This week’s pattern: fake holiday collaboration and gift-guide feature offers, aimed at sellers eager for extra visibility heading into Q4.
The setup
Several sellers reported messages this week from accounts claiming to run a gift-guide blog, influencer page, or “holiday roundup” feature, offering to include the seller’s shop in exchange for a fee, free product samples, or both. Some versions request payment upfront for “guaranteed placement,” others ask for free products with vague promises of exposure that never materializes.
Why this works particularly well right now
Every seller wants more visibility heading into the holiday season, and a legitimate version of this opportunity, real gift guides and influencer features do exist and can genuinely help, makes the fake version harder to dismiss out of hand. Scammers are counting on holiday-season eagerness for exposure outweighing normal skepticism about an unsolicited offer.
Red flags specific to this variant
- A request for payment specifically to “guarantee” placement, which isn’t how legitimate editorial or influencer features typically work
- Vague, unverifiable details about the supposed publication or audience size, with no ability to see genuine past examples of similar features they’ve run
- Pressure to respond and commit quickly, citing a limited number of remaining “holiday feature slots”
How to evaluate a real opportunity versus a fake one
A legitimate gift-guide or influencer collaboration should have a verifiable track record, real past content you can look at, a genuine audience presence you can check independently, rather than just their own claims about it. Be especially cautious of any offer requiring payment specifically for the placement itself, as opposed to a reasonable, transparent sponsorship or affiliate arrangement you’ve researched and agreed to on clear terms.
What to do if you’re interested in genuine promotional opportunities
Rather than waiting for these offers to come to you, and risk it being one of the fake versions, consider proactively researching and reaching out to established, verifiable gift-guide creators or local media in your area if this kind of promotion genuinely interests you. Being the one initiating contact with a vetted, real opportunity is safer than responding to an unsolicited pitch that arrived in your inbox unprompted.
The pattern worth remembering
Just like the fake wholesale inquiries we flagged last month, this scam attaches itself to a genuine seller aspiration, more visibility heading into the holidays, to make an unsolicited offer feel worth taking a chance on. The same caution applies: verify independently, and be wary of anything requiring payment or free product before any real value has been demonstrated.
