Would you buy a wrist watch from a street vendor?
"Psst. Mister, wanna buy a watch. Look, look I got some nice Rolax watches. Rolax too much for ya, no problem I got some really nice Seeko watches. Come'on Mister I know you need a new watch."
Well White Vans speakers are the audio equivilent of Rolax watches.
Back in the day, street smart hustlers would hang out on college campuses, in the parking lot in front of Circuit City etc and sell "high quality" audio speakers and equipment out of a nondescript van. Product names could have ranged from Polke to Accoutica Research or maybe they were JBC. Just a play on the respected brands of the day. Big retail price, but because I like you I will let you have my last pair, my demo model or whatever for "great savings" over what you could buy the legitimate products.
Nondescript white vans cost money. So today the con artist is selling on ebay (and through internet sites). Grab a few aliases, make a few sales to yourself to buzz up the seller's rating, make a post or three on some forums and before long you too can be selling audio products.
Don't get me wrong, these products most likely will work (unlike that Rolax watch), but for the $ spent, you could have bought a much better product from a respected company.
Is every online or ebay vendor a scam? Gosh darn, NO. Take Axiom speakers (I don't own any Axiom products), online sales only. And the speakers I have heard are quite good.
But reputations are built over time, not over weeks.
The internet can serve as your guide for finding quality products. But you also need to screen the information.
