If you have searched for a Joey Yap BaZi course review, you are probably weighing a real purchase, so let us be clear about what this article is and is not. This is a review of the offer as it is publicly listed — the prices, what is disclosed before you pay, and where the courses fit against the alternatives. It is not a review of the teaching. We have not sat these courses, and we will not pretend to grade material we have never opened.
We should also disclose our position plainly. Butcher Boy is a Singapore Ba Zi (八字 bāzì) practice. We run a free Ba Zi app that competes, loosely, with the free tools on Joey Yap’s site, and we offer paid human readings. So we have a stake here. Our aim is not to talk you out of anyone’s course, but to help you ask the one question most buyers skip: is learning the craft actually the thing you need right now, or do you just want your own chart explained?
Who Dato’ Joey Yap is, and why the brand matters
Credit where it is due. Dato’ Joey Yap is, by any reasonable measure, the most successful educator this field has ever produced. His site states that over 60,000 students have used his system, and lists media features including TIME, Bloomberg, Forbes, CNN, BBC and the New York Times. Ba Zi is a quiet, unglamorous subject, and building an international teaching brand around it is a genuine achievement. Nothing below is a knock on that track record.
The honest buyer question, then, is not “is he good” — his reach speaks for itself. The question is whether a course is the right format for what you want. To answer that, it helps to see the offer laid out plainly.
The courses and prices, as listed
At the time of writing, the online BaZi Academy page listed the following courses in US dollars. Each was shown with a strike-through original price, so each appeared at roughly half its stated original price when we checked — a discount pattern worth noting simply as a fact of how the page is presented.
| Course (as listed) | Price | Listed original |
|---|---|---|
| Win, Influence and Inspire People Using BaZi | USD $97 | from $197 |
| Secret of The Five Elements | USD $997 | from $1,997 |
| Make Your First Million | USD $997 | from $1,997 |
| Boss Mode | USD $497 | from $997 |
Beyond the courses, his sites also list personal destiny consultations (prices are not published — these are enquiry-based), a free “12 Animal Forecast”, a free BaZi chart plotter tool, a paid “TongShu Power Planner”, and an online store.
What is not disclosed before you buy
One neutral observation. When we checked the course listing page, the format, duration, module counts, and certification details were not disclosed. This is not an accusation of anything — plenty of course pages hold that detail back for a sales conversation. It is simply buyer guidance: before you pay $497 or $997, you will need to ask how many hours of material you get, whether it is video or live, and whether anything is certified. Those answers change the value considerably, and you are entitled to them before you decide.
For a sense of scale, our own market guide puts Singapore Ba Zi courses in general anywhere from around S$300 for a weekend introduction to S$3,000 and up for a full practitioner track, while consultations here run roughly S$88 to S$1,000 and above. The academy’s pricing sits inside that broad range rather than outside it. If you want to understand local pricing in more detail, our guide to Ba Zi reading cost in Singapore breaks it down.
The question behind the purchase
Here is where the format matters more than the brand. In our experience, a lot of people who reach for a $997 course did not actually want to become a Ba Zi analyst. They wanted their own chart read, understood, and put into plain language. That is a different job, and it no longer costs $997.
It helps to separate three distinct needs:
- “I want to learn the craft.” You want to read charts for yourself and others, over years. This is what a course is for, and where Joey Yap’s academy is the biggest brand in the category.
- “I want my chart read now.” You are curious about your own chart and want it explained today. This is what a good free app is for.
- “I have a decision.” A job, a move, a marriage, a timing question. This is what a human reading is for.
Buying the wrong format for your need is the most common and most expensive mistake, and it has nothing to do with whether the course is well made.
Which format fits which goal
| Option | Cost | What you get | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joey Yap courses | USD $97–$997 (as listed) | Structured curriculum to learn the system; format and duration to be confirmed on enquiry | People committed to learning to read charts themselves |
| Free self-study | Free | Articles, forum threads, videos; you assemble it yourself | The curious and patient who enjoy piecing things together |
| The Butcher Boy app | Free, no sign-up | Your full chart plus a five-part written reading, luck pillars and forecasts, in minutes | Anyone who wants their own chart read and explained now |
| A human reading | S$88–$1,000+ (market range) | A working session with a person on your specific situation | Someone facing an actual decision |
Where our app sits
Since we have disclosed that we build one, here is what ours does, so you can compare like for like. The Butcher Boy app is free with no sign-up, and your birth data stays in your browser. The engine calculates from solar terms and is cross-checked against astronomical ephemeris, which matters because a chart built on the wrong term boundary is simply the wrong chart. You get a five-part written reading, your luck pillars, forecasts, and a grounded AI companion that answers up to five questions a day. You can start with a free Ba Zi reading and see your chart before deciding whether the subject even holds your interest.
If you are still working out what the practice covers, what a Ba Zi reading is and how to read your Ba Zi chart will orient you before you spend anything. And when you do want a person on your specific question, our human readings are priced separately and booked as working sessions.
So, is a Joey Yap course worth it?
If your goal is genuinely to learn the craft, the academy is the most established brand in that lane, and the entry-level $97 course is a low-stakes way to sample the style — ask about format and duration first. If your goal is anything else, the course is probably answering a question you were not really asking.
Our advice is unglamorous and free. Try the app first, so you know whether you even enjoy the subject before you commit money to studying it. A course is for learning the craft. A human reading is for making a decision. Start with your own chart, and let that tell you which of those you actually need. Open the free app and read yours in a few minutes.