I honestly never even thought to look up its credibility - and I'm a little shocked now that I see the results, at least from that site! My worry is the sample size -- people who are really peeved are going to go straight there to complain. Not everyone with a fabulous experience goes and posts feedback on the (ex.) US Better Business Bureau's site.
True enough, but people generally have to be pretty ticked off before they'll bother to submit a complaint to the BBB too...
and as of last month, Butterfly Photo had 61 filed complaints with the BBB.
In any case, I also look at the Pricegrabber ratings a lot because of the large sample size.
Larger samples can help, but it is still a self-selected sample, and a dedictated individual with time to create "sockpuppets" can bias their rating pretty easily,
as this PC World article attests (which specifically names Butterfly). YMMV, but I consider the first 'feedback' report listed for Butterfly to be a very blatant example of a sockpuppet, and in reading down through them, I see a few more that I view as highly suspicious.
For some reason, 90% of all camera eTailers are in NYC. Stiff competition drives them all to the edge of business ethics.
B&H and Adorama are in NYC too, but their business ethics are hardly "on the edge." They're world-famous for being very customer focused and are rewarded with repeat business for it (disclaimer: such as myself).
I'd have to say that the general problem with "Big City" (NYC) eTailers is that it is easier for the scammers to hide (change business names), play bait & switch, etc, and in a big city, there's plenty of new victims who haven't learned to avoid them.
It is merely semi-coincidental that they're selling camera gear. They need something that has a high cost density (ie, small & expensive takes up less room) and which doesn't need to rely on repeat customers (such as film developing, etc). Consumer Electronics fits the bill quite well for them.
BTW, also see
this NY Times article on the problem, plus the two websites that reveal the actual storefronts of these "reputable" businesses:
http://donwiss.com/pictures/ManhattanStores/
http://donwiss.com/pictures/BrooklynStores/
http://donwiss.com/pictures/OtherStores/
BTW, here's Butteryfly's. Note that their 'real' business name is:
Accoona Corp., d.b.a. ButterflyPhoto.com, a.k.a. BuyDigitalDirect.com and DigitalETailor.com:
http://donwiss.com/pictures/BrooklynStores/h0