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Wednesday, July 10, 2019

Ambassador Program Scam on Instagram

I have had a conversation about this with a few of close Instagram friends. And I feel I need to write about this.

I have been telling them don't fall for it, IT IS A SCAM.

If you are a micro influencer, you will be flooded with "Ambassadors Needed" ads on Instagram stories and posts. That's probably the reason why you are searching the web aboutthis. I did the same.

The first Ambassador Ad that I clicked on was a TESLA watch. The watch was said to be $300 USD if you bought it, but if you apply to be an Ambassador, you will get the watch 100% free using a discount code they provide you upon acceptance.

I went through the whole process, applied and got accepted the same day. They hype you like you are privileged to make it into the program.




Sounds really good right? Well, except when you check out you get hit by the $20 USD shipping charge! For a watch that weighs a few grams, you are charging me $20?!

This was the reason why I started my research and clicked on all the "Ambassadors Needed" ads I saw on Instagram and found the same pattern. You will get a code and you will pay a hefty shipping charge. Or get 70% off as an Ambassador, but the price usually costs too high for the products they sell -- almost 10 times higher. These are products you can find on AlieExpress or Wish for less than $5 USD!


This is what the Tesla site looks like now. 



They  shut it down and probably moved on to a different product and brand because this was found to be a scam.


My advice:

As small influencers, we do like that title of being a Brand Ambassador, it sounds good to know that  a brand is willing to work with us knowing how small we are. They know this! So they target people like us. The money maker is not you promoting the brand, it is YOU PAYING FOR THAT SHIPPING, because I guarantee you those products costs $5 dollars in China.


My rule of thumb is:

Do not pay for shipping or even 10% of the price tag. If the company wants you to promote their products, they will send it with no obligation except for you talking about it or unboxing it.


I hope this helps you.


xo
Jijie

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