Protect Yourself From a Subscription Box Scam!

Did you know that scammers are posing as subscription box companies – either operating or launching a new one – in order to take advantage of your desire for the next new thing? Yes, new subscription boxes are fun – I love them to pieces! – but I want to remind you to use your own best judgment when you hear of a brand new box! Here are some pointers on evaluating subscription box companies to determine whether a new monthly subscription is legit.

Does the subscription have a website?

Does that new beauty box have its own website ? If not, think twice, although this isn’t a dealbreaker. Many subscriptions launch with what’s called a squeeze page – something designed to get you to sign up for notifications of their launch. Perhaps it’s just a new branch of an existing company, and they should be able to point you in that direction (with links from the existing company page to the new page). If it doesn’t have it’s own web presence, you might pass on this company or look for other indicators of trust, like the following:

Does it have any sort of web presence, like social media?

Sometimes social media is used to launch a new monthly subscription. This is a great way to build buzz. But if a new company pops up overnight with 15,000 followers – well, is it really that popular? Birchbox has nearly 50,000 followers on Instagram. How would a few-weeks old company have 15,000 of them?  The simple answer – they bought them on Fiverr or another similar service. Yep, you can buy followers (and just about anything else) on Fiverr.

Does it have a privacy policy?

Is the website for a new box company collecting email addresses without a privacy policy in place? And do they provide any corporate information so you can trust that they might do what they say they will do with your email address — and nothing else? If they don’t have a privacy policy and refuse to provide it, steer clear – especially if they want your friends’ email addresses too! Every company collecting email addresses should be able to tell you 1) what they are doing with them and 2) who they really are.  Even if they’re not collecting money, your email address can be sold to an advertising/web tracking database.  They can make money even if you’re not giving them any.

Are there reviews?

New monthly subscriptions will typically contact subscription box bloggers or other relevant media outlets and hand out their boxes like mad to help build credentials and show people what they’re getting. If you don’t know what’s in the box besides that it’s “obviously amazing,” take a pass, there are tons of subscription boxes calling your name that are reputable and trustworthy. I can’t guarantee any company in my list, but I haven’t heard of any complaints that any of them are a scam, either.

Ask a blogger!

Heard of a new company and nobody has blogged about it yet? Ask a blogger! Whether it’s me or someone else, don’t be afraid to write and say, hey, have you heard of this new company, what do you think?

You can email me at any time at [email protected]. I’d be happy to answer your questions.