What's Your Opinion on the Latest Deals Points System?
Latest Deals
Out of curiosity I was just wondering what everyone's thoughts were on the Latest Deals Points System?
- Do you actively collect points to swap for Amazon vouchers?
- Have you successfully claimed a voucher/vouchers?
- Do you like having the incentive?
- If anything, what else do you like about the points system?
- If anything, what do you think could improve the points system?
smallbike1961 It's hard to ignore, especially Pancake Alien. Within the last 16 hours OP posted 252 deals. 36 deals per page to help you count. www.latestdeals.co.uk/@pancakealien
I would like some nice deals from good brands, shops, not Alliexpress type of copycat products posted at high prices from 3rd party sellers on Amazon.
If OP is a real person then he must be making a small fortune on this site unless it's a bot, which I believe the latter is more likely.
SebK84 Sadly the bots not only post multiple duplicates , they also post identical Amazon chinese tat items day after day with a small price difference ..
This morning on my 10 minute scroll through the "deals" Pancake alien alone had posted 20 odd duplicates which I reported .... some were removed many were not .
Obviously the "duplicate recognition " is bypassed/ turned off for these obvious Bots , but what about the Moderators ? Or are they not allowed to remove such obvious dupes ? If I can spot 20 odd glaring duplicates in 10 minutes surely a professional moderator could/should spot many more ?
SebK84 Not sure what else can be done apart from report them every time,surely its not just a couple of posters on here that are reporting the duplicates,it must be getting noticed ?
intherealworld I bet it has something to do with why they only offer Amazon vouchers.. they have to these bots that get to post untold deals constantly / no limit/ no rules apply!!?
I also reported a duplicate product from this morning from pancake alien .
LL81 The problem is complex and it's also because of some spamming this site and I am not talking about that single account but also about some community members with their non deals. Now I can imagine that the owner of the site has a dilemma as on one side he must make money and on another has to pay for deals, vouchers or even comments left by the community and let's be honest, the majority just post quick deals etc. etc. for points. I cannot see people buying or even clicking on the majority of deals (not sure how they make money from affiliate links for non deals, maybe they have some money from product allocation IDK).
I think if people posted good deals then perhaps LD wouldn't need to post so many deals themselves, but I could be wrong.
I see some deals which are sold out immediately, but others just sit for days with the same stock levels, so I can imagine those deals make no money.
I think moderation should pick on non deals and remove them with information that the price is not good, if price is lower in other stores then the lowest price should be posted, and I believe they would make much more from affiliate links if site started to remove bad deals, and perhaps some bigger businesses would want to post their product on site here or give them a cut from sales of products sold here, but it's only my humble opinion.
Unfortunately the majority of members view Latest Deals as a voucher earning site (not a deals sharing site ). Most have discovered that no deals are removed for being "non deals" so continue to post anything just to gain points .
So we have the majority of members not wishing to "rock the boat" hence the downward spiral in the quality of deals accelerates . Members reap what they sow .
Tom can you comment to the previous messages above posted by
smallbike1961 as it may clear up a few issues that members feel they are facing.
Again, controversial & bring on the backlash but if it was me that felt so strongly about what was going on with the community tbh i'd no longer contribute because I wouldn't see the point (unless it was for the points system) or just leave the community 
skmoskmo212 some people walk away, some people seek to improve, nothing wrong with either
DanielleMcK1992 The problem is that some wants quick money with no effort whatsoever and that's the biggest culprit here now.
SebK84 I understand your POV but having looked at the points system, there is no limit as to how many deals per day a member can post but the limit you are able to collect points for per day is 3. I think this is fair otherwise, members would definitely be more inclined to continuously post and flood the site with non-deals for the purpose of making 'easy money'
Hey all 
Firstly - thanks everyone for all their thoughts and feedback. We try and read everything and take everyone’s opinions into account.
I wanted to jump in to clarify some things in this topic -
We do use automated systems to find and speed up the sharing of deals on Latest Deals. We have a list of criteria that a deal has to hit (e.g. a certain discount, or the lowest price for X days, etc) in an effort to ensure a certain quality is met before the deal is shared.
There have been some bugs with these processes, particularly when it comes to sharing (or rather, resharing!) duplicates. We’ve recently (yesterday) made some improvements and some further improvements are going live today. I hear the feedback and it seems like we need to tighten up these processes further. The LD Team aren’t necessarily all natural-born-bargain hunters and so we’ll make continued efforts to tighten up the internal guidelines and processes that decide whether or not a deal should be shared.
