Our manifesto
Printed big, because fine print is where hype hides.
If we cover it, we can't earn from it. No paid reviews, no "collabs", no exceptions. Our incentives point one direction: toward being right.
The ledger doesn't get edited. It gets longer. Twelve mistakes and counting — go read them.
A site that only says no is just noise with a domain name. When something earns the green stamp, we say so. It's rare. So is legit.
Incentives explain most hype. The rest is lighting. Every case file names who profits before it names a verdict.
In bold. In public. Getting it right beats looking right, every single time.
Every file runs the same five steps. First, we capture the claim in the seller's own words — screenshots, not summaries, because hype has a habit of remembering itself more modestly later. Second, we look for independent evidence: regulator filings, price-tracker data, occupancy reporting, court records, or our own testing when it's something you can plug in or eat. Third, we map the incentives — who gets paid, when, and whether they get paid even if the claim is false. Fourth, one stamp: Overhyped (real thing, inflated promise), Run (the structure itself is the danger), or Actually Legit (claims fully covered by behaviour). Fifth, we write down, on day one, what would prove us wrong — and check it twelve months later in the ledger.
Nobody, and that's the design. This is a static website; it costs roughly one teh tarik a month to run. Independence turns out to be very affordable if you keep your ambitions boring: no office, no staff photos, no growth targets, no investor updates. The moment this site needs revenue, it needs someone's approval, and then it's just hype with better typography.
A small group of professionals working across Southeast Asia — people whose day jobs involve hearing pitches, reading numbers, and watching the gap between the two. We keep our names off the byline for a simple reason: an anonymous verdict can't be flattered, hired, invited to the launch party, or offered a collab. You shouldn't trust us because of who we are. You should trust us because the ledger is public and the mistakes are still on it.
Factual errors get corrected at the top of the affected page, in bold, dated, with the original text preserved below. Verdicts that age badly get a red WRONG in the ledger permanently. If you have evidence we've missed — especially evidence that we're wrong — send it: tips@dontbuyhype.com.
We publish opinion, satire, and analysis on matters of public record and public marketing. Where we state facts, they come from public reporting or our own documented testing. Nothing here is financial, legal, or medical advice — if a website could safely tell you what to buy, the first thing we'd tell you is not to trust it.