As I continue to research competitively priced consumer electronics (often a tricky area and ripe for scammers) I very nearly got caught by this one - check their website:

www dot tradeelectronics dot com

(I refuse to give them the benefit of another link LOL)

Appears professional (apart from a couple of typos)and I had to jump through loads of hoops to open an account with 'them'.

Little things led me to suspect that all was not right... it took AGES to get my account auhtorised when it was supposed to be just a few days. Then an overzealous sales rep pounced.

She sounded Chinese and her emails were not in good English - strange for a supposedly highranking international company. The lady pictured on the site is also Chinese - an interesting coincidence for an american organisation.

I questioned her by email several times as to where the goods originated - I was buying a load of Sony PSPs and the price was really low. She became very angry and claimed that I was rude and insulting and how dare I speak this way to a big organisation...

Strange, because the major dealers are usually pretty sympathetic to the problem of counterfeiters.

Somehow she managed to reassure me - she's a good talker - and I was set to wire money on Monday. I was incredibly fortunate to receive a response from Sony to an email i had sent regarding how to tell the good from the bad.

On their advice, I checked the Better Business Bureau. They give Trade Electronics their lowest rating of F - that means:
'We strongly question the company’s reliability for reasons such as that they have failed to respond to complaints, their advertising is grossly misleading, they are not in compliance with the law’s licensing or registration requirements, their complaints contain especially serious allegations, or the company’s industry is known for its fraudulent business practices.'