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Old 06-25-2007, 05:15 AM   #1 (permalink)
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Art International Wholesale

Has anyone ever dealt with this company?

Their website is www.artinternationalwholesale.com

They also go by
www.artinternational.co.uk
www.oilpaintingsdirect.cn
www.oilpainting.net.cn
for their international sites.

They accept paypal, and I checked up their member id, they have a feedback score of 180+ verified buyers in paypal. Everything seems legitimate, but 2 facts raised some questions out of me:

-They operate out of China and Hong Kong
-They ask for money order (but accept credit card and paypal as well)

I'm interested in doing business with them, but I just want to hear from others if they have personally had good/bad experiences or know of a reason to avoid them.

Thanks for the info.

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Old 06-25-2007, 10:28 AM   #2 (permalink)
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Welcome to RR.
The WhoIs info shows;
Quote:
Registrant:
Art International
8 rue saint Philippe
Nice, 06000
FR

Registrar: DOTSTER
Domain Name: ARTINTERNATIONALWHOLESALE.COM
Created on: 19-JUL-02
Expires on: 19-JUL-08
Last Updated on: 30-MAY-07

Administrative, Technical Contact:
Bolton, Michael artinter2003 @ yahoo.fr (edited, remove spaces)
Art International
8 rue saint Philippe
Nice, 06000
FR
+33 603162866
+33 493448299
Created: 2002-07-19
Expires: 2008-07-19
SSL Cert: No valid SSL on this Host
First it uses a free yahoo e-mail account. The 'No Valid SSL' means that they are not set up for secure CC transactions. Next is the address's and phone numbers, the website gives this contact info;
Quote:
US;
Art International
26 C Trolley Square
Wilmington, Delaware 19806
United States
302-261-5179

UK;
New Lodge Building
Turnpike Road, Redlodge
Bury St Edmunds Suffolk IP28 8JY
44 (0)20 7870 8093

France;
29 rue Caravadossi
06000 Nice
The information for the US;
The phone number, 302-261-5179, comes back with Whitepages.com, (click the link for full listing) as;
Quote:
37 Results matching "(302) 261-5179"
26C Trolley Sq
Wilmington, DE 19806-3356
It lists 37 people as having the same address and phone number so I would guess that you need a ext. number. But, 3 of the 5 people listed on the websites 'Who We Are' page show up on that list.



The information for the UK;
The postal code, IP28 8JY, in the UK cannot be found, IP28 is for Suffolk, however RoyalMail.com says;
Quote:
Unfortunately we could not find this postcode. Please check it. If the postcode is correct but we still can’t find it, please read the help below to find out what to do.
Also the phone number given, +44 (0)20 7870 8093, per numberingplans.com and confirmed by countrycallingcodes.com is a land line for Inner London;
Quote:
Number billable as geographic number
Country or destination United Kingdom
City or exchange location London
Original network provider* Gamma Telecom Holdings Ltd
EDIT:
Also,UK Phone Information.
Ohh, and Suffolk is 75 miles NE of London. Bury St Edmunds is about half way between Suffolk and Cambridge. Google Earth does show a building, but shows it only as Red Lodge. Google Earth gives me an error if I try just the postal code, IP28 8JY.



The information for France;
The postal code on the website is wrong, the one in the WhoIs address is correct. Per the French Postal Code Database the correct code is 06100, not 06000;
Quote:
The full address is:
29, Avenue Caravadossi
06100 NICE


As to PayPal;
On the website's homepage there is a 'PayPal Verified" seal. If you click on the seal it redirects you to the 'Payment FAQ' page for the website and says;
Quote:
Note: Our corporate admin is now done from our Hong Kong office so we have had to change the Paypal account to there.This has meant having a new PayPal account
To ensure that this is a legitimate PayPal Verified user, make sure that the URL of this page begins with https://www.paypal.com/.
The seal does not go to a PayPal URL, it redirects back to their site. It is a cut and paste job.

Per PayPal
Quote:
What is the Verified seal?

Question :What is the Verified seal?
Answer :
A When you are Verified, you can place a PayPal Verified seal on your non-eBay auction or your website. When buyers click the seal, they are taken to a PayPal-hosted page which confirms that you hold a Verified PayPal account. Having a Verified account is a positive sign to buyers that you have confirmed your financial identity with PayPal.

Post a Verified seal on your non-eBay auction or website by following these steps:

1. Log in to your PayPal account.
2. Click the Verified link on the Account Overview page.
3. Follow the steps to insert the seal.
Either the seal has not been inserted into the website correctly or they are not verified.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chubber911
and I checked up their member id, they have a feedback score of 180+ verified buyers in paypal.
Where did you find the member ID number, and are you sure it is their's?


