So how do we check out prospective shops? There are a number of online consumer interest groups and websites that either rate and suggest sites or keep track of known problem sites. These can be a great way to quickly find solid information about a specific company. I mean sometimes on the net I won't be able to find anything about a company I'm thinking about purchasing from.

In fact, many times websites that are completely legit won't be mentioned in any other website because they are small and derive most of their business locally, or perhaps their traffic if net word of mouth through some related discussion forums and other online communities. For the most part if a site seems legit and has related info, and does not show up in any search this is better than search results that indicate negative interactions with the merchant.

In these cases you can look at the affiliations that are listed on the website itself. If there is some type of logo representing the financial security of the site then it has most likely been approved for protection by the agency where the site's security and legitimacy were thoroughly inspected. But again, you can only verify this if you check with the organization outside of the website.

If the prospective scuba shop accepts PayPal then check with PayPal. Every business with a PayPal account has a transaction count and verification status. Also, if you use PayPal there are a number of ways that your money is protected. IF you do end up getting screwed, report it to PayPal and a chargeback will be issued.