Mail Order Retailers

What's the story on Buy.com (aka BuyComp.com)?

Buy.com made a big splash on the internet when it opened its doors in November 1997. In the first 11 months, their sales topped $86 million. With a huge advertising campaign on TV and magazines, they are all set to become the next Amazon. However, unlike Amazon, Buy.com has had a horrid track record with consumers.
1. They have a web crawler which goes out finding the lowest prices every day. If someone else has a lower price, the system automatically updates buy.com's price to match or beat it. This sounds great in theory, but to make up for the lower price, they often raise the prices on shipping. In fact, shipping prices were an astounding 3-5 times higher than their competitors. Most buyers never pay too much attention to the shipping prices, but they end up paying roughly the same amount as if they bought elsewhere.
2. Their policy is to bill the customer when the product is ordered, not when the product actually ships (as most other companies would.) This means that even if the product is back-ordered for a month, you still have to pay for the product first. Worst of all, if you cancel the order before the product even ships, you may be subject to a restocking fee. According to one of their customer service representatives, they follow this policy to "keep prices low."
3. Here is an email from a reader about his experiences with Buycomp.
4. Lastly, the current CEO of Buy.com (Scott Blum) was accused of improper accounting practices to inflate sales and earnings by the SEC at his previous company, Pinnacle Micro. Whether this has any bearing on Buy.com's current situation remains to be seen. However, he is in search for a new CEO who would have credibility for when they go public next year.

Of course, this is not to say that all their customers are dissatisfied. Quite to the contrary, I'm sure most of their customers are satisfied customers. However, be aware there have been many sketchy reports on this company, and to be wary when placing an order.

What about Insight.com?

They are another reputable online retailer with average prices. But their policies are fair, and Bryant Loftin from Insight claims they will beat prices from the other companies listed here. They might be worth a look!

How do I find out if a retailer is a credible or a scam?

One of the most popular sites on the net to find information on retailers is http://www.resellerratings.com, a sub site of the popular System Optimization Guide. To find out more, you can also call up the retailer's local Better Business Bureau. Search for 'better business bureau' on Yahoo for listings.