A splashy web site with top quality images and loads of great looking products can
be a big company or a guy in a garage running a scam site without a single product to ship. Or is it a pseudo company whose entire business plan is sending you low quality products from a third-world county where shipping returns would be too expensive, hoping you'll just trash the items then wasting money shipping returns that'll never get credited.
How do you tell the difference?
- Do they clearly state who they are and where they're located? Not only which country they're located in, but a street address.
- If it's a good chunk of money you'll be laying-out, you can call the local city or county licensing authority to check if they even have a business license.
- If it's in the USA, search for it on the Better Business Bureau's website. Does their BBB contact info match what shows on their website?
- Can you call the company? Does the phone number even work?
- Use google StreetView to check out the location. Does it look legit or sketchy. If it's a shopping plaza, check to see if there's a private mailbox/shipping store there. That company's business location may be nothing more than a rented mailbox.
- Prices Too Good to be True?
- Recently, a long-time customer called to say he'd just placed an order for three sweaters at one-quarter the usual cost and called to scold me for failing to let him know I was running such a fantastic sale. It was scam, complete with photos lifted from my website with my watermarks. "Mike, what were you thinking. At that price I couldn't even buy the yarn to have those sweaters made. They can offer great prices because they haven't any actual products to send you."
- Payment Opportunities Offered?
- Paypal, ApplePay etc.have customer complaint procedures designed to prevent you from getting ripped-off. Any new pop-up company using their services has an automatic hold on funds paid to them until they successfully pass a scrutiny period. Thus, scammers don't like to use them. Sometimes they will, hoping most customers will either forget they placed the order or don't want the hassle of filing a complaint.
- Don't pay by using ACH Debit. That's a direct debit from your bank account, which your bank only has 24 hours to reverse. After that, there isn't any complaint procedure. Plus, that company now has your bank account information and can keep making charges. Unlike with debit and credit cards where you can cancel a card and get a new one, you may have to close that entire bank account and open another; a major hassle.
- Cropped Photos
- If some product images appear too closely clipped, it's likely the image was stolen from a legit website and then cropped to exclude the company's watermark.
- Browser Search Company name + "Scam" or "Reviews"
- While sometimes helpful, many of these fraudulent online companies pop-up suddenly, existing only long enough to rip-off another batch of victims and recreate themselves under a new name before the complaints can catch-up to them.
These are some of the quick and easy methods of help ensure you're dealing with a reputable company. If you've got others, please share here in the comments.
Scott