[Zeke]

Trust. You have to have the customer on board with recognition and being comfortable. I bet a lot of Pelican buyers found the forums before making that first purchase.

I know that doesn't answer the question, but somehow I think new sites struggle w/o some sort of validation. A good place to start selling online is simply eBay. A high rating there is a good beginning. I buy welding stuff online from people I've never heard of. If they are recommended on a welding forum, I will lean towards them. If they are also an eBay store, I'm on it.

Later on I will buy direct. After that it's all about price/shipping. No one is loyal anymore.

Oh, and if there is any fitting to the product, count on a lot of trouble from the public. The people on the other end of the "submit" button can be real duds. Having done a short stint on the Pelican phones doing vacation relief years back taught me that big time.