Jan wrote in, asking:
While looking for Milwaukee 12v prices inline I came across a website called [redacted] that’s selling tools at ridiculously low prices and I’m wondering if anyone knows if this site is legit or a scam?
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I have been asked similar questions a LOT lately, and the increasing frequency has me concerned.
The short answer is that if it seems too good to be true, it is. For the longer answer, refer to the following post, which should help you analyze unfamiliar retailers.
Scam or Not? Tips for Assessing Unfamiliar Online Tool Stores
I order from unfamiliar retailers from time to time, and it’s often because I want something that’s been discontinued, clearanced, “new old stock,” or specialty products. You’ve got to do research for your own protection, and hopefully my link above helps.
As for the URL that Jan provided, I took a quick look.
Red Flag 1: The retailer seems to focus on candle holders, vases, home decor, and power tools. It seems to smash several popular product lines together, which is unusual.
Red Flag 2: There’s no obvious phone number on the home page of the site. Smaller businesses and specialty stores usually do display a phone number somewhere.
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Red Flag 3: Looking at a “best rated” Milwaukee product, they have the 2147-20 M18 Radius worklight for $61.93. The regular retail price is $379. This isn’t a realistic discount – you’re not going to save 84% on a current Milwaukee cordless power tool. All of the other sale prices are similarly unrealistic.
Red Flag 4: Google “[store name]” tool deal, with the store name in quotes. There are 10 Google search results. If the deals are so good, they’d be talked about on websites such as Slickdeals or Reddit at the least, not to mention throngs of coupon and deal sites.
Red Flag 5: A whois.net lookup shows that the website name was only first registered 2019-12-24. In other words, it has only existed for a couple of weeks. There’s no customer base, vetting, or reliability at this point.
Orange Flag 6: This retailer doesn’t have any social media links. In this day and age, that’s increasingly rare.
Orange Flag 7: Looking around the site, there is an address and phone number on the contact form. It seems “off” in that the same number is seemingly registered to other specialty stores being red-flagged by “scam alert” sites. Look up the phone number for legitimate stores, and the search results are often to BBB listings, store pages, and similar.
Orange Flag 8: There’s an address buried in one of the pages. A quick Google search turns up a couple of “scam warnings”
Look, I can’t tell anyone whether a particular retailer is a scam site or if it’s somehow legitimate. You have to make your own judgements.
But a brand new store selling high-value products at crazy-low prices? In my opinion, unless you find strong indication otherwise, these websites are scams. Do NOT supply these companies with your personal information, address, or credit card number.
This particular web “store” doesn’t have as many red flags as others scam stores, such as count-down timers and what-not, but I can’t see any way it could be the least bit legitimate.
I’m sorry, there’s no way you’re getting a $1200 Bosch breaker hammer for $63 and free shipping.
If these deals were being offered by an established retailer or store? Then, they might be worth exploring. I have gotten some very good tools deals in the past.
For every single “is this store legit” email I have received, the answer has always been “I very highly doubt it.”
Following are what some real and legitimate tool and specialty retailers look like.
https://thetoolnut.sjv.io/c/1241208/983159/12894?u=https://www.toolnut.com/
https://www.harryepstein.com/
https://www.wttool.com/
https://pilotshq.com/
https://www.aircraftspruce.com/
https://www.gardeners.com/
Google their phone numbers, look up their whois.net records, note their shipping policies.
Legit retailers might sometimes throw up a red flag, maybe even two. But if you take note of what legitimate websites look like, the fakes and scam sites become very easy to spot.
Also notice how established websites often have a personality to their design. Scam sites often have cold and sterile boiler-plate layouts where the only differences between them might be a slightly stylized logo.
Use your head. If an unfamiliar online store seems too good to be true, it almost always is.
Do you check for other factors or red flags that I haven’t talked about?
Jason
Hey Stuart, we have seen people posting these “is this real?” type messages on deals forums for a while, and most of them are brand-new posters. It almost seems like the scammers that make these fake websites want to publicize them, so they post links but act cautious so that other people will check it out and hopefully buy.
Not to say that the person who reached out to you was trying / hoping that you’d re-post the link to their site on this blog (if you “fell for it”), but I wouldn’t be surprised if you start getting those type of messages prompting you to share these shady “deals”, possibly phrased in a way that would encourage you to post and say “Has anyone ever tried this site?”
