Sell Beyond - A Legitimate Company or Yet Another Scam?

Last year Craftdom reported about an online marketplace called Into Stores, which boasted to connect sellers to retailers and ultimately turned out to be a scam. 

A few days ago I received an email from another company, "Sell Beyond", that reminded me about Into Stores.

The similarities:

• Both companies contacted me with unsolicited email.
• The emails landed in my Spam box, which is a sign that they might have been sent to multiple recipients.
• They came at times when the companies just happened to have a special offer. A message on Sell Beyond's website reads: "Sign up by April 8th and receive $100 off of the set-up fee. The set-up fee will be automatically discounted from $239 to $139. We'll also increase your visibility by upgrading your account to Premier status for free." (They still have it today, and it's April 11th.)
  
• The two companies share identical business models: high set-up fee (typically discounted "just" for a couple of days) and a monthly maintenance fee. Sell Beyond's monthly fee is $19.95.

The exact message in my mailbox:

Many of the specialty stores, gift shops, and catalogs we work with are looking for unique products like yours but they need better pricing.  Can you offer discounts if larger orders are placed?

If you can wholesale, your items would be a good fit.  For more info go to http://www.sellbeyond.com/sellers.php

We guarantee sales. Sincerely,
Jason Adler
Director of Merchandising
SellBeyond
21520 Yorba Linda Blvd, Suite G
Yorba Linda, CA  92887 

What did Google say?

Interestingly, not much. 

There are a total of 3 short forum threads on the topic (all from February-March 2011) with people asking for opinion, and receiving answers from the type of: "Be cautious. There used to be similar sites that were a complete scam. Their model is getting you signed up for a monthly membership to have your products posted on their site, so that retailers can find you and order your products. But there really are no retailers on that site looking to place orders."

Playing Detectives

The company's BBB (Better Business Bureau) rating is A-, but A is what new companies are automatically given upon registry. However, Sell Beyond appears to be registered in May 2009, only about 3 months after Into Stores. They have completely clear record with BBB with no complaints and ratings whatsoever. 

 

I felt astonished by this appalling lack of information about an almost 3-year-old online company, which describes itself as "the largest network of wholesalers and retailers on the planet". After all, they are supposed to be known by people in order to be a large network, aren't they? 

Sell Beyond's Alexa traffic statistics proved even more intriguing. The web site ranks at 213,622, but it looks as if it has first started being visited in December 2010. Any attempts to view stats before that date show a flat line with zero traffic. Another interesting point is the list of search queries. The only keyword that seems to have been searched for, is the website's name. As a matter of fact, typing Sell Beyond in Google was the first thing I did when receiving the email. Other wise crafters and manufacturers might have done the same.

Conclusion

While I would certainly refrain from giving a verdict, there are a number of strange facts about this website.

If the company has been up and running since May 2009, how come that nobody ever discussed and rated it online? If they have many happy clients, how come that nobody recommended it by now? Why are the only 3 forum threads about it from 2011? 

The more I'm thinking about it, the more it feels that Sell Beyond registered with BBB in 2009, got the obligatory A rating, and then waited quietly before starting its email campaign at the beginning of 2011.

Any other opinions? Has anybody signed up with them?

Links:

• BBB Reliability Report for Sell Beyond
• Sell Beyond on Alexa
• Forum Thread 1
• Forum Thread 2
• Forum thread 3