[heyjude076]

Has anyone purchased anything from this outfit?

https://halfpricemart.net/

Some of the prices for items seem too good to be true. They offer free shipping on some items and only accept MoneyPak for payment. All of this makes me suspicious.

[oldred]

I just tried to check out some of the items and all I get is a [403 "forbidden" you don't have permission to access this site]

[heyjude076]

Originally Posted by oldred

I just tried to check out some of the items and all I get is a [403 "forbidden" you don't have permission to access this site]

Don't know what to say. Works for me. I DID NOT register or anything special. I answered a craigslist ad and got an email from this outfit. Ad was listed local but now see they ship from Ca. Not spending big bucks unless I can inspect, pay w/credit card and pick up so I guess this is a mute point.

Thanks for trying to check this out.

[bobkat2]

Attempted to place an order today. Had second thoughts after reading the blogs on this site and on one other. Very strange in regards to payment method. When paying by Green Dot Money Pak they request you enter the activation number and not the card number. Try contacting by phone and only receive a voice message that "the person you called in not available". anywho.com has no information regarding the phone number and gogglemap (aerial) indicates their location to be at the AAmerican self storage facility.

[kakolden]

It is a scam. Whoever it is had a site under several other names and has scammed hundreds of people, including my father out of their money. DO NOT send them a green dot activation code. there is no way to get your money back. Green dot doesn't give a darn about the fact that their being used to scam hundreds of people either, so don't even use their service in the future in you can avoid it.

If you don't believe me, just send them an email saying you'd like to pay with your visa. I bet you'll get an "order cancelled" almost right away. If you send them a green dot, you'll get locked out of the site once your money is gone and whoever it is will delete this site.

Hope this helps. If it's too good to be true, it probably is.

[cobalt327]

Originally Posted by bobkat2

Attempted to place an order today. Had second thoughts after reading the blogs on this site and on one other. Very strange in regards to payment method. When paying by Green Dot Money Pak they request you enter the activation number and not the card number. Try contacting by phone and only receive a voice message that "the person you called in not available". anywho.com has no information regarding the phone number and gogglemap (aerial) indicates their location to be at the AAmerican self storage facility.

DANGER Will Robinson, DANGER!!!

[DeuceRon]

Did a Google Maps on their address and it went directly to a place called AAmerican Self Storage. Guess they run it out of a garage!!

This is the address posted under the Contact page on their site:
1844 S. Cherry, Fresno, CA, 93721-3205. Try it yourself..

You can do the math on this one.

Ron..

[dinger]

I sent them an email, asking if I could drive there to look at a toolbox. let's see what happens.

[DeuceRon]

Please let us know what happens. This is an interesting thread..

Ron..

[PsyGuy]

Hey, I was curious about this thread regarding HalfPriceMart.net (HPM) and wondering what else folks might have found.

The fact that the HPM address is a storage facility didn't send up too many red flags to me because of the nature of what they're doing (I would expect them to need storage for the product). That is NOT to say that I think they're legit, just my $0.02. However, even for a small-budget small time operation a storage facility isn't the most ideal place to house the kind of inventory you'd expect them to have based on the volume and size of merchandise they're selling unless this is one big storage facility - a rundown warehouse would seem more suitable.

Someone mentioned not being able to find more information on HPM. My approach was to check up on the website domain name instead.

If you run a domain check they are registered as follows:
domain: halfpricemart.net
owner: James Parker
organization: James Marvin Parker
email: halfpricemart@live.com
address: 2435 East Poppy Hills Dr
city: Fresno
state: CA
postal-code: 93720
country: US
phone: +1.5594354641
fax: +1.5594354641

That address above does pass a basic cross-reference check and comes back associated with James Parker (via his affiliation with the Zion churches) and Blazing PC (which Google Street View actually shows a company van parked in front of that house if you 'walk' around in SV a bit). A call to JP reached voicemail (surprise) but did reference the Blazing PCs. Left a message yesterday about his association with/awareness of HPM that has not yet been responded to.

Again - doesn't scream 'legit' as I can register a domain and completely make up stuff or plop in someone else's info in if I want to add an air of legitimacy. But it does seem better to know that a name is associated in connection with the site (but then another check shows that JP owns more than 800 domain names, so either the name is a front, or he got ambitious early and registered a LOT of names in the hopes that some of them would be valuable someday and someone else would try and buy the rights to them).

The quality of the website is an interesting paradox. It's surprisingly complete and well-developed for a typical scammer who, quite often, can barely spell correctly. On the other side it's down probably 90% of the time you try to hit the address with a FORBIDDEN error.

The photos of the 'actual merchandise' are interesting, but these too could be grabbed from anywhere on the internet.

The Craisglist factor is interesting too. The site disavows any association with CL listings, yet if you find and respond to one you (may eventually) get a response back from a (fill-in-the-blank)@halfpricemart.net e-mail address.

So I was curious to see if anyone else found anything useful/concrete, or if everyone's trepidation is based on the adage of "if it sounds too good to be true..."

Of course I'm only asking because I'd love to pick up some hugely discounted equipment, but not completely willing to over-ride my own spider-sense that's in tingle mode right now and toss my caution (and money) to the wind.

I'd love to see more discussion/research on this... ESPECIALLY if anyone has an actual experience they'd be willing to share more details about (like if they ordered and believe it was a scam, what exactly happened - how the order was made, paid for, the communication from HPM, time that transpired, and at what point they had that "OH @#&*! I've been scammed" moment and what they've done since).

Thanks!

[DeuceRon]

Good sleuthing psyguy. You make some really good points. I suppose these folks could run the business from someones home and simply keep their inventory at a storage facility, but the one thing that really bothers me is their prices.

For example: They sell a brand new Bowflex TC3000 treadlimber for 800.00. Amazon sells the same one for 1799.00. Perhaps there really is that much of a markup on this item, however a thousand dollars difference just seems too good to be true. In today's economy, it's far too easy to be lured into low prices and if this site is ripping off the consumer because of it, shame on them!!

On the other hand, if there are people who will reply to this thread with rave reviews about their transactions, I may have to rethink my position and give them a shot. Selling items at a fraction above cost is a great way to establish a business. Perhaps that's what these folks are doing.

By the way, I found a thread regarding this at the bodybuilding forum. This is some good reading as well:

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=121289311

It seems that these are the only two sites that have anyone interested. There aren't any reviews of these people anywhere!!

Ron..

[cobalt327]

Originally Posted by DeuceRon

Good sleuthing psyguy.

Yes indeed, thanks for the effort!

For example: They sell a brand new Bowflex TC3000 treadlimber for 800.00. Amazon sells the same one for 1799.00. Perhaps there really is that much of a markup on this item, however a thousand dollars difference just seems too good to be true.

The ONLY way I can see this as being so, is if the items were off-shore knock-offs, i.e. counterfeits.

[dinger]

I sent them an email about 3 days ago, no reply yet. They are about an hours drive away for me, I will check them out if I hear something.

[cobalt327]

Originally Posted by dinger

I sent them an email about 3 days ago, no reply yet. They are about an hours drive away for me, I will check them out if I hear something.

Your efforts are appreciated! I'm curious how it will play out...

[302 Z28]

Too many flags here the web site prices are too good to be true. Anyone who gives their information or worse credit card information to this scam had better hold on. because they are about to loose their laundry .

Vince