't heal my broken ankle!
Were you tithing and praying hard enough? I'm guessing not. god (pick one, there's literal thousands, yet none are real) only respond when you spend more than the minimum 10% on that good-good tithe. It's like having more pieces of flair.
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I don't understand why people think crystals will heal anything. I mean, I have crystals, but I don't have them because I think they're going to heal me, I have them because I am a magpie, and I like shiny stuff.
If the person buying the crystals believe they have positive benefits, and provide comfort in some way then, who is it hurting?
I mean if it works as a placebo effect, like a gem that is supposed to increase confidence making them more confident then it’s not hurting anyone, but trying to cure themselves with a crystal for proper illnesses, the lack of proper treatment could be damaging
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I occasionally get a set of them, but just because they’re pretty. I do love selenite and amethyst.
Yes, amethyst! So pretty and much cheaper than gems.
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A girl I worked with once aid she wished her doctor would encourage using crystals more for healing, and I burst out laughing. If I walked into my doctor's office and saw a sign that said 'the healing power of the crystal' I'd run the f*ck away as fast as I could. Probably screaming the whole way.
My mom is big into this... I have several, tho the way I see it, any "energy" they may give off is likely just the nature of the molecular structure of the rock, and any healing is probably just a placebo. Regardless, at least they're pretty! 😁 Tho don't expect miracles. That's Jesus' scam wheelhouse.
I have tons of crystals. Not because of their healing powers (they don’t have any), but because I love anything to do with rocks or fossils. Even with all the crystals I have, this pesky hang nail just won’t go away.
Crystal is a subcategory of glass so all crystals are glass. They don't heal anything though, obviously.
Home warranty insurance on appliances. You spend upwards of $1-2k a year so that you don’t have to buy a new $800 washer or $1200 fridge outright if they go out? Just put the payment away for an appliance fund and you come out ahead 9 times out of 10
NFTs
Whats the point of the token being non fungible if the actual associated digital asset still is?
Fat burner products. If you ingest something that actually burns fat off you, it’s either poison or fire
Ultra fast fashion clothes that fall apart after two uses and are infested with lead.
The overpriced big brand basketball/fashion/status symbol shoes aimed at poor people. They're plastic and made in sweat shops!!!
Health insurance (United States)
Sorry but NOBODY LIKES NEEDING TO PAY FOR HEALTH INSURANCE! TITLE HERE is: "People Call Out 58 Products That Are Huge Scams Yet People Still Like Them For Some Reason ". Nobody likes this for any reason. The healthcare system in the US stinks. Call it wealthcare; you end up dead without money.
Keurigs.
They are not that fast, they are expensive, the coffee is trash, and they create an insane amount of waste.
A regular coffee maker or french press is better in pretty much every scenario.
They are HUGELY popular in offices and hotel rooms everywhere for some f*****g reason and it drives me crazy.
Pods make terrible coffee. They have to remove the oils to prevent them from spoiling and it really kills the taste.
Car dealerships. $200 upcharge on a brand new car for nitrogen in the tires? They have no shame.
Have any single ladies out there had the unfortunate experience of car shopping? Let's see..the first salesman had a wind up plastic pickle that hopped across his desk (yes that's what I said). The next one called me Darlin 20 times and we're not from the south. I wrote an editorial about it and had every dealership in town suddenly wanting my money. After I placed my order for a custom package I received a bouquet of roses. Do men get roses too?
Religious “fees” or “mandatory donations”
Chiropractors.
Go to a physical therapist, they can help you with your physical pain with the added benefit of a medical degree.
I have found chiropractors to be very helpful. Perhaps it depends on what your situation is, and which practitioner you are consulting?
A category -- luxury goods. I'm Korean American and am blown away by the label hungry consumption in both countries.
Phone/Internet bills, i live in Canada the amount of money i pay for my phone, and the Internet is eye watering compared to our neighbors in the south or the rest of the world. Scammed by our own government and their telecom overlords.
I want to add: recycling. Our garbage company charges us $15 a month to recycle c**p. For that you have to sort it, clean it out, and break it down. Then they throw it all in the regular garbage anyway. I told them they ought to be paying US for doing THEIR work if they want us to recycle. Then when I found out they toss it all together anyway, I told them to take back their stupid recycling can and now I throw all the garbage together myself. And if the bill goes just a little higher, I'll be taking my garbage to the dump myself. It's only a couple miles out of town and would probably save me $20 a month.
Note: this post originally had 58 images. It’s been shortened to the top 40 images based on user votes.
You too fish, hope there's some joy heading your way.
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The current issues with streaming platforms are one of the main reasons why I went back to buying physical copies as of recent. I am not going to pay for something I can never really own, and that can just vanish if its licensing of the platform wears out. And then, paying but there's still ADs, or the prices keep rising until streaming becomes more expensive than buying the real thing. The recent scandal with Sony removing digital content people paid for due to licensing is what broke the camel's back for me. I have since bought a Blu Ray Player for my PC, modded it to become region free and got some of my favorite anime on Blu Ray. From now on, I'll either buy things, and if that's not possible, pirate them.
I bought a good 4K blu-ray player for things I intend to watch more than once. I like streaming for most things.
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I'm very surprised BitCoin and other cryptocurrencies aren't mentioned here. They are like a high level ponzi or pyramis scheme
All nickel and dime stuff. There are normalised scams that take far more money than most of these. Such as Casinos. Such as receivers. Such as political influence. Such as organised blackmail. Such as protection. And such as theft of trillions of dollars.
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You too fish, hope there's some joy heading your way.
Load More Replies... The current issues with streaming platforms are one of the main reasons why I went back to buying physical copies as of recent. I am not going to pay for something I can never really own, and that can just vanish if its licensing of the platform wears out. And then, paying but there's still ADs, or the prices keep rising until streaming becomes more expensive than buying the real thing. The recent scandal with Sony removing digital content people paid for due to licensing is what broke the camel's back for me. I have since bought a Blu Ray Player for my PC, modded it to become region free and got some of my favorite anime on Blu Ray. From now on, I'll either buy things, and if that's not possible, pirate them.
I bought a good 4K blu-ray player for things I intend to watch more than once. I like streaming for most things.
Load More Replies... I'm very surprised BitCoin and other cryptocurrencies aren't mentioned here. They are like a high level ponzi or pyramis scheme
All nickel and dime stuff. There are normalised scams that take far more money than most of these. Such as Casinos. Such as receivers. Such as political influence. Such as organised blackmail. Such as protection. And such as theft of trillions of dollars.
Load More Replies...