Stuart
The person that asked this question also asked about Ridgid 12V. A scammer trying to dupe me isn’t likely to ask a well-crafted and thought-out question in that manner.
A scammer/spammer would be more likely to email me and say “hey I found this great deal if you want to share it.”
e.g.: https://toolguyd.com/a-crooked-shop-so-shockingly-bad-i-had-to-share/
evadman
I see those all the time when searching for a tool. Besides the price always being insanely low, the prices always seem to be non-customer orientated. Meaning almost all retail prices have cents as 99 or 98, occasionally 0.
Just like your screenshot, the fake ones seem to have weird cents, like 34, 68, 43 or 19.
Taking the site as a whole, they are obviously a scam. If something is too good to be true, it probably is. Chargebacks are a pain.
DannyK
It’s best to buy from authorized seller for power tools. It’s easy to check by going to the tool manufacturers website. Or buy from online stores that have brick and mortar store. You can use them as benchmark for price. Also check eBay from seller with lot of rating for the lowest possible price. If an unknown seller is selling 50% cheaper than anyone else, it’s either a scam or stolen tools, Another way to judge is if their website is secured for financial transaction: https instead of http, credit cards authorized seller, BBB member.
Gordon
The new one I’ve been seeing a lot of is Whalegot.com. It has come up with various tools, but more often than not it’s a Makita tool. Their prices are about 1/10 of retail, and some tools are not sold in the US yet. At first I thought it was a pricing error and I almost jumped. But my gut took over.
If it’s too good to be true, than it can’t be true.
GML
That one (whalegot) keeps on coming up for me as well. Easy to tell that one is a scam based on simple research. Wish there was a way to remove certain websites from Google search results.
Gordon
I use Firefox and this addon https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/personal-blocklist/
It lets you block at the domain level. Every once and a while Whalegot still makes it through. I don’t think the addon blocks shopping links very well.
But I also use it to block sites that force (not ask) me to disable adblockers and anti-tracking tools. My internet, my rules.
Robert
Yep, they even appear on eBay and they put the delivery date 2 months out so you can’t protest it until they have the money already and have run (ask me how I know). You get your money back because of eBay’s policy, but they won’t do anything until the delivery date has passed.
Too good to be true means it’s too good to be true.
Adam Frye
Another give away, is when you get your choice of color for the power tool, and neither are that brands color. Hahaha
As well as all the prices on the site being within $5 of each other.
Frank D
This is where I hate google in recent years. So many time tools and parts searches come up with these “ scam “ review blogs and doorway pages that are all Amazon referral links or worse somehow electronically index trees of parts catalogs with prices to good to be true and some weird name and domain extension on never heard of.
And, ever since google started dumbing down the search result pages, it has become harder to report these scam sites. One still can using the feedback, screenshot and highlighting results thing, but that’s pretty hard to do on mobile devices, as not enough stuff fits on screen, if the code actually works, …
Stuart
I feel the same.
They used to be better, but these days a new shallow-content Amazon affiliate can game Google to very quickly get listed ahead of our content and others’.
Google doesn’t seem to care or they would be combating it.
PAntonvich
ebay has this problem as well happened to me about 6 times last year – but the great thing when you use ebay and paypal is they refund your money – might have to wait a week or two. In some cases ebay closed the users account – I had one seller send something but to a different town … Had to wait the longest for a refund on that one about a month.
soundu
Yeah the reason they send it to a different town is to stretch out the time so they might scam the money. Had the same thing happen to me on some DeWalt. Sent to lasvegas or such. The bigger problem is eBay doesn’t have a working fraud detection system or they just don’t care.
I have eBay sending me these fraud auctions in emails from them.
$200 tool selling for $29.95. shipping from China for free. No prior feedback selling tools. Not hard to figure this out eBay.
Mr Weedley
I was able to use one of those sites for price match at HD twice no problem. Im not advocating just saying…
Robin
Facebook is famous for these ridiculous postings.
A red flag for Facebook is if the company advertising the ridiculous price says it’s a flower shop. Run away. Most times they don’t even try. The name would be shfufjdbdudb. That instills no confidence in me.
