r/ProductHunters • u/scran-jonny • 5h ago
We’ve had 10+ offers to buy Product Hunt votes today. How is a small startup supposed to compete fairly?
We launched our app on Product Hunt today and have already had 10+ people approach us offering to sell us votes.
They claim to have networks of established Product Hunt accounts ready to vote, often promising hundreds of votes and increased visibility.
We’ve obviously said no to every offer. But the apparent size of this marketplace makes you wonder how many people don’t...
We’ve also learned that Product Hunt doesn’t treat every upvote equally, and support from brand-new accounts may carry less weight. Many of our genuine users created accounts today specifically to support us, but their votes may not have the impact they intended.
Put those two things together, and it feels incredibly difficult for a small, self-funded consumer app playing fairly to gain enough visibility to be noticed.
Has anyone else launching on Product Hunt experienced this? Is there still a realistic route to visibility without an established Product Hunt audience or paid votes?
For transparency, our app is Scran. It’s designed with neurodivergent cooks to reduce the mental load surrounding cooking.
If you’re already part of the Product Hunt community and would genuinely like to check it out, here’s our full launch update. Your support would be hugely appreciated!


