Switch energy and earn cash as a side hustle? Would love feedback on our new app!

Hi fellow OzBargainers!

Long time OZB lurker, I've spent the past year working on building out an easy to use, digital native experience for comparing and signing up to new energy providers and allowing users to earn some $$$ on the side. It started out as a little proof of concept, that got some legs. I

The goal was simple;

  • Be transparent - Offer a wide variety of energy providers in a clean interface to allow users to select retailers and save on their energy bills in under 90 seconds
  • Build the platform to allow friends and family to earn CASH per switch to refer mates as a side hustle. Refer a mate, they get $50 and you get $50 (dual fuel). Some users who have been on our early beta are already at over $900 earned !

Would love for you to take look and grab some feedback from you all

Link to the app

Some questions:

  1. General feedback?
  2. Was thinking of building out an Machine Learning Model to scrape bills so you can just email a copy and we would do the comparison for you. Would that be useful?

Cheers

Mod edit: Referral link removed

Related Stores

Billcrunch
Billcrunch

Comments

  • +1

    How do you guys make money?

    • We get money from the providers but it's the same across the board (so we are not playing favourites) ,and we hand the majority back to the users.
      We don't have a lot of loaded costs as we have no call centre etc, so it allows us to run really lean :)

  • Some users who have been on our early beta are already at over $900 earned !

    How many out of some users got $900?

    2 out of 200?

    • +2

      Maybe OP meant:

      Some users who have been on our early beta, are I’m already at over $900 earned !

  • +1

    Nice clean interface. I'll grab my bill just to double check but looks good. How long does it take to get cash referral ?

    • Thanks for the feedback!
      31 days for you to be able to cash out the referral after provider switch acceptance - once it's confirmed on our side we make the $$$ available to you. This goes for any referrals also.

  • I entered my details and the plan showed was actually a lot dearer than what I pay at the moment.

    • Thanks for the feedback - what provider are you with at the moment ? Do you have a concession discount or something over the top?

      • Currently with Momentum and have no concession or special discounts on top.

        • Momentum is also on our panel (I do like them, used them for years due to the renewable factor) but generally not the cheapest. Happy to help you look into the details if you want - I'll DM you

  • +1

    Do not confuse simple if else with Machine learning…

    • +1

      Companies now call "AI" and "Machine Learning" anything programming related (or like you said, just hundreds of if else statements…) - it's a buzzword that gets boomers/zoomers excited I guess?

      • For sure @Blue Cat - Using ML to identify and scrape form data is pretty well documented nowadays and accessible. I'm sure there are easier ways to do it though, just wanted to feel out if it was worth investing more time in it.

  • I liked your clean interface. But there isnt a bill comparison happening to see if the providers suggested works out to be cheaper that what I have. Solar Feed in doesn't seem to be accounted for (even if the user selects the option that says he has solar).

    In my case, the suggested (cheapest) provider was Tango for an estimated monthly bill of $117 for my last billing period, But I paid only $40 with my current provider Amaysim

    • Thanks 0FoxGiven - Appreciate the feedback!
      The Solar Filter option ensures you get listed plans that do get plans with Feed-In Tariffs enabled (not all providers / plans do)

      What if we put in (Under the usage screen) a place to list your feed-in amount for that period in kw/h?

      • +1

        Would probably have to account for the amount in kw/h AND the tariff as well. I'm currently on a slightly higher rate $0.20/kWh.

        • +1

          Great stuff - I'll get working on that!

  • Interesting… So I need to sign in first to refer a friend?
    Just a bit of security concern with entering all the details through the website though.

    • +1

      Yep need to have switched with Billcrunch in order to do referrals - couple of reasons but mainly to avoid abuse of the service, and people signing up then spamming.
      The details we ask for are needed for retailers to churn providers.

      • I just did a search and found no deals in WA?

  • Shows different ones than https://compare.energy.vic.gov.au and my Excel analysis. Coincidentally. just changed my provider after 2 hours analysis and saw this thread. Seems that it is not taking TOU into account and only shows flat rate plans.

  • After comparing I'm so glad I'm associated with Globird. I'm approximately 20% cheaper on both gas and electricity as compared to Tango, the first one in the list.

  • Very simple and easy to use interface. Are you looking to add other comparisons services like phone plans?

  • Looks like a clone of econnex

    • Just had a look at https://www.econnex.com.au/.

      You are absolutely right. Some of the UI elements are uncannily similar.
      Econnex has two extra providers: Powershop and Sumo.

      OP, do you also work for Econnex?

  • +1

    Sorry, OP.
    I am not seeing the value offering from your service that https://compare.energy.vic.gov.au already provides and does a better job.

    Also, your current provider list is too small. Some notable providers that are missing are Powershop, Kogan Energy, Amaysim Energy, GloBird Energy.

    (mod: edit spelling/ grammar)

    • +1

      Hi Doc,

      Thanks for the feedback
      Few key differences with us

      • Energy Vic only does…Vic
      • They don't allow you to actually switch service
      • They don't pay you to switch ($50)
      • They don't have a referral system

      Our provider list continues to grow, we are soon onboarding Powershop also.

      • • They don't allow you to actually switch service

        Seriously, I would not use their website to switch even if they offered the service.

        • They don't pay you to switch ($50)
        • They don't have a referral system

        These two points are almost the same. Totally not worth it unless I am changing providers every 3 months.

        Who is footing the bill ($100) for each switch? Is it the gaining provider?
        Also, people would have to switch both energy types to the gaining provider in order to qualify for this monetary incentive, right?

  • +1

    I know people have already referenced the VIC gov website, but what about the national site: https://www.energymadeeasy.gov.au/

    Aside from a small kick-back, what benefit does your site offer, especially when it doesn't list all providers, and from other comments, doesn't seem to do the best job in accurately showing who's cheapest?

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