I’ve clicked on their “About Us” page and have seen a word-for-word description of Home Depot. Not even taking Home Depot out of the description.
Like Stuart says, if it’s way too cheap, it’s probably too good to be true.
Diplomatic Immunity
Is it a matter of authorized seller or reseller vs some guy in China that worked at the factory where these were produced?
I remember Ebay years ago had a massive influx of fake Nikes that they eventually started cracking down on. In fact nowadays there’s a pretty big market for fake sneaker knockoffs of Adidas and Nike limited editions which I’m assuming come from people that have connections to the plants where the original sneaker molds are produced or something. In a lot of cases people have bought legit and fake versions of the same sneaker and have said sometimes the fake is on par with or even better than the original. Wouldn’t be shocked if the Chinese plant just works the line overtime, off the record, and then sells the product on the downlow on the secondary market. Maybe to someone else who then sells them to foreign customers. There’s such a markup vs cost to produce on original sneakers that even producing fakes for half cost will still net these people loads of money.
I’m wondering if it’s the same case when it comes to power tools manufactured in China as well? You can find a lot of sellers on Alibaba and some of these other Chinese goods sites; I’m sure they’re counterfeit power tools.
Anyhow a pair of counterfeit sneakers is something you can live with if they start to fall apart. A drill or cordless circular saw that has zero quality control is a lot more of a risky proposition to your health.
Stuart
For brand-owned or managed facilities? Not a chance. Contracted facilities wouldn’t dare do this either, given the legal and future business risks it could result in. Every now and then there are what appear to be early models or prototypes on Ebay, but I’ve only seen that a few times and they were closed down real fast.
There’s a pen enthusiast that buys products from a source or supplier in Asia and resells then here. Pricing seemed really good, and enthusiast forum members got to the bottom of it and vetted the owner as being one of them. That’s pretty much the only time that I’ve ever seen a couple of red flags for a store that was really legitimate.
These up-for-a-month stores with 75/85/95% discounts? I’ve never heard of them delivering.
The store that the reader wrote in about listed a $1200+ Bosch breaker hammer for $64 and free shipping. No way!
You might think the scam stores would have better luck with more modest prices, but my guess is the huge discount prompts an urgency and reduces one’s caution. “What’s the harm in trying to get that deal?” one might ask. Well, now these people have your name, address, and credit card number. Even if you use PayPal or a private single-vendor credit cars number, they still have a whole lot of other information from you.
Diplomatic Immunity
Well China doesn’t exactly respect IP or patent laws. I mean there’s plenty of counterfeit goods out there and a flourishing market for them. Whether it be Apple products, fake fashion goods, to car designs that are complete knockoffs, etc. Top Gear, a long time ago, did a good episode on Chinese cars and they were showing off all the fake Chinese goods you could get in China.
The knockoffs are coming from somewhere. Look at knockoff flashlights.
“For brand-owned or managed facilities? Not a chance. Contracted facilities wouldn’t dare do this either, given the legal and future business risks it could result in.”
In the US sure. In China… all bets are off. It would depend on how much trusted oversight a corporation has at every stage of the facility. Corruption happens everywhere.
“The store that the reader wrote in about listed a $1200+ Bosch breaker hammer for $64 and free shipping. No way!”
I’m sure in that case it’s legit bs. I’m not advocating for counterfeit goods. I’m just saying that they do indeed exist outside of the actual scammers as well that won’t ever deliver on a product.
Fm2176
The quality of certain products which were available for cheap in Afghanistan was astonishing. Beats headphones were selling for half or less what they sell for online, and the packaging and accessories looked legit.
You could get nearly any reasonable (bear in mind you’d have to get it home) electronic device China produces in Afghanistan. In 2003 Iraq, on the other hand, cheap electronics were plentiful but obvious knockoffs.
Paul Mills
In my profession, I’ve actually reported tens of thousands of fake sites like the one above for different brands. Some of these sites sell counterfeit goods, others just try to scam you out of your money. Both are thieves.
In most cases the buyer can file a charge-back, but it’s a pain. By then the funds have vaporized and the bank eats the cost of the refund (passing the cost on to everyone else).
It isn’t just fake sites, there are huge counterfeit problems on Amazon and eBay.
Here’s a product I’ve been eyeing, and the majority of the listings on Amazon and eBay are pretty obvious fakes.