Deciding what is and isn’t a deal has always been a challenging problem and is one we’ve typically tried to leave up to the community - so, regardless of a deal having been shared by a LD Hunter or a member of LD, it is up to members to decide how it should be rated. We’ll typically only intervene if a member is consistently sharing deals that appear full price and where we can’t see a justification as to why that person considered it a deal. Our approach in those instances is always to try and guide and help towards better deals being shared rather than public embarrassment or harsh moderation (e.g. banning).
It is a continued balancing act to try and reward our members for their contributions with points whilst not encouraging or incentivising poor quality content being shared in an effort to “game” the points system. We appreciate the feedback on how this could be improved and if anyone has further ideas please do share them as they’ll be read and considered whenever we make tweaks in the future.
I appreciate I haven’t been able to perhaps answer everything but I hope that clarifies a few things. I’ll try and pop back in the topic to answer any follow up questions but have my hands full with some exciting website & app updates (hopefully in time for Black Friday!)
Kelsey please do allow thumbs down to count. Atm so many poor deals reach a big number of thumbs ups as thumbs down has no impact on deal eg. Not removing points.
Allow deals to be posted before the date. So if for instance deal will be available tomorrow why cannot we post it day before.
People play the system regardless. Some comments are really like written by ai. I could name over 20 users abusing the system with almost identical comments all the time. I am surprised moderators cannot spot those people. I would really prefer normal conversation about products with first hand experience and not quick comments for points. I think those who write the same comment should have their points removed completely with no ability to earn points from commenting in future.
SebK84 I am absolutely one of those people who will comment but I spend a long time on finding genuine products I am actually interested in before commenting. So although it looks like I do a quick comment I'm really not. I also love receiving the Amazon vouchers and I am so thankful for Tom and the team so yes some of us do the daily tasks each day but we also put in the time too.
Kelsey Sorry , it just doesn't wash , as I think you well know ? The mechanics of the site rely on having the maximum amount of members which then allows you to sell access to your site at a greater price .
Pancakealien is a totally obvious direct feed from the Amazon "tat clearance "department , often posting the identical item multiple times , which is so obvious to members who still would like to see Latest Deals as a "deals site" . Obviously of little interest to the majority of members who view it as an Amazon voucher earning site .
There have always been indirect feeds to your "deal hunters " which led to many duplicates . Were members expected not to notice ? I'm sure they do now but hey ho as long as they can post poor deals and comments for amazon vouchers the vast majority of members are happy .
I accept the business model must work for Latest Deals ? But wouldn't it be so much better if all Amazon feeds were to come through a Moderator , which would at least cut out the numerous duplicates.
Why does Latest Deals continue to "Work with" (ie take money from ) dubious subscription deals that are 99% panned by members ." On that ass" comes to mind .
I realise you are trying to further automate your site (ie get rid of all humans ) but it is so obviously not working (apart from with those who view Latest Deals as a points earning site -which is obviously the vast majority ).
Why not show -ve votes instead of just +ve votes ? OK a few members might be miffed that their non deals are spotted by the membership , to most I think it would be an incentive to improve their deal posting , rather than 3 a day from Amazon , Argos , Tesco , Morrisons etc etc .
Look at your site content - It is 80% Amazon clearance tat , 20% members "non deals" surely you cannot be happy with what Latest Deals has become - certainly not Deals and certainly not Latest .
Winge over please don't let the site go any further downhill , or at least rename it Amazon voucher earning site .
intherealworld lots of good points made,I’m a bit of both I like to save folk money with hopefully decent thought out deals and at other times I just post to get the points,especially if I’ve forgotten to post that day but I do see what your on about but I don’t think it’ll change. 
What could really improve the Points system is if this site had much better moderation. I've just posted a Topic and it received one answer before the notification that it's similar to your post, which it absolutely was not.
I had put forward the notion of the Points being changed to 10000 points for the £10 voucher, 15000 points for the £15 voucher, and so on. Not the same as your post at all.
It's actually quite frustrating and is one of the failings of this site.
Obviously the moderation on the site is largely automated . To spot rude/offensive words, phrases etc. That's fine . Latest Deals is an advertising business , let's not deny that and it shows .
