Martin Lewis Selling Up

mikey72

doubleJackD wrote: »

guess how much the MSE charity has given out, bearing in mind the site has been making tens of millions.....

368,000 pounds.

then you read the "how we are financed section" and it bangs on about the MSE charity. ehhhmmmm 1% of profits is not a lot....

https://www.msecharity.com/who-we-have-helped.aspx

If you think those numbers look bad, look at the official figures received by the charity commission http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/Showcharity/RegisterOfCharities/CharityWithoutPartB.aspx?RegisteredCharityNumber=1121320&SubsidiaryNumber=0

doubleJackD

mikey72 wrote: »

If you think those numbers look bad, look at the official figures received by the charity commission http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/Showcharity/RegisterOfCharities/CharityWithoutPartB.aspx?RegisteredCharityNumber=1121320&SubsidiaryNumber=0

it does seem the MSE charity is basically a little bit of window dressing.

Esoog

NewCustomerOnly wrote: »

yes,good luck indeed-just wish he could have found a way of sharing with the people who wrote his copy - us!!

Anyway, I made a fb group just in case people start getting banned so we can still communicate if there are any developments with a boycott or something - wont have time to do much with it for a couple weks but at least its there

http://www.facebook.com/groups/390932760944065/

Sorry? We, the users, wrote all the articles on the site? I don't remember doing that. I only remember being active on the forum, not having any input to the rest of the site...:o

catokelly

mikey72 wrote: »

It's not been impartial for years. Every link that is recommended is an affiliated one now, the un affiliated ones rarely get even a mention. Not saying the affiliated sites are bad, just that at times there are better ones that get overlooked. The side bar is full of links to paid for advertising. I've turned all cookies off, and put the site as restricted due to the skimlinks being loaded by MSE. I don't need them knowing everywebsite I click through to. The whole site is paid for advertising.

Actually most of the companies on the the moneysavingexpert comparison tools eg travelmoneymax are not affiliated. Any affiliated company has a * next to it (not many), this is explained : (of * links) Any links with a * by them are affiliated. That means go via this link and a contribution may be made to MoneySavingExpert.com, which helps it stay free to use. You shouldn't notice any difference, the links don't impact the product at all and the editorial line (the things we write) is NEVER impacted by it. If it isn't possible to get an affiliate link for the best product, it's still included in exactly the same way

Whereas on moneysupermarket, the only companies listed are the companies that pay to be on the comparison list (they have to pay per click!). It will become alot more difficult to find the best deals without good ole mse to rely on... hope martin doesnt let them meddle with it too much!

StaffsSW

doubleJackD wrote: »

guess how much the MSE charity has given out, bearing in mind the site has been making tens of millions.....

368,000 pounds.

then you read the "how we are financed section" and it bangs on about the MSE charity. ehhhmmmm 1% of profits is not a lot....

https://www.msecharity.com/who-we-have-helped.aspx

And when you look into the charity accounts, you will see that Martin and his Father have been taking a cut out of that to cover their "expenses"...

StaffsSW

Esoog wrote: »

Sorry? We, the users, wrote all the articles on the site? I don't remember doing that. I only remember being active on the forum, not having any input to the rest of the site...:o

Perhaps you never posted anything groundbreaking, or advantageous to others, but I and a few other posters did, and suddenly found our posts and ideas turned into articles that Martin claimed to write himself.

The PPI reclaiming idea was actually started by a forum member, but ML took that and ran with it, giving no credit to the original poster. Likewise, how many threads are started by the MSE team asking questions, like car-boot sale tips, or haggling advice, then all of the forum members responses are turned into another article lauded by the man himself?

A number of the tools and comparison searches that are on here are blatant copies of other peoples work.

And a number of the articles are badly reserached, and in the case of the ebay and courier articles, they actually give dangerous advice that could leave people out of pocket.

StaffsSW

doubleJackD wrote: »

it does seem the MSE charity is basically a little bit of window dressing.

Indeed, for a charity to have more cash sat in the bank than they spent on charitable causes does raise a few questions about the intentions of said charity.

NewCustomerOnly

As i said i dont begrudge martin his profits at all but it is forum post copy that really boosts site rankings and i feel sorry for the professionals who gave free advice as well ad posters and wish he could have shared As to the mutual site yes i am very interested and will investigate but the beauty of mse was its comprehensivity not just dull insurance etc I am really curious about co ops too

arcon5

NewCustomerOnly wrote: »

yes,good luck indeed-just wish he could have found a way of sharing with the people who wrote his copy - us!!

Jesus, you've said this several times already, talk about jealousy! It wasn't you or I that built this website, we just contribute to it. Had he lost millions of pounds would you equally be offering to cushion some of this? I'm betting you wouldn't. If you want to partake in risk/reward and setup in business then do it!!

Do you also think Duncan Bannatyne amongst many other self-made millionaires should share some of their money with their customers, simply because them as members are what made him/her rich?!

Martin has done incredibly well as a business man and helped the masses along the way. His business has had a real impact on many peoples lives and in the meantime he has turned a healthy profit, isn't that what business is about!!?!

Maybe tuck the green eyed monster in for now huh

mikey72

catokelly wrote: »

Actually most of the companies on the the moneysavingexpert comparison tools eg travelmoneymax are not affiliated. ..............

Travelmoneymax isn't affiliated because it's actually a website built by MSE.