Back to the "No Valid SSL" the websites 'Payment FAQ' page also states;
Quote:
5. Is ordering online safe?
Yes it is. With Artinternationalwholesale.com, ordering online is safe. We use the latest security technology, which includes data encryption, server authentication, and message integrity. This site has security measures in place to protect the loss, misuse and alteration of the information under our control. All data is protected using the most advanced methods available. We do not store financial information like credit card numbers or personal information like social security numbers on this site.
They do not, "use the latest security technology, which includes data encryption, server authentication, and message integrity." That is what a valid SSL cert means.



There are too many little errors for my tastes, and I would wonder if they put the same care into their art, shipping and customer service as they have with the various contact information and technical aspects of their website. I don't think I would use them with anything less the a 0% liability credit card. You can do that through PayPal.
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Last edited by nomaxim; 06-25-2007 at 12:20 PM.
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Old 06-26-2007, 05:39 AM   #3 (permalink)
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I "purchased" a painting and went through the checkout process. I opted to pay by paypal, and when I logged into paypal, I had it request that I confirm my order. The paypal id for the seller was there listed as "InterTech" with a feedback score of 180+ verified buyers.

The payment FAQ page that the seal took me to had a link to the paypal website on it which showed that their email address paypal at artinternationalwholesale.com was indeed a verified member (as well as some other account elena at artinternationalwholesale.com)

Last edited by chubber911; 06-26-2007 at 05:50 AM.
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Old 06-26-2007, 08:05 AM   #4 (permalink)
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Let us know if your order actually arrives..
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Old 06-26-2007, 08:06 PM   #5 (permalink)
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I havent placed an order yet. I just went through the checkout process to get to the paypal page. I'd think if they had ripped people off I would have been able to find some site on the net where a person complains of a sour deal. Since I haven't been able to find one yet, that's why I came here to ask.
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Old 06-30-2007, 09:43 AM   #6 (permalink)
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I've tried doing a bit more investigating myself. I filled out a pretend order to pay by credit card. Although the shopping cart and checkout pages are not secured, when you choose to pay by credit card it takes you to this page with all your order information copied over: https://orderpage.ic3.com/hop/orderform.jsp. Does this have a valid SSL certificate?

They seem to be affiliated with a website named www.netprofit.hk
I filled out a support form on the artinternational webpage and the response I got was forwarded from my form to an email address bizdev@netprofit.hk then to the rep who replied <name>@artinternationalwholesale.com. The actual netprofit.hk website appears to be a template that has never been filled out, and I can't find any comments about it anywhere. I have also found that the registrant of the domain (Michael Bolton) can be reached at bizdev@artinternationalwholesale.com, so maybe he owns both?

Also I tried calling the US # at 8pm EDT, it rang off the hook, and I tried calling the toll free order number. It went to a voice mail that had checkout advice for the website from a guy with a British accent.

In the contact information it lists his Skype contact as moneymancn123. A google search for moneymancn shows profiles for a webmaster at various forums, including this one: http://forum.kryptronic.com/profile.php?id=703
and all his posts are visible here: http://forum.kryptronic.com/search.p...er&user_id=703
It appears this forum is for support for a product called clickcartpro6. A $250 shopping cart program for websites.

The name I found for most profiles also matched the name of the registrant of the domain name- Michael Bolton.

I've run out of ideas for now. I am probably going to try calling the US number again today and see what I get. I am interested in buying from them, I just want to be 99-100% positive that this is the real deal.

If anyone can offer any more suggestions or help, it would be appreciated.

Last edited by chubber911; 06-30-2007 at 09:45 AM.
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Old 06-30-2007, 10:29 AM   #7 (permalink)
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The WhoIs info for Ic3.com shows they do not have a valid SSL, The page you linked to is a secure server though, (https)
Quote:
Registrant:
CYBERSOURCE CORP.
Blake Burke
1295 Charleston Road
Mountain View, CA 94043

Email: kdiekmann @ cybersource.com (edited, remove spaces)

Registrar Name....: REGISTER.COM, INC.
Registrar Whois...: whois.register.com
Registrar Homepage: www.register.com

Domain Name: ic3.com

Created on..............: Wed, May 08, 1996
Expires on..............: Tue, Mar 12, 2013
Record last updated on..: Mon, Jun 18, 2007
.....
SSL Cert: No valid SSL on this Host
The BBB has two business's listed at that address, Cybersource Corps report,
Quote:
CyberSource Corporation
1295 Charleston Rd
Mountain View, CA 94043
Telephone: (650) 965-6000
Bid Pay.coms report,
Quote:
Bid Pay.com
1295 Charleston Rd
Mountain View, CA 94043-1307
Telephone: (720) 332-3449
Fax: (650) 625-4408
Per their WhoIs info Bidpay.com has a valid SSL.
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