You wont get a FREE 3D Printer
To get a free 3D Printer for creating a review or posting about it social media is tempting. But this is just a new way for scammer to cash in on your ambitions.
These types of posts are all over Facebook and other social medias.
Most groups have admins filtering out posts, but many still slip through. These persons are NOT looking for a reviewer for a popular 3D printer. Don’t engage with them, and never send money for a review unit, no matter if it’s shipping or not.
Why is it too good to be true?
First of all, are you an influencer? If you post a few TikToks or take nice pictures of 3D Printers, you may very well have a few followers. But are you doing reviews? Do you affect purchasing behavior of your followers? Statistics say, probably not. And if you have never had a 3D Printer sent to you for a review before, this wouldn’t be the approach anyways.
From my own experience as a small influencer, and talking to the more experienced ones. Companies want to access an audience. A random person in a facebook group isn’t the way that you find those persons.
Normally, you reach out to your connections and even when you want to find a new, smaller influenser, that might accept your product (maybe it’s a dodgy one, but gives views) you would try to identify them, not just send to anyone.
So again, are you generating value higher or equal to a 3D Printer?
Let’s say you’re making an impact
If you are borderline influencer, the next big red flag is that the person wasn’t really seeking YOU, but anyone in the group.
You can still be targeted through Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and etc. directly, which feels more genuine. The next thing to look for is who this person is. Can they email you more information (verifying more than just a spam-social-account that may look real). Are they actually affiliated with the 3D Printing brand, can they explain or verify that connection?
Sure, it may be a 3rd party marketing firm. But then, why wouldn’t they be even more interested in how you will use the product, when a video/article can be produced and etc. Going directly to asking for shipping details is suspicious.
Paying for shipping isn’t the standard
Although it sounds reasonable, paying for shipping for a review product isn’t standard praxis. Specially not before receiving the product.
If you are still not sure and optimistic, ask for an order confirmation/invoice from the real company. Verify that the payment method goes into "3D Printer Brand A” and not “Jonny Dudes" bank. PayPal is not uncommon, but paying the individual and not the company is very unusual and 99% scam. But again, paying for shipping isn’t the standard.
Think about it. If you can generate value to the company (which is why they would even want you to have a printer) the shipping cost is nothing in comparison.
Exceptions for shipping costs
The exception could be real giveaways. If you’re watching (let’s say me, 3D Print Tech Design) doing a livestream, and I decide to give away a 3D Printer I have one to many of, it’s not going directly from a manufacturer, but as a reward sent from me.
If I stream from Norway, I might specify that the winner has to cover shipping. If you win it in the US, that could be a substantial amount, and even more than some printers are worth nowadays, which is why sometimes, streamers have set terms to countries only, or that shipping is covered by the winner (or sometimes split).
But these are very different circumstances compared to some person on Facebook asking for money.
Save your money instead, and read this article on why you should sell your 3D Printer before it’s too late.
