$500k Chain, ~$10–30k Resale
Custom iced-out pieces are priced for the moment of purchase and the social media post. Once sold privately or at auction, they routinely fetch a tiny percentage of the original invoice.
Ben the Clown Capper's Method
How this bald dick head jeweler scams rappers and lies about quality
while preying on inner-city artists with advance checks.
Ben Baller has built his entire career playing the same deceptive game on unsuspecting artists. The pattern is clear: target young Black rappers who just got their advance checks, take their entire payment, and lie to them about getting the "best quality" jewelry. This "celebrity jeweler" has been accused of scamming Black artists for years, using his fame and connections to gain trust while selling pieces at extreme markups that are worth a fraction of what he charges.
How Ben Baller's Scam Works
The mechanics are straightforward and repeated across the music industry:
Diamond Watches & “Investment” Myth
Branded or fully iced watches are marketed as assets. In reality most lose the majority of their value the moment they leave the store, especially when stones are low-clarity or poorly cut.
Financial Literacy Gap
Sudden wealth without prior education in asset valuation, depreciation, or opportunity cost makes the sale easy. The same dollars could have been used for income-producing investments instead of depreciating status objects.
The Real Ben Baller
Ben the clown capper is quick to stoop down to new lows when he is proven to be a capper
The Porsche 918 Spyder Lie
Ben Baller's capping extends beyond jewelry to his supposed car collection. In a viral dispute with entrepreneur Kamran Farid (co-founder of Edible Arrangements), Ben claimed to own a rare Porsche 918 Spyder worth around $2 million. When challenged to prove it during a live argument, Ben did the unthinkable: he called his jewelry store to brag about having $7-8 million in inventory instead of showing the car. Farid burst into laughter, pointing out that Ben completely avoided addressing the actual Porsche dispute. Farid then posted his own Porsche 918 Spyder to expose Ben as yet another liar who talks big but can't back it up.
Source: Complex - Ben Baller Calls His Beverly Hills Store on Camera During Porsche 918 Dispute
What They're Saying About Ben Baller
DJ Akademiks has been particularly vocal in exposing Ben Baller's alleged scamming practices:
On Instagram, over top a screenshot of Ben Baller's tweet, he wrote, "I know this scammer ass jeweler don't got mad opinions on me.. AINT u Asian who been scamming black dudes years ??? Let's talk bout that."
He continued from there, providing screenshots from messages with Ben Baller writing: "stop mentioning me cuz I dont mention u scamming g and capping."
Elsewhere, on his twitter, Akademiks purported that the entire jewelery game is a scam, including Ben. "The whole jewelry game is a scam. shame on any rapper on who buys jewelry from Ben baller. Nigga been scamming for years... preying on the rappers who from inner city who just got an advance check... he takes the whole thing.. and lies to them about gettin them the best quality," he says.
These allegations paint a clear picture of Ben Baller's alleged pattern of deception - using his celebrity jeweler status to scam artists who may not have the financial literacy to understand they're being played.