Is this online shop legit? 7 checks before you pay

1. How old is the domain?

A shop that says it has been around “since 1987” or “for three generations”, on a domain registered two months ago, is the clearest sign there is. The registration date is public and the shop can't change it.

• .com, .shop, .store and most others: at lookup.icann.org, look for the “Created” date.
• .pt: the WHOIS tool at pt.pt.
• .es: the domain search at dominios.es.

A new domain on its own proves nothing: every honest shop was new once. A new domain and a long history is a contradiction, and that is what counts.

2. Who is the seller?

In the European Union, an online shop has to say who it is: the company's name, an address, an email and a tax number. Look in the footer, the terms and the contact page.

• Only a brand, with no company name anywhere: don't buy.
• There is a tax number: check it in VIES, the European Commission's tool (ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/vies), which says whether the number is valid and, in some countries, who it belongs to. Not every small business is in there: a number that doesn't show up is a reason to look further, not a verdict.
• Put the address in a map. A flat, a mailbox service or a street that doesn't exist doesn't fit “our family workshop”.
• A shop that says it's from your country has to follow your country's rules. In Portugal, for example, every online shop must link to the official complaints book (livroreclamacoes.pt).

3. What do people outside the shop say?

The reviews on the shop's own site are written by the shop. Search for the name elsewhere:

• The shop's name with “scam”, “reviews” or “complaints” in a search engine.
• Reddit and consumer forums.
• Review and complaint sites, such as Trustpilot.
• The page that runs the ads: on Facebook and Instagram, “Page transparency” shows when it was created and whether it changed its name; the Meta Ad Library shows the ads it's running, and in which countries.

No results at all, for a shop that claims years of customers, is also an answer.

4. The photos and the story

Save a product photo and search by image (Google Lens, TinEye). If the same dress shows up on a marketplace for a tenth of the price, that's where your order will come from.

Be careful with stories that move you: the family business closing after 40 years, the craftswoman retiring, the last pieces. It's the most used script, because it explains the 70% discount and puts you in a hurry.

Photos of the owners prove nothing: AI makes those too. Don't count them, for or against.

5. The price and the hurry

• Discounts of 60 to 80% on everything, all year round.
• Countdown timers that start again when you reload the page.
• “Only 3 left” on every product.
• Delivery in 2 to 4 weeks from a shop that says it's local: the item is coming from another continent.

6. Returns, before you buy

In the European Union and the UK you have 14 days to change your mind about an online purchase, without giving a reason. But that right is only worth something if there's a real seller to send the item back to.

Read the returns policy and look for: the address returns go to (if it's on another continent, you pay the postage, and it often costs more than the item), who pays, and how long the refund takes. A policy with no address isn't a policy.

If the item comes from outside your country's customs area, tax and handling fees may be charged on delivery.

7. How you pay

Pay by card, with a virtual card (the one in your bank's app) or with PayPal. If the item never arrives, or is nothing like what was advertised, you can ask your bank to reverse the payment (a chargeback) or open a dispute at PayPal. It isn't guaranteed, but it's a path.

Never pay by bank transfer or by a money-transfer app to a person, and be wary when card payment “isn't working” and the shop suggests another way. With a transfer, the money is gone.

What Excubitor shows about a shop today

Type the shop's domain below. It's free, there's no sign-up, and we only read what is public. Today the check shows the date the domain was registered (when the registry publishes it), what the home page says about the seller (tax number, contacts, terms, returns), whether someone can send email pretending to be that shop (useful when a “your order is held, pay the fee” email arrives) and whether the certificate is valid.

What it doesn't show: whether the product is good, whether the photos are real, or whether the shop will give your money back. No tool sees that from outside. And the padlock in the address bar only means the connection is encrypted: fake shops have it too.

If you already bought

1. Keep everything: the ad, the product page, the order email and photos of what arrived. As screenshots, because the shop may disappear.
2. Write to the shop asking for a refund, with a deadline. One email is enough: it's the proof that you tried.
3. Ask your bank to reverse the payment, or open the dispute at PayPal. Do it early: there are deadlines, and your bank will tell you what they are.
4. Report the ad on the social network where you saw it, so it stops reaching other people.
5. Complain to your country's consumer authority, and report it to the police. If the shop is in another European Union country, the European Consumer Centre helps for free.

And tell the people around you, above all those who haven't been buying online for long: these shops are built for them.

If you run a real shop

Honest shops lose when people stop trusting small shops. Make yourself easy to check: company name, tax number, address and returns address in the footer, an email on your own domain, and protection against fake email in your name.

SPF, DKIM and DMARC step by step (the values work for any domain)