Adams Man's Web Site Ranks in Top 10,000 in Nation


by Timothy W. Scee II
Special to Newzjunky.com
Published January 31, 2012

WATERTOWN, N.Y.  —  A website that pays its shoppers for buying items they would have otherwise found through normal online retail sites may sound too good to be true, but for a north country man, his online business model seems to be paying off well. 

Since the launch of BeeSavy.com in October 2011, owner Robert E. Honer, of Adams, says his free web site that pays users to shop already ranks within the top 10,000 U.S. web sites garnering the most traffic, according to web analytics site Alexa.com and its users have contributed to over $100,000 in business each month.

“It’s classified as a loyalty site,” Mr. Honer said. “We kind of developed it to be a one-stop shop.”

About 2,000 popular online stores including iTunes, Best Buy, Home Depot and Groupon pay BeeSavy.com a commission for directing shoppers to their web site and, in return, Mr. Honer keeps some of the commission but rewards most of it back to his web site’s members.

Advertisement revenue generated from the site largely helps to maintain its upkeep, although the owner says he likely has spent less than $1,000 on his own advertising costs.

Better yet, Mr. Honer said, the web site’s shoppers who refer friends to BeeSavy.com are able to receive a permanent commission and their personal information will never be shared.

“That’s something that hasn’t been done in the past,” he said. “Typically cash back sites will give people a small, one-time incentive, maybe five to 10 bucks at most, to tell someone else about the site and get them to sign up.”

Customers may either receive cash back on purchases through a check or PayPal account, or donate the money to one of about 20 different causes. 

Mr. Honer, who joked he had a difficult time setting up even his own Facebook page, spent about two years working with web site developers based in India and San Diego, Calif., to launch the site.

“I knew that type of a space,” he said. “I didn’t know web development, I didn’t know that kind of thing but I knew how to get people who knew how to do that.”

When he’s not busy with site operations, Mr. Honer sells advanced planning systems to companies which he’s done since 2000 after graduating from Syracuse University with a master in business administration. 

With the web site’s success, Mr. Honer said there always still are some improvements to be made. 

“It’s still not the be-all and end-all,” he said. “Finding the best deal and finding the coupons still isn’t the place I’d like it to be.”

Data that informs customers which online store offers the lowest price on an item is updated nightly by an outside company and can sometimes contain outdated sale information. 

“While we update it each night not all the companies do a good job of keeping the data valid,” he said. “It’s come a long way and it’s a good place to begin.”

Shoppers interested in BeeSavy.com can find out more about the Adams man’s web site by visiting www.beesavy.com.

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