Hello good people of ozbargain!
I have come for your valued opinion.
There is a particular pair of sneakers that I really want to buy however I've found them on US stores that do not ship to Aus.
The only Australian store I found that has this particular sneakers is http://www.avocamotel.com.au/ however I'm not sure how legit this website is, just going off the name itself it sounds off. I'm not really sure what else to look at to verify a site.
What do you think?
Thanks
The ACN and ASIC websites helped save me from a few dodgy eBay purchases when I found out there's been legal action taken against the companies or they're winding up and about to go out of business but still selling wares on eBay.
There's nothing stopping someone registering a '.com.au' with any ABN/ACN they like as the registrar is not required to authenticate the registrant. If the domain is reported, it takes weeks/months to go through the auDA/registrar process, by which time the scam has either run its course and/or the scammer has grabbed a fresh ABN from the ABR and registered a new domain.
A3 Australia used to post a lot of these scam situations on Whirlpool and occasionally here.
avocamotel.com.au was the legitimate domain for Avoca Motel (ABN 63 767 231 784) in Avoca, Victoria, serving their website as recently as 9 Jan 2016.
By 2 March 2016, the domain was pointing to a different website for the cheap cheap shoes, and Avoca Motel registered a new domain name avocamotelvictoria.com.au
A likely scenario is that Avoca Motel let their domain name registration lapse and it was snapped up by someone with a Turkish ISP email address using an unrelated Western Australian business' ABN. Avoca Motel, finding out their website had disappeared, then had to decide if they'd pay at the at-minimum-$1,000 auDA dispute fee with no guarantee of getting their domain back, or simply register a new domain for $35.
I usually use Scam Adviser to check where a website domain is hosted as well as background info on the owner. The trust rating is based on domain countries instead of user reviews so Russian/Chinese sites tend to get a lower trust rating.
For the specific site you're looking at, it's definitely not hosted in Australia.
One of the most immediately dodgiest I've seen - every shoe in the specials area has been reduced from ~$450 (a ridiculous 'from' price). Even thongs started at $420.
Pretending they're an Australian store. But with a (US) BBB accreditation? Discover card? JCB? Our merchant facilities here don't even accept such cards.
Avocamotel domain selling shoes?
Checkout - no PayPal option of course despite indicating so beforehand (PayPal would freeze their account if fake goods or dodgy). Credit card page is insecure (no SSL) despite them indicating Trustwave (SSL certs). They indicate PCI compliance which they wouldn't be with that checkout form. Plus all trust tags like 'Verisign' should be clickable, verifying the status at Verisign's site - anyone can pop an image on their page.
No go zone.
This certainly exceeds the scope of practice for my 10-foot pole…
Avoid like the plague
Why don't you ask http://avocamotelvictoria.com.au/ what their sneakers are like?
Then ask http://www.avocamotel.com.au what rooms they have available?
Thanks guys, i thought it was dodge but my love of these sneakers left me hopeful.
I'll have to use a mail forwarding service. I've never used this service before, does anyone know the best/cheapest service to get a pair of sneakers from US to Aus?
Which sneakers are they?
All price look 'too good to be true'
No 'about us', 'FAQ', 'Delivery info', 'Returns info' etc…
No reviews, not even fake ones lol