How can you find out if a website is legit?

Hi all,

I recently decided that I wanted to buy a digital camera and have been searching websites to get the cheapest price.
I've found this website for a company that say they are based in Dublin, but they are about €60 cheaper than any other company for the camera I want.

I'm just wondering how do you find out if this company are legit or could they just take my money and disappear and not deliver my goods?
If this did happen is there any recourse for me getting my money back?

I have no reason to believe that they aren't perfectly legit, I'd just rather be sure before I hand over my credit card details.

Thanks

Pamela

Pamela

Check their contact us page and see if they have a street address and phone number. Ring them and then see if they exist.

When buying online also make sure that the site is secure. You will notice a padlock icon in the bottom right of your browser when you access the secure pages on a site such as their shopping trolley etc.

C

This link was posted somewhere here a while ago. Quite useful.

http://www.valueireland.com/tips/tips_for_online_credit_card_security.htm

For myself, I'd only ever go with sites that I'd heard about from someone else, or knew to be reputable.

I know that Which! in the UK have a listing of sites that are trustworthy when buying online. Difficult to find though, otherwise I'd link here.

Also see for tips on safe online shopping.

I have purchased 2 camera in the last 6 months, one for a present and one for me from and www.technikdirekt.de both of which were fine and cheaper than the shops here

As Capaill said check for the padlock - also you can double click on the the padlock to verify the certificate is genuine

Also look for https:// at the start of the url when entering credit card numbers- this is for secure http

Whatever about security concerns (https and the padlock etc), I think Capaills comment regarding physical location should be of primary concern.

If you don't know exactly who is behind a particular website, and where they are physically based, then you shouldn't deal with them. If the information isn't readily available in the "About Us" section of the site, then you should stay well clear.

There are other ways to check out this, but it's laborious, and most people wouldn't. For example, you could see who owns the web domain at www.whois.sc, and then check for company registration information.

However, if the people behind a website aren't confident/honest enough to detail information about themselves up front, then you should be concerned about letting them have your money.

Thanks for all the tips everyone.

I checked the contact details and they do have an address and phone number included. I tried the whois website too but they don't have them but I think it's because they are a .ie website.

You can't actually order from them over the net, need to phone up and order over the phone. Would this make it more or less dodgy?

Think I might be better off buying from a site recommended here, so at least then I don't have to worry about goods going missing.
I probably wouldn't be worrying if their price was similar to other websites, but when they're so much cheaper I just start to worry.

Thanks again for all your help!

Try DNSStuff.com's IPWHOIS Lookup form.

Hi Pam - Feel free to post details of the site here and see if others have used them. Don't get hung up on the website issues. It's really a business question, not a website question. If you saw an ad for them in Buy & Sell offering the product you want at that given price, would you be comfortable with giving them your credit card number.

And don't forget the old adage, if it looks too good to be true, it probably is.

Well the website is

and I'd be delighted if anyone else could tell me if they've used them!

Thanks everyone for all your replies

Pamela

Hi Pam,

I've been been buying online for a good few years now and I checked out the link for you. Firstly if you haven't heard of it before (e.g. everyone uses Amazon and Ebay so you can trust them) then the first thing you do is check the 'about us' and 'contact us' links. If still in doubt 'google' them and see what comes up.

I checked this site out and the contact us phone number is clearly wrong. As the purchase links don't work and some of the links are called 'test' i'd safely say that this is someone setting up a new website.

Also if you google them you only get one post (boards.ie) where someone on the 12th of August was asking did anyone ever hear of them before.

So i'd say it's a new start up and the prices are probably just random website text filler for the moment. But bookmark the site - it might be 'live' soon and hopefully with those very nice prices

Plus, though they call themselves homecinema ltd, they're not actually a limited company at all, only a registered business name to get the .ie registration.

All a bit suspect.

ronan_d_john said:

Plus, though they call themselves homecinema ltd, they're not actually a limited company at all, only a registered business name to get the .ie registration.

All a bit suspect.

Click to expand...

I see that all right looking them up at www.cro.ie.

IIRC it is illegal to use Ltd in a business name if you are not in fact a limited company.

Also their physical address in the contact us section looks a bit vague "Airport Road, Dublin". No number or postcode ? It also doesn't match the business name registration which is in Meath.