HotUKDeals versus MSE

If you’re used to the net and using it to find bargains, you’ll probably have spotted some familiar words in the title for this post. HUKD HotUKDeals and MSE Money Saving Expert are the two main UK based deal forums. When you search the net their names will likely be the first to appear on your search engine. Each has its perks and pitfalls. Obviously, I try and find the most suitable deals for my readers to post on my FB page and this blog. But to source deals yourself, you’ll probably end up Googling the term “deals” and end up on HUKD Hot UK Deals or MSE.

What are HUKD Hot UK Deals and MSE Money Saving Expert?

MSE is my preferred haunt personally as I like the feel of the community and whilst it has issues with moderators and community tranquillity at times the forums support every area of deals, money making and saving possible. I love the easy to use comping section and especially checking in on the hard-working Elite deal and glitch hunters.

HUKD Hot UK Deals, as another deal hunting resource, gives a similar option but with less in-depth forums. HUKD focuses mainly on promoting deals, freebies and competitions through a neatly organised menu navigation. Unlike MSE, the HUKD sections are driven by a “heat” voting system. If a deal is good, it will be voted hot. If it’s naff, it’ll be voted cold and so on.

However, Hot UK Deals and Money Saving Expert are effectively direct competition for each other. This also means that bargain hunters will have a preferred haunt. A direct result of this means that the “heat” voting system cannot always be trusted, this is due to MSE readers voting good deals down to avoid HoyUKDeals readers getting them. In a similar way, whatever forum thread looks like it might be usefully posted on MSE can get spammed by trolls trying to disrupt the zen.

Ultimately, this means that as long as you can pick out the good stuff for yourself, they’re good resources. Bear in mind they are set up to make money for themselves too; whether to balance the books or make a profit. So often if you see a deal, check elsewhere for cashback deals etc that you can get yourself. Rather than going via their affiliate links or group buying schemes.

Is there a better alternative to HotUKdeals etc? A deals site that gives back?

A recent newcomer seeks to offer something different. LatestDeals.co.uk is a deal sharing community just like Hot UK Deals and MSE, but with a twist.  On MSE and HotUKDeals content is built by users. Thousands of other deal hunters spot something great and post about it, but don’t really get anything back. In fact, the revenue is kept by the sites. Some initiatives like the Shopping App, Shopmium and Quidco offer cashback, but it’s not really a deal hunting community. That’s where Latest Deals comes in.

Started by the excellent minds behind Latest Free Stuff, Latest Deals offer the same format of user-generated deals but they give something back. They offer rewards to their top contributors and also monitor contributions for spam. It’s a growing community but worth bookmarking or keeping an eye on. Well worth checking out too is the Love The Sales site which aims to also rival HotUKDeals. They also cover many other sale sites such as secret sales.

Remember though, with any deals site, keep your eyes open for making extra money on top yourself. Look at our cashback article for getting the most out of your deals, consider reading my Matched Betting Blog as a side-hustle. Or, look into easy to use money making apps like Job Spotter.