Here’s a list of 10 questions you should ask before you buy dice online that will make it a lot less likely to fall for the scammers who abundantly run ads on social media.
1. Do the prices sound too good to be true?
In other words, are the prices so cheap in comparison to what is pictured that it seems unreal? That’s because it is. These stores usually show you stolen photos of high end or handmade dice and then use a so-called “bait and switch” method where they send you $2 mass-produced acrylic sets instead that look nothing like the store photo.
Also look closely at the item description text. Some stores use photos of gemstone dice and mention in the text the actual product is resin or acrylic. Here’s an example from the scam store Dice Legend. This is so that the shop can claim they didn’t actually mislead you because you apparently didn’t read the description properly.
No reputable store can offer dice for free or for prices under $5-10 per set (or under $40 for gemstone) and still sustain their business.
➡️ If prices sound too good to be true, they almost always are and it’s likely a scam.
2. Are the dice themselves cheap but shipping costs are overly high?
That’s how a lot of the scam stores actually fund themselves. They’ll list the dice for zero dollars or very low prices but they charge pretty exorbitant shipping costs, which increase exponentially, the more sets you add to your cart.
➡️ If shipping cost are disproportionately high, it’s likely a scam.
3. Are there massive price reductions?
A lot of scam shops trick users but lying about suggested retail prices and then list their items on sale with what looks like a massive price reduction. One example was a store listing the Q-Workshop Dice Macabre at $99.99 suggested retail price (on sale in the scam store for $0.08), when actual retail price from Q-Workshop is somewhere around $20.
➡️ If price reductions or sale discounts seem unusually high, it’s likely a scam.
4. Are the product photos consistent?
Most scam stores steal photos from other shops or handmakers, usually photos that are glamour shots of gemstone sets or carefully crafted handmade items that have a wow factor, but then will send you cheap acrylic dice instead. The stolen photos tend to be from different sources, so the photography is a wild mix of different setups, styles, camera angles, dice arrangement and item types. Reputable stores take their own photos with photography that looks consistent.
It can also help to take a close look at the products pictured and ask yourself whether any of the sets look like they might be handmade by a skilled resin artist. Because usually they are, especially if there’s a logo on the dice. A reverse image search (Google Lens, TinEye, etc.) will help you find the actual artist whose photos were used without permission.
If you’re a dice maker yourself and you want to protect yourself from scammers stealing your photos, it’s highly recommended to put watermarks in your photos that can’t be easily cropped out.
➡️ If the product photography style varies greatly among the product listings, the photos are stolen and it’s likely a scam.
5. Does the ad you saw use catchy marketing phrases?
Marketing ploys that scam shops often use in their online ads is language that tends to grab your immediate attention with deals that sound like you don’t want to miss out. Some examples:
- “Free today!”
- “We are closing our shop.”
- “We are clearing our warehouse.”
- “Last chance to buy at low price!”
- “We are giving away 200 dice sets.“
- Limited time offers with timer countdowns (which they regularly reset)
Reputable stores don’t tend to use sensationalistic marketing tactics like that, and reputable stores don’t give away hundreds of dice sets for free.
➡️ If the ad uses sensationalistic marketing language that makes you think you’re missing out on the deal of a lifetime, it’s likely a scam.
6. Does the store have information about its location or owners?
Scam stores usually have zero information about who are they are or where they are located. Reputable stores have an “About Us” or footer section that says who their owners are or why they opened a dice shop or even list their physical location. Shops in Germany also by law need to have a so-called Impressum in their menu or footer, so I would exercise caution for German shops without one.
➡️ If the online store doesn’t have any information about who runs it and where it’s located, it’s likely a scam.
7. Does the shop website look barebones and standard-issue?
Scam store shop systems are usually barebones Shopify sites that aren’t customised, often using a black and white theme. They put minimal effort into adding personal touches to the shop and they usually don’t have their own logos. Use of emojis in navigation menus can also be a give-away. Reputable stores spend thought and time on customising their online store and will not look like a standard-issue shop system.
➡️ If the online store website looks very barebones without any customisation (often in black and white), it’s likely a scam.
8. Does the shop name sound weird or nonsensical?
A lot of dice scam shops have strange names that don’t make sense or have anything to do with RPGs or dice (e.g. Tayloke, Kykaitlyn, Liqueette, Benjamine-shop) or have very generic male or female names paired with words like “dice” or “dragon” (e.g. Sophiadice, Zacharydragon). Ads also often use an account name that is different from the shop URL or have random added letters to the account names (e.g. Cococoao and Cococoaotk).
➡️ If the shop name sounds weird or nonsensical, if the shop name has nothing to do with TTRPGs or dice, or if social media account name and shop URL aren’t the same, it’s likely a scam. (This does not mean that shops that have names that are dice or TTRPG related are automatically legit!)
9. Is there any wording in the online store that sounds odd or out of place?
These scam shops are run out of China. They use online translators or marketing strategies that work in China but seem odd in other cultures. One example could be an emphasis on the store wanting to help you “express yourself” with their quality products or strongly stressing the focus on customer satisfaction.
Sometimes these stores are set up in a rush, so you might encounter uncustomised template text from a ready-made online store system, e.g. “This area is used to describe your product’s details. Tell customers about the look, feel, and style of your product.”
The “Contact” section is often very barebones with just a standard contact form and no information about who you’re reaching out to or even unprofessional looking e-mail addresses like margaretehomenickwrvht68@gmail.com.
➡️ Take a closer look at the website and look for language that sounds weird, is grammatically wrong or seems out of place for a dice or TTRPG store. This could be an indicator that it’s a scam.
10. Are comments under the social media ad hidden or does the ad have “angry” reaction emoticons?
Social media ads from scam stores tend to have people commenting under them that they were ripped off or are trying to warn potential buyers of the scam. The account owners usually hide these comments, so that the post will say that it has x amount of comments, but the number of comments you can see is actually lower.
If an ad has hidden comments, it usually means the account is not reputable. Some users also leave “angry” reactions to these ads to show that the store is not legit. This can also be a warning sign. The social media platforms themselves don’t usually remove these ads, even when they are being reported.
➡️ If an online ad has hidden comments or angry emoticon reactions, be wary because it could be a scam. Look for the other nine signs described in this post.
Please also check my post on scammer dice shops that has an actual list of known scammers and more information about how these scams work.