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=dewalt+dcb090&ref=nb_sb_noss_1
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=dewalt+dcb090
rob
Amazon seems to have gotten better about eliminating the fakes. 18 months or so ago they were littered with listings for various NFL/NBA/MLB/Soccer jerseys that were priced so low below the others it was obvious they were not just fake the likelihood was you’d never receive them. They also had a string of fake Sonos listings showing up selling for more than 1/2 off the real Sonos price, in one day they all disappeared and never came back. I try whenever possible to purchase something shipped/fulfilled by Amazon then you have an answer in 2-5 days if your order is legit or not.
TroyBataille
I’ve attempted these sites three times, with three different results. I used a VISA burner gift card for the transactions. The first time I ordered a DeWalt sawzall DCS367. The retail price was $150+. I paid $65. The item shipped and arrived in about 3-4 weeks. This was prob. 4 years ago.
Based on that prior success, I tried again for another DeWalt cordless tool. The item never arrived. I complained and the I received a refund. No harm, no foul.
This past fall I tried a third time. I ordered a DeWalt table saw that retails for 350+ for $100. This time I received multiple shipping updates suggesting it was on its way from Asia. I waited about six weeks and then complained when nothing showed up and the tracking went dead. About a week later I received a black and yellow comb set. Yes combs, like for hair. I have been unable to get a refund yet.
So while it’s sketchy as hell and not worth the hassle or risk, I can report I did have success once.
Stuart
Could be that they fulfill some transactions to bait more people in?
Would a scam site swindle their first 10 customers, or everyone those 10 customers tell about their “deals?”
Rick Veader
More likely this was a stolen credit card laundering scam using his purchase to generate the clean money and the stolen card to provide the shipped item purchased at full cost.
Paul Mills
Could be. I see this laundering scheme a lot with gift-cards as well.
Scam goes a little like this:
Someone advertises a dozen $100 gift cards on eBay for $80.
You pay them $80 with your PayPal account. As soon as the seller receives your address, they use the stolen cc number to order a giftcard/code delivered to your address/email.
fraudster just stole $960 of nearly impossible to trace funds using one or more stolen cc numbers. You receive your gift-card directly from the issuing company.
Stuart’s red flags are spot on. Always investigate who you’re purchasing from.
Rick Veader
This is also often a scam where you are unwittingly a mule for a money launderer.
1. You pay a discounted price.
2. Scammer takes a stolen credit card and makes an account on a legitimate online store
3. Scammer purchases item full price with stolen card.
4. You receive an item direct shipped from the legitimate store but under some other user’s name.
5. Scammer receives your money, often via paypal.
other user’s scammed credit card either gets paid off or fraud investigated
6. Scammer’s long gone already anyway.
You are the unwitting mule in a scam usually targeting the elderly.
Austin
My employee ordered some redwing wing boots from a site like that. They were 40 bucks. He never got them. They took his money. It’s definitely a scam.
Flotsam
I saw something like this on ebay that i posted about on Garage Journal (GJ). There was a $200 Husky tool set that they were selling for like $25 supposedly shipped from Asia. I think the GJ community had a good laugh but eventually i think one guy actually attempted to buy the item. After a few months his payment was refunded. But even looking at feedback information I don’t think a single person ever got one of the tool sets.
If it is too good to be true, it probably isn’t.
Bob
Definitely a scam. One way I always protect myself is I only buy my stolen tools for cash out of the back of a truck….kidding! Don’t buy stolen tools/goods it only helps people that are into nefarious stuff that hurts people.
I did learn a tip on how to protect yourself from buying stolen goods. This probably only works in person if you’re buying stuff off craigslist or one of those type sites. Always ask for a bill of sale. It weeds out the crooks, affords you legal protection in the case of stolen goods police investigation and you can add it to the list of tools on your homeowners insurance.
I always tell people trust their instincts. It took millions of years of evolution for that skill set to evolve. Why not use it?
Mahalo
There are quite a few of these sites popping up, and as Stuart mentioned, a lot of times they are sites that were recently established within weeks or months at most. That’s a huge red flag. Just in general, try to avoid the temptation of believing a “too good to be true” price.
What helps is to imagine that the seller were your neighbor or brother. Would you screw him over by buying a $500 tool from him for $50?