WatchCases.com is the place to buy a Watch Box!"

We have many internet competitors, some reputable, some not. How can you tell who is "safe" to buy from and who is not? (This advice is good for any internet purchase.)

Well, for one is the site hosted by a well known company and is it secure? We are hosted by Yahoo, and Yahoo is an expensive choice for hosting because of its reputation and security features. Many sites are hosted by sites that specialize in hosting personal WebPages and dirt cheap or free to host.

Does the site do well in "non-sponsored" (non paid advertising) searches in the major search engines? Google, Yahoo, MSN, AOL, etc... Anyone can pay to advertise, but only sites of long standing reputation and relavance tend to do well in all of the major search engines. Most search engines list sponsored searches above the natural search results. Google highlights 3 paid searches in blue at the top and then a list of sponsored searches down the right side of the page and the "natural" search results appear in the center. We tend to do well in both areas paid and natural searches.

Look for Sites with some form of Hacker Prevention and Monitoring service to assure you that no one has hacked the site and added spy ware which is dumped onto your computer when you click on the site. (Note: Do not confuse "cookies" with spy ware, try "cookies" are used to tracking information but they are not designed to "spy" they are designed to expedite communication between computers. Anti-Spy Ware programs identify cookies as needing to be removed in part to assist in sales of their software, since everyone has cookies on his or her computer, but few people encounter real spy ware. I remove cookies regularly, they do eat up memory if not deleted regularly but they are essential to using the internet and e-commerce.) Real spy ware is often found on sites which have deals "too good to pass up". Why? Because these site make money by spying not selling merchandise!

I recommend Spy Sweeper, and Ad-Aware SE Personal for removing real spy ware also Spybot Search and Destroy. I like MajorGeeks.com as a secure source for downloads.

Do a domain search and you will find sites registered or hosted in foreign countries but claiming to be US based. (Countries with a reputation for Fraud I mean, not Canada or the UK!) Some of our best competition is foreign hosted, but they do not claim to be hosted in the USA. They are honest and upfront and a pleasure to compete with. It is the "low ball" competition and "fraudulent sites" that hurt e-commerce.

People ask us all the time about such sites low prices. I ask them simply, what about other merchants? What are they selling the item for and the reply is "oh, about the same price as you maybe a dollar cheaper". Sometimes people are fooled into thinking the reason for the low price is the Web-Site must be a "Supplier". Well, suppliers can not cut throat compete with their retailers if they want to stay in business! Why? Suppliers might sell a few units direct to consumers, but suppliers make 95% of their money selling to retailers! (Go to Microsoft.com and then any retailer that sells Windows XP, it will be cheaper at the retailer’s site! Microsoft sells to retailers not consumers and they will never cut the legs off a retailer, no reputable company will!)

Retailers cancel product lines when they have to compete against the supplier on price, since this is impossible! Retailers must sell at a minimum profit to stay in business and so you should follow common wisdom when shopping for anything.

Get 3 quotes or at least find someone you trust and feel good about in terms of quality and reputation, don't just buy lowest price. Go with the company that makes you feel the most comfortable. Pay top dollar if it feels like the company is delivering better value. Go with the middle price if no one stands out head and shoulders above the others, but always avoid the "low-baller" he will cheat you every time! He has to! Otherwise he closes shop. The only businesses that get a price advantage over the competition are those who can sell huge volume like Wal-Mart. Others all have pretty equal costs and therefore pricing tends to be in the same "ball park".