A man shared a hack to possibly get 100% off online orders. However, he’s urging viewers to not use this hack when supporting small businesses.
Posted by @tylvvr, the video is a stitch with another user who shared common discount codes that may work across many websites, such as “THANKYOU10” or “WELCOME10.”
However, according to @tylvvr, there’s a hack to getting an even bigger discount. He says some web developers use test codes that are easy to guess, like “Test” or “Devtest” with a combination of numbers.
“It’s also easy to think about what kind of 100% off or 99% off codes their dev team might be using to test the website,” he says in the stitch, which was viewed over 2 million times.
@tylvvr hinted that this hack worked for him but urged viewers not to “do this to small businesses (please).”
“Not saying I got $3500 of merchandise from a big brand for $35 but…” the caption reads.
@tylvvr #stitch with @hummusbirrd ♬ original sound – tylvvr
In a follow-up video, he responds to a commenter who claimed that the codes wouldn’t work.
“These dev teams aren’t as sophisticated as you think they are,” @tylvvr says. “These codes have worked for me on two different websites, I’ve gotten $4,000 worth of merchandise delivered to my house for literal pennies. I haven’t found any websites where they work on currently, the websites that I have used them on have since deactivated the codes so it’s not even worth me outing myself to what websites I used. And, again, please do not hurt small, mom-and-pop businesses trying to survive by taking advantage of any mistakes they might have.”
@tylvvr Reply to @bigbird4213 ♬ original sound – tylvvr
Some commenters suggested that such codes were used in testing and just never deactivated, citing previous experience with web development.
“At least where I work, after it’s successfully tested in quality assurance it’s tested in production before going live,” one commenter wrote. “Could just forget to deactivate test.”
“People don’t realize that the more people are involved in a project, the greater chance something like this slips through the cracks,” another commenter wrote.
“Also not always Dev teams — I’ve worked on a support team who worked with product and did heavy testing in the absence of quality assurance,” a commenter wrote.
Others shared examples of successfully trying this tactic themselves.
“About 8 years ago I used EMPLOYEE80 on a website for 80% off like $2k worth of clothing,” one commenter wrote. “Idk about today but it’s worked in the past.”
“‘Test2’ got me 100% off one time but it was a smaller company and I was just looking for a little discount so I emailed them and snitched on myself,” another commenter wrote.
“I received a PR package once that had an online order packing slip in it and the 100% off code literally was like “INFLUENCER” or something,” a commenter wrote.
The Daily Dot has reached out to @tylvvr regarding the video via Instagram direct message.
Today’s top stories
| ‘Fill her up’: Bartender gives woman a glass of water when the man she’s with orders tequila shot |
| ‘I don’t think my store has even sold one’: Whataburger employees take picture with first customer who bought a burger box |
| ‘It was a template used by anyone in the company’: Travel agent’s ‘condescending’ out-of-office email reply sparks debate |
| Sign up to receive the Daily Dot’s Internet Insider newsletter for urgent news from the frontline of online. |
