Is e-commerce dangerous?

Popular claim: e-shops will crash sooner or later

Certainly there have been some highly publicized crashes. Some ventures have made a spectacular debut with expensive ad campaigns and low prices, hoping that their overly optimistic projection would turn out to be true. In some cases, actual turnover has failed to live up to the high expectations. Dancing Bear is a different kind of shop. Our concept is based on low overhead and low risk and we advertise almost exclusively via the search engines on the net. This minimzes our vulnerability and helps keep prices low.

There are bogus shops out there that don't deliver, but just take your money and run!

Yes there are, but seriously: Would they be specialising in the Grateful Dead? - In Europe?? A specialty shop like Dancing Bear HAS to have customers that are 100% satisfied and come back again and again! Makes sense, doesn't it?

Popular claim: Internet trading is impersonal, service is lacking, they don't have a return policy, etc.

When you buy on the internet you can't touch the merchandise or deliver your complaint personally. But all e-commerce shops have a strong interest in treating their customers well, in order to make them come back. In most cases, you can communicate directly with the proprietor or his representative (by e-mail), just like at the corner shop. Dancing Bear's Conditions of sale tell you all you need to know about delivery, return policy, etc. And yes, you can e-mail us and get a personal - not computer generated - reply!.

Popular claim: Credit card info can be intercepted and abused

Practically all e-shops that take credit cards use encrypted communication. If they don't you should refrain from doing business with them. It's that simple. Most countries have banking laws that let you protest any drafts on you account, that weren't initiated by you. Dancing Bear uses a professional clearing house, PayPal, for all credit card orders. Your sensitive information is sent by encrypted e-mail to PayPal, not to us.

Popular claim: You can't save money trading on the net - you may even have to pay more

"Real" shops that have also established a presence on the net are rarely able to undercut prices in their regular shop. On the contrary, you pay postage and handling on top of the retail price. The "pure" internet shops are able to offer consistently lower prices, due to the reduced cost of staff and showrooms, even when you take postage and handling into consideration. The internet also makes price comparisons easy, even automatic in some cases. Most items in Dancing Bear's catalogue are only available by mail-order. Our only "competitor" (who, incidentally, is also our supplier), is Grateful Dead Merchandising in the USA. You are most welcome to compare prices, just remember to include postage, duties and sales tax.

Popular claim: Delivery is too slow

Right. You can't just walk into our shop and buy a CD. But in a direct comparison with the competition (see above), we're pretty quick on the uptake. More details on the "About Dancing Bear" page.