Paid $200 for a 'premium' online course that was just recycled blog posts

I see a lot of people recommending these expensive digital courses as a shortcut to learning a skill. I bought one last year for $200, thinking it would give me structured, expert advice on building a community forum. The sales page promised exclusive content and direct access to the creator. Turned out the whole thing was just a bunch of his old blog posts from 2018, compiled into PDFs and basic videos. The 'exclusive' Facebook group was dead, with maybe two posts a month. I felt like a total sucker. The information wasn't even updated for current platform changes. I could have found better, free advice with a simple Google search. Has anyone else been burned by a course that promised way more than it delivered? What did you do about it?

3 comments

3 Comments

carr.cora6d ago

I used to be the person who defended paying for that kind of structure. Getting burned by a course on social media ads totally flipped my view. It's one thing to organize free info, but selling outdated material as a premium shortcut is just a scam. Now I dig through every single review and ask for a sample before clicking buy.

finley_smith6d ago

My cousin bought a $200 course that was just a YouTube playlist.

schmidt.iris6d agoMost Upvoted

I mean, that really sucks, but I've had the opposite happen. I paid for a course that was basically just a well-organized version of free stuff, and for me, having it all in one place was worth it. Maybe it's just me but I need that structure.