Kosher website ?
Discussion
Looking to buy a pair of boots from a website and my gut feeling says I really shouldn't bother.
However, the boots, they're for my wife and she's dead keen.
I recently saw an advert on the Tv explaining the importance of the padlock in the address bar, denoting a secure website... this website has non of that and repeated searches for the boots in question throw up a couple of very similar websites, their only difference being a few graphics here and there.
Is there a way I can tell whether I should proceed or not ?
Apologies mods if this request does not belong in The Lounge.
However, the boots, they're for my wife and she's dead keen.
I recently saw an advert on the Tv explaining the importance of the padlock in the address bar, denoting a secure website... this website has non of that and repeated searches for the boots in question throw up a couple of very similar websites, their only difference being a few graphics here and there.
Is there a way I can tell whether I should proceed or not ?
Apologies mods if this request does not belong in The Lounge.
What boots are they? If they are a lot cheaper, ie too good to be true then no likely not legit... I thought the same with a Canada goose coat for £150. It then dawned on me that it was too cheap so a bit of research showed that it was a fake. Buy cheap buy twice usually fits in general...
loughran said:
Looking to buy a pair of boots from a website and my gut feeling says I really shouldn't bother.
However, the boots, they're for my wife and she's dead keen.
I recently saw an advert on the Tv explaining the importance of the padlock in the address bar, denoting a secure website... this website has non of that and repeated searches for the boots in question throw up a couple of very similar websites, their only difference being a few graphics here and there.
Is there a way I can tell whether I should proceed or not ?
Apologies mods if this request does not belong in The Lounge.
I'd be very wary. Footwear frauds are common; some are straightforward harvesters of credit card details and others send you a cheaper shoe than the one you ordered- trick being that the victim assumes it's an error, and rather than charging it back on the credit card, gets embroiled in unsuccessful attempts at returning them for the right ones.Mrs MAC fell for one of the latter, and I wasn't too pleased given how dubious it had looked!However, the boots, they're for my wife and she's dead keen.
I recently saw an advert on the Tv explaining the importance of the padlock in the address bar, denoting a secure website... this website has non of that and repeated searches for the boots in question throw up a couple of very similar websites, their only difference being a few graphics here and there.
Is there a way I can tell whether I should proceed or not ?
Apologies mods if this request does not belong in The Lounge.
Try Googling the website name for comments on social media? Are the shoes much cheaper than anywhere else? Does site hide the trader's physical location? China? Outcome of the searches you have already made would make me suspicious.
Since you might be curious how people came to the conclusion it wasn't to be trusted, outside of the URL, here's my reasoning.
The fonts used on the website. Scroll down a bit to the 'UGG Australia' text and, if it's the same at your end, it's like a typewriter-esque font where all the characters occupy the same space. Such fonts have their uses but you'll rarely see them in a customer-facing role. The black bar along the top of every page uses another, different font which differs also from the one used for the search bar. 'Log In' and 'Create Account' are different from that as well.
By no means does a wide range of different typefaces alone guarantee a website's shadiness but I figured I'd share this with you. You've already got it figured with regards to the little padlock icon on the address bar but that's another thing to look out for. Why I'm sharing this, I'm not entirely sure, but I guess I like the fact you were trying to help someone else out enough to try and be of some help as well.
One other thing - at the bottom of the page it tells you your IP address; again a rare sight for any retailer's online presence. This is alongside a few keywords, like "UGG boots clearance" and "UGG boots UK", with the aim being to try and boost the site's ranking on Google searches for those terms. If a website is using keywords they're not often shown to the customer. I'm not sure Google even relies on keywords much now because of how rife gaming of their results used to be.
Hope some of this is useful - if not to you, perhaps to someone else who may have went ahead on a similar website. If you know the model name or whatever perhaps PH can use its collective powers to track down what you're looking for.
The fonts used on the website. Scroll down a bit to the 'UGG Australia' text and, if it's the same at your end, it's like a typewriter-esque font where all the characters occupy the same space. Such fonts have their uses but you'll rarely see them in a customer-facing role. The black bar along the top of every page uses another, different font which differs also from the one used for the search bar. 'Log In' and 'Create Account' are different from that as well.
By no means does a wide range of different typefaces alone guarantee a website's shadiness but I figured I'd share this with you. You've already got it figured with regards to the little padlock icon on the address bar but that's another thing to look out for. Why I'm sharing this, I'm not entirely sure, but I guess I like the fact you were trying to help someone else out enough to try and be of some help as well.
One other thing - at the bottom of the page it tells you your IP address; again a rare sight for any retailer's online presence. This is alongside a few keywords, like "UGG boots clearance" and "UGG boots UK", with the aim being to try and boost the site's ranking on Google searches for those terms. If a website is using keywords they're not often shown to the customer. I'm not sure Google even relies on keywords much now because of how rife gaming of their results used to be.
Hope some of this is useful - if not to you, perhaps to someone else who may have went ahead on a similar website. If you know the model name or whatever perhaps PH can use its collective powers to track down what you're looking for.

Legally you need an address and contact info and T&cs to be a real website that has none apart from all the stuff above.
I think it’s a young dev desperate for £ not considering the legal consequences. He won’t be able to process cards for long after the first few chargebacks and ultimately probably will make nothing out of it but get in a lot of s
t.
I think it’s a young dev desperate for £ not considering the legal consequences. He won’t be able to process cards for long after the first few chargebacks and ultimately probably will make nothing out of it but get in a lot of s
t. DSLiverpool said:
Legally you need an address and contact info and T&cs to be a real website that has none apart from all the stuff above.
I think it’s a young dev desperate for £ not considering the legal consequences. He won’t be able to process cards for long after the first few chargebacks and ultimately probably will make nothing out of it but get in a lot of s
t.
I always look for a street address and try as I may, I found none on there. Run!I think it’s a young dev desperate for £ not considering the legal consequences. He won’t be able to process cards for long after the first few chargebacks and ultimately probably will make nothing out of it but get in a lot of s
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