How to tell if a web shop is legitimate/ cyclingshoesshop ok?

https://www.cyclingshoesshop.com/adidas-five-ten-sleuth-slip-on-mountain-bike-shoes-men-core-black-carbon-red/

I’ve never heard of this web shop before

It’s got some shoes I’d like at a good price. I can’t find anywhere else that still has them because they are discontinued. It looks like someone has bought all the five ten and dhb wiggle stuff and is selling as a shop, which seems possible.

Most of the stuff on the web site- address, opening times, returns all looks like a normal web store. The description and photos are standard manufacturer stuff.

The about us page looks like ai written nonsense, it could be real. But it’s this page that has stopped me just buying the shoes.

https://www.cyclingshoesshop.com/about-us/

So is this shop ok?

The other question is how to find out for myself for the next time something looks suspicious?

I tried companies house- nothing with the exact name.

Nothing on trust pilot

I’ve seen people talk about when a web site was set up / created. How do I find that out?

Any other was to check if a web site is legitimate?

Thanks for any help

https://www.whois.com/whois/cyclingshoesshop.com

FWIW I can’t access those links using Chrome as I get a 403 error

The “Contact us” has an address in Albert St, Derby. Do you know anyone on Derby who could checkout the address???

Don’t like the look of the Whois result – registrant is based in china, suggesting the uk address is bogus.

Don’t like the ai content.

Don’t like the fact they’ve got stuff no one else has.

Don’t like the trustpilot reviews being non-existent.

These types of scam sites are very prevalent these days, I’d only be buying from a seller I can trust, rather than giving the benefit of the doubt. If you have to ask…

Some good internet detectoring here which is to be commended, but what about the brand/logo. No alarm bells????

Hmm, the fact the logo is not actually a cycling shoe? Hadn’t spotted the bleeding obvious.

more:

the “contact us” page lists an address and opening times (very generous opening times). Street view the address and there’s no such shop there.

every shoe is available in every size. Nothing is out of stock.

FAQs:

What country do you ship from?
We ship all our items from our warehouse in US

How long does it take for the item(s) to reach me?
Usually takes between 3-15 working weeks.

haha, nice shipping times.

anyway, in summary, the main tell for me is how similar the site is – in terms of its AI generated content, plenty of FAQs, an arbitrary physical address, a weird Whois entry – to tell me this fits the pattern of other scam sites I’ve seen people post recently. The only improvement this one’s made is to make the pricing keen, but not seem unreasonably so .

I’ve seen people talk about when a web site was set up / created. How do I find that out?

Using whois which Scotroutes provides a link to.

Normal checks I would do is have a look at that and see how old the registration is plus where it is registered.

So last year. Quite old for a scam site but they can be kept in reserve or just not caught. The registered in China is an immediate red flag though.

Look on way back machine. Some older references but nothing too clear.

Then have a look at their privacy and contact policies on their site. Boiler plate (insert name here) on privacy.

The contact details has an incorrect post code and a quick look at street view for 15 albert street doesnt give an obvious candidate. The returns policy of saying you need to cough up for it being returned to China is quite good. Why when I can post it to Derby?

Overall wouldnt touch with a bargepole.

[as above]
This is [another] give away:-
“Shipping custom fee for Return Items: Customers are responsible for the customs fee of the returned items which will occur when returned items reach China”

Which suggests you might be lucky and get something (fake?) sent to you from China

The English is rubbish = scam

Thanks very much all,

I think you have saved me putting my credit card details into the fraudulent ether.

Thanks for the whois site, I’ve not used that before.

I’d not thought to use the waybackwhen machine to check.

Im in Nottingham, so about an hour’s drive from the address given. If they had had a phone number I ought have given it a ring and gone to collect.

I missed the returns

I missed any problems with the privacy page.

I missed everything was available on sale at every price.

I wonder how long before scammers fix all these issues

Bots/ paid reviews for trust pilot

Fake who is site with common misspellings?

Better ai generated descriptions, surely that will be along very soon.

Posting your fake websites on big forums to find the current weakness before moving onto a different hobby ( I’m not a bot- bots are much betterer at spelling and grammar than me :  ) )