Internet sales are, almost by design, a place for frauds and scams to proliferate.
I am not saying that honest hardworking people are not on the 'net selling products, as those people do exist. At the same time, dishonest people abound.
How does the public know the difference? They often don't.
Firms with ONLY an online outlet are always suspect in my book. Doesn't mean that honest online companies don't exist. Take Axiom speakers. I would never buy any of their speakers based upon their website, or their forum. Just my great distrust of the 'net. But when readers of forums not under their control rave about their products, I take notice. When many active readers of forums rave about their products, I remember the name and actually visit the website. When established, printed review magazines (stereophile et al), review the product line with good reviews, I completely changed my tune. When a friend wanted a good bang for a limited budget and was willing to try something different, I recommended the product.
The flip side of this coin is the online speaker companies that have a couple obvious shills raving about their products, I also remember those brands as well. How do I know they are shills? Ah, a trade secret.... let's just say that a limited track record of posts, short duration of membership, and a certain style of comments always trigger my fraud sensors.
Am I over sensitive to online fraud?
Maybe.
I just see way too much of it. One of my jobs is to watch my competition. Prices, policies, etc. I spend way too much time on ebay, and I catch way too much fraud.
The latest example of fraud that I caught, was prices on industrial equipment that was well below market. In fact, the prices were well below the manufacturer's cost structure. A little investigation was started, and it revealed that an employee of a competitor of mine that was stealing goods out of the back of the warehouse, and selling them on ebay. Legitimate equipment. Illegal sale. The employee's site has been obviously shut down.
At the same time, another competitor was dumping a product line. Selling it off at really, really obscene prices. Legitimate equipment. Legitimate sale. The vendor's main site fully discussed their decision to dump the product line.
How does the public know the difference? They don't. Hence my great reluctance to purchase from the 'net.
