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December 20, 2008 06:27 PM

How do you know an online service is legitimate before paying them?

Is there anything you look for when purchasing a service or product online? For instance, do you look at the Better Business Bureau, or do you ask people, etc? Lots of online products or services you know nothing about, but you can't be sure they are legit. For instance, I do not know about Mahalo Answers, and I have never met this guy Jason Calacanis in real life, but I am using his site to ask this question. I actually read about him in Valleywag a lot. I am not saying we should be paying for answers or we shouldn't just saying, there are a lot of questionable services online, that people end up paying for, they end up charging them once, or for several months, etc. and these services stay online. I'd like to think Mahalo Answers is the most legit, but are they really paying people for answers? What if someone depended on this site to make a living by answering questions, would they ever be able to make anything from it?
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December 20, 2008 11:24 PM
There is no conclusive way to know whether a service is and will remain legit. If it is an online store I make sure to use a one time credit card number for a small purchase before ordering from them in the future.

For a site like this maybe I will cash out once I hit M$40 just to see how the process works. If someone is earning a living off of questions here they should be cashing out often enough that at most they get screwed out of 2 weeks pay.

I also pay more attention to sites that don't provide phone numbers or addresses. In this case, Jason has his number right in his profile.
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December 20, 2008 07:23 PM
G'day Easyeboy,

Thank you for your question.

I would check with Consumer Affairs if I had any doubts about the bona fides of the company. I would also using research before purchasing. Try using a search for "Company X complaints". You might be surprised. Also try to find consumer guides for buying particular products online to see who they recommend and who they don't. For example, in Australia, Choice magazine is now online and it offers a wide range of reviews of products available.

Regards
Source(s):
http://www.choice.com.au/defaultView.aspx?id=102314&catId=100165


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