E-commerce has opened up a world of possibilities for consumers, allowing us to shop from the comfort of our homes for products from around the globe. However, it has also given rise to some shady businesses looking to take advantage of unwitting shoppers.
In this post, we’ll be taking an in-depth look at Iconic Store Deals to help you decide – is Iconic Store Deals legit or a scam? Read on for a comprehensive review.
Overview of IconicStoreDeals.com
Iconic Store Deals (IconicStoreDeals.com) is an online ecommerce store that claims to offer huge discounts on popular consumer electronics, home goods, apparel and more.
Their website states that they source overstock, excess inventory and refurbished products which enables them to sell brand name items at discounted outlet prices of up to 90% off retail.
Some of the brand names they claim to carry include Sony, KitchenAid, DeWalt, Dyson and more. The store has a clean, professional-looking website with categories for electronics, home & garden, sports & fitness, toys, beauty & health and fashion.
Evaluating the Legitimacy of Online Retailers
When considering ordering from unfamiliar online stores like Iconic Store Deals, it’s wise to thoroughly vet the company before making any purchases.
There are a number of factors to evaluate when determining if an online retail store is legitimate or possibly a scam.
Contact Information
A legitimate business should provide full contact information including an address, phone number, email address on their website. This allows customers to get in touch before or after making a purchase if any issues arise.
IconicStoreDeals.com Verdict: Provides phone number, email address and contact form on website but no physical address listed.
Website Security
Secure websites should have HTTPS URLs that protect users’ data. Look for the lock icon in the browser bar. Unsecured HTTP sites transmit data as plain text which could enable hacking or fraud.
IconicStoreDeals.com Verdict: Uses HTTPS protocol to encrypt connections.
Spelling & Grammar
Amateur scam websites often have spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, awkward phrasings and other linguistic issues. Professional ecommerce stores should have clean, polished writing across their sites.
IconicStoreDeals.com Verdict: Site copy is well-written with no glaring issues.
Company History & Information
Established businesses provide background on when they were founded plus details on their mission, team, values and more. Lack of an “About Us” or company history section may indicate a fly-by-night scam operation.
IconicStoreDeals.com Verdict: No information given on company ownership, history or physical location. Major red flag.
Reviews from Independent Sources
Outside reviews on third-party websites like TrustPilot and the Better Business Bureau help validate if a company is meeting customers’ expectations or has issues with things like product quality, shipping times and return policies.
IconicStoreDeals.com Verdict: No reviews from any verifiable external sources.
Pricing & Savings Claims
While getting a discount shopping online is great, prices that seem too good to be true probably are. Smart shoppers compare deals against other major retailers. Also beware of fake “marked down from” prices used to exaggerate savings.
IconicStoreDeals.com Verdict: Many products are priced at or even above established online and big box retailers. Blatantly inaccurate reference prices used to grossly inflate perceived discounts.
Investigating Further into IconicStoreDeals.com
With multiple legitimacy concerns raised in initial review of the Iconic Store Deals website, I decided to dig deeper into various public records plus online sources to gather more intel.
Domain Name Registration
Performing a WHOIS domain lookup can uncover when a site was registered plus the business and address of the registrant. Recently created domains or ones registered overseas in places like China or Russia may signal fraudulent sites.
- Domain registered through GoDaddy
- Registered August 2022 (less than 6 months old)
- Registrant name: LiangJ
- Physical address shows location in Ontario, Canada
While having a domain through a major registrar like GoDaddy adds some credibility, the short domain history plus generic-sounding registrant name & address raise some flags.
Further searching public corporate records in Canada showed no businesses located or registered at the listed address.
Website Hosting Provider
A site’s hosting provider and server location also offer clues regarding legitimacy. Cheap offshore web hosting is commonly used by scammers to conceal identities and avoid legal prosecution. Legit companies tend to use well-known, US-based hosting providers.
IconicStoreDeals.com is hosted through Cloudflare servers in San Jose, California. Cloudflare is a large, reputable hosting provider — so no obvious issues there.
Documenting the Online Purchase Process
I documented my experience browsing IconicStoreDeals.com and attempting a checkout to uncover any part of the ordering process that seemed problematic or scam-like.
Here were my observations:
Shipping Times: Most items showed 2-4 week shipping estimate from California warehouse. Slow fulfillment times may indicate dropshipping instead of on-hand inventory.
Return Policy: Short 7 day return window. Restrictive return policies are common with scam dropshippers unable to process returns themselves.
Checkout Process: Website uses an integrated SecureCheckout platform to securely process payments. Required billing phone number prior to placing order.
Customer Support Chat: Initiated live chat to ask questions. Support rep “Greg” answered quickly but was unable to provide a company address. Stated items ship worldwide from their warehouse in California. Unwillingness to provide basic details is always suspicious.
Pricing Inflation: Looked up prices for identical items on Amazon, Walmart and Target and Iconic Store Deals displayed consistently higher pricing (before their fake markdowns were applied).
While no single factor stood out as an outright scam, taken collectively the ordering process reflected indicators of an unreliable business.
In Summary – Is Iconic Store Deals Legit or Scam?
Based on reviewing the information above, there are enough questionable practices taking place to confidently classify Iconic Store Deals as an online store to avoid due to significant risks of getting scammed.
Concerns stemming from…
- No verifiable company information or history
- Newly created domain with hidden domain ownership
- Overpriced items with fabricated “discounts”
- Restrictive return policy
- Slow shipping times indicating likely dropshipping
- Evasiveness and lack of transparency from support staff
I would strongly caution shoppers against providing any credit card or personally identifiable information to this website.
Although the integrated SecureCheckout system may protect payment details, you would still be handing money over to an untrustworthy business. Promised products may never arrive and have no avenue for recourse if issues arise.
For your online shopping, I’d strongly recommend sticking with well-established marketplaces like Amazon and big-box chains like Walmart and Target.
While lacking the thrill of seeking out deals from opaque websites, shopping with household names ensures you get genuine products at expected prices backed by strong customer service and return assurance.
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