If It Seems Too Good to Be True

The $2 Domain

Back in August 2025, when I was starting to work on qr-gen.org, I needed a domain for the project.

I went to IONOS and found a domain that was being sold for only $2.

I remember thinking to myself, that's a really good deal.

I didn't think about it too much. I just clicked the buy button.

The first month went perfectly fine, so I thought I had found myself a pretty good deal.

I didn't realize that I should have looked a little closer.

The Bill I Didn't Expect

Then the second month came around, and I got a bill for $10.50.

I was shocked. I remember thinking, how did a $2 domain suddenly become a $10.50 bill?

So I went back to IONOS and started looking through my account to figure out what I was actually paying for.

That's when I noticed that there were several things included with the domain that I never intended to buy.

There was Domain Guard, Mail Basic, AI email, and a few other things that I didn't really need.

All of those little things added up, and suddenly the deal didn't look quite as good as it did when I first saw that $2 price.

It Was My Fault

After looking through everything, I realized something. I couldn't really blame IONOS for the bill.

The information was there. I just didn't read the whole deal carefully before clicking the buy button.

I saw the $2 price and got excited because it looked like such a good deal for just the domain name. I didn't stop to look at what was included and what I would be paying after the first month.

I was basically looking at the big number in front of me and ignoring everything else.

So I don't think I was scammed. I was just being careless.

That experience taught me to slow down whenever something looks much cheaper or better than I expected.

Read the Whole Deal

Since then, I've become a lot more careful whenever I see a deal that looks unusually good.

If something is much cheaper than I expected, I don't immediately assume that I've found a great bargain anymore. I want to know why it is so cheap.

What am I actually getting? What is included? Is there a renewal price? Are there things being added that I don't need?

Sometimes there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for a good deal. Maybe it's a promotion, maybe the company is trying to attract new customers, or maybe the product is simply inexpensive.

But if I don't understand the deal, I don't think I should rush into it.

A few minutes spent reading the details can save you from a surprise later.

Then I Started Thinking About My Own Products

This experience also made me think about the other side of the deal.

I build products too, and sometimes I offer something that I think is a pretty good deal for the people using it.

But if I were the user and I saw a product offering me a lot for free or for a very low price, I might wonder the same thing.

What's the catch?

I think that's a fair question.

As a user, you should understand what you're getting before you agree to something. And as someone who builds products, I think I should be clear about what I'm offering and not hide the important details behind a big attractive number.

A good deal shouldn't need to trick you into taking it.

If It Seems Too Good to Be True

I don't think a cheap deal automatically means that something is wrong. There are plenty of good deals out there.

But now, whenever something looks too good to be true, I try to slow down and look a little closer.

Read the details. Understand what you're actually getting. Make sure you know what you are agreeing to and what you will be paying later.

Sometimes the deal really is that good.

And sometimes there is a $10.50 bill waiting for you next month. So be careful with a deal that seem too good to be true my friends.