The founders should by now have a billion pound business but have been reduced to advertising dodgy subscription deals and becoming an Amazon "tat outlet " (Pancakealien , Mayonnaise, Don'tlookaway, LifeofBrian just a few of the "new LD Hunters " ) .
If I , and many others can spot so many non deals and duplicates in a ten minute scroll what are your moderators doing ?
I appreciate one person's deal is not necessarily a deal to other members , but 95% of members are having a laugh at the expense of the site and its members by gaming the site for points .
A great site has been built - totally ruined by lack of moderation . Just think how great this site could be if it were not filled with Amazon "tat" and standard Supermarket and retailer "offers" ?
If members wish to post a Supermarket "offer" or Amazon "deal" they should explain why they consider it to be a "deal" rather than just "click and pasting off the site" otherwise it should be rejected .
There are deals to be found , but when members can click & paste 3 of the current fare daily off Tesco, Argos , Amazon etc for 300 points where is the incentive to post great deals ?
Perhaps members are so naive that they believe every Supermarket , Amazon listing etc is a deal ? I'm sure they know they are not but , hey it's worth 100 points on Latest Deals .
I have followed Latest Deals for many years , biting my tongue , before taking the plunge a few weeks ago to join and perhaps get my views heard ?
What could have become a massive world leading site has lapsed into a cottage advertising site sadly .
How to fix it ? Encourage members to post only good deals - How - Easy , display -ve votes as well as +ve votes - no hogwash about -ve votes being used to rate popularity .
Ok members would initially find this annoying , but surely there are members who would love to be appreciated for posting great deals , while obviously there are members who just want to post their "3 a day" non deals for the points .
I repeat , Members you reap what you sow ! Where do the great deals come from if you are happy to post non deals , where does the money come from for your vouchers ? I'll tell you......promotion of dodgy subscription deals , selling the site to Amazon "tat clearance ".
I could be wrong , I'm not in the advertising business, but the current Latest Deals business model appears to be destined to continue downhill .
So members must start posting decent deals for their points (very unlikely IMO ) or Latest Deals must persuade them to do so by moderation and displaying -ve votes .
Rubbish, never received my £5 voucher (months ago now) still waiting for points to be added to my total (waiting months again) no help from staff. Just ignore messages.
Geekygamergurl oh did your checked your email make sure your email address link to your LD account I always get mine on time last time emmabeckz helped me she might help you here 
Geekygamergurl Hi sorry you have had some issues. I can see you claimed £5 in September 2023 which was claimed and paid and sent to an Private Apple ID email address - is this the voucher you are talking about? Thank you
emmabeckz yes, it never arrived, i checked in box & spam for 3 months multiple times a day until i gave up hope. I still have a pending balance of points that haven’t been added, why does it take so long
Geekygamergurl Did you email in support about it as the only email I can see is the claim one from September 2023 and that it was sent. The issue may be that your account email is a private Apple ID email address we have had issues with people not getting emails on them before - we wouldn't know you hadn't got it as its showing sent to your email address on Amazon and people usually get in touch and say that they have not received it and ask us to resend to a different email. Please email us at Team@Latestdeals.co.uk and the admin support team can look into it for you and get it resent. Thank you
Geekygamergurl will make sure someone looks at this for you tomorrow thank you 
Geekygamergurl Hi do you want it resending to the email you emailed in off then instead of the private Apple one where it was resent to today - the one that ends in 87 at hotmail? Thank you
Geekygamergurl Hi this has now been sent to your hotmail address, please can you let me know if you have it? Thank you very much
emmabeckz how long does it take to add points. I’ve got over 300 still pending
Geekygamergurl if they are pending from games it can take over 30 days as it’s not us that approve them it’s the partner company. You find more info on the post I’ve just tagged you on or you can use the contact us form too. thank you
Geekygamergurl Can you use the contact us form and someone in the office will investigate for you then please? Thank you
I use the app daily to gain points it’s takes me about 3 months to get the £50 voucher
It could be so improved by only awarding points for "real deals" - not for just click and pasting "non deals " from Amazon , Supermarkets and retailers sites . Members should explain why the deal they post is a great deal- is that too much to ask ?
