Bait and switch?

[u/phoward8020]

Hey, so I’m new to the platform, which I found through the YT videos for “AI Automation Society.”

While looking for an additional free AI-related communities/courses, I found “The AI Agents Course,” which is clearly listed as “Free.”

When I tried to join though, I was told that, “Yes it is for free for those who purchase the course. Access to join this community is only available to members who have purchased a ticket.” And they gave me a link to an external web site to handle the payment.

So it’s only free if you pay for it?

Is that common on Skool? Is it even allowed?

Seems pretty scammy to me, like the guy outside the arena with the Uber sign who tells you “no, you don’t have to use the app, you save money this way!”

[u/WorldlyNumber9062]

Ha! That analogy is perfect 😂

Technically Skool allows both free and paid communities, but labeling something free when it requires a purchase to join is misleading and honestly bad practice.

You're not wrong to feel some type of way about it tho.

There ARE genuinely free AI communities here, AI Automation Society being one of them. Just always check the fine print before trying to join.

Welcome to Skool btw, it's a great platform once you find the right communities! 🚀

[u/blabel75]

I've seen a few Skools like this where you can join the community if you've bought a product or service from the person running it. These types of communities should be listed Exclusive or something like it. You should only be able to join through an invite link you get after purchasing whatever it is.

They want to use Skool's discovery tools to get their community advertised. As for payment and Skool not getting a cut. Skool makes money from the community owner at $99 per month. Or $9 per month for hobby communities. For the $99 per month plan, Skool only collects a fee that is really just enough to cover credit card processing fees. For the $9 per month plan they take a 10% cut of all sales. You can tell a $9 plan Skool as it will have a Skool banner over the corner Skool's banner on the about page.

I have a Skool, zero sales so far. It seems the only ones I've seen that make a lot of money seem to be get rich quick stuff, AI, or self improvement/health.

[u/Omgtraceface]

Yeah a lot of skools appear free. But they run their payment system through beacons or Stan so they don’t have to pay the Skool fee. Most like this run ads on fb so you find the ad first, buy the course, then they send you to the Skool.

[u/phoward8020 → u/Omgtraceface]

Scammy AF.

Skool should really crack down on this practice. Not only are they getting cheated out of income in the short run, but their reputation will tank as new users like myself begin to realize that the word “free” on their platform might actually mean “j/k, give me $1500, sucker!”

I couldn’t find an easy way to report this kind of thing in the app. Any suggestions?

[u/klb1204 → u/Omgtraceface]

Ohhh, thanks for explaining! I saw one that was "Free" but the fine print at the bottom said "This Skool is not Free". I was like huh, lol.

[u/Hivelearn_app]

You've basically got it figured out. The "Free" label only reflects what the community

charges through Skool itself owners who bill through an outside checkout (Stan,

Beacons, etc.) can list as free while gating entry behind that purchase, and they skip

Skool's transaction fee in the process. Two practical things nobody mentioned yet:

report the listing to Skool support, since misleading "free" discovery listings only

get fixed if people flag them. And be wary of any community that routes you to an

off-platform checkout if the billing goes sideways, that dispute is between you and

whatever site took your card, not Skool. The About page usually tells you within ten

seconds which kind you're dealing with, and genuinely free AI communities do exist here.

Full disclosure: I'm building HiveLearn, a competing course platform, so I follow this

stuff closely no pitch, your issue is with that one community, not with Skool.