thanks to everyone who has been contributing comments to this chat topic. I didn't think for a second, when I asked the question, it would have the response that it has. I feel grateful to be a part of the LD community 
I definitely think it's important for the LD team to hear the opinions from us to see where improvements can be made, if needed. I personally use LD the most in the months running up to black Friday & Xmas. Without it I don't think I'd know about some of the deals available! I defo think it's important to give praise where praise is due and for the clearly laborious & time consuming job they do Tom emmabeckz Kelsey and more, praise is certainly due, so thank you 
To members of the community whose opinions are so strong with constant negativity, I'm wondering why, if you can't find anything you consider to be positive about Latest Deals as a whole, why you would want to continue to be a member?
skmoskmo212 how much you've been paid to write this comment 
Opinions should always be welcomed regardless how positive or negative they are. I know some here live in a fantasy land.
www.latestdeals.co.uk/deals/celebrations-milk-chocolate-gift-box-950g-amazon
Celebrations box 950g for over £12 posted by hunter or a bot . 550g is 4.5. Lalaland
SebK84 Too true , I got a 550 gram one for £2 at Morrisons (more card deal ) but widely available for £4 or less at numerous supermarkets . I always say member's -ve votes should be displayed to give members an idea of other members real thoughts on a "deal" . Frankly I find "real deals" very hard if not impossible to find on this site and amazed that some members "think" they do ! Now finding duplicates from LD Hunters I find very easy (currently running at 40+ a day ) and time consuming though it is I have reported all the blindingly obvious ones . Many times my 3 a day points scoring ration , but hopefully doing my small bit to clean up the site from this so obvious spamming .
intherealworld www.latestdeals.co.uk/deals/sony-playstation-5-digital-console-1tb-ebay digital ps5 for 346 - 20 thumbs up
www.latestdeals.co.uk/deals/playstation-5-digital-edition-console-disc-free-amazon digital ps5 - £309 - 14 thumbs up.
Now how voting on this site make any sense? Going by thumbs up paying 40 quid more is a better deal.
Seems like site intentionally suppress some deals here.
SebK84 Some will appear in the voting category and some won't. But people can search or look for deals and rate them that way too. But the one with 6 more likes has been active for an extra hour, so it would generally have had more exposure.
It's up to the person if they are looking for a playstation how and where they buy from, they have the choice to search for what they are after and select the deal.
You can get cashback on Ebay but not on Amazon, so it might be worth it for someone to get it from somewhere else. Also they might have vouchers for a certain store, again making it cheaper for them in their eyes.
DeBunny cheaper deals for ps5 digital were posted from other retailers like for example argos before. That eBay deal is terrible value and shouldn't be allowed. I hope you are not saying about 1% cashback from Ebay. Also 346 is after voucher, even with cashback it will be over 340 vs 309 from retailers like Amazon or Argos.
Also that eBay deal is from Acc with 109 feedback.
I meant in general if someone had a voucher specifically for a certain store as in a gift voucher, then it would make it cheaper for them if thats the money they had and wouldn't want anything else from that store.
And no I agree that it isn't a great deal as it is cheaper to buy it direct from Playstation at the moment, although it was £389.99 before that so it would have still been cheaper. It's up to the person buying it if it's a good deal, you can also report deals, comment on them or vote them thumbs down. Some of the people that thumbs up are just looking for rating points, others may just like Playstation or may think cool a discounted Playstation but not know off hand what they are worth/going for now.
We as a community votes on if a deal is good or not. If you find a better deal, awesome! Then make sure it is posted, that is all you can do and hopefully the people looking for a deal on it will come across your posted deal too and they can decide for themselves.
Cashback isn't always 1% you can sometimes get 12% on things, depends what sites you use and how you go about it. I also think you can pay in 3 on ebay on different payments than you can Amazon - for me personally I probably wouldn't buy a high end games console from either of those places.
I love the points and voucher system, I think it is very generous. There are other similar sites which do not offer any incentives to share or comment, so this is just an added bonus. Although I do feel some people share anything that they might seem is a deal just to get points or you will find the odd person commenting random things to just try and get points or to start random threads.
I have successfully claimed my £5 and £10 Amazon voucher in the past. It seems a while ago now but it is just an added bonus to enjoying the site. I could have probably have been at the £35 voucher if I made the effort and put in some more work, but I'll just be super grateful when/if I do.
To me it looks like very soon bots will take over the deals and vouchers section with the numbers of deals posted by them on a daily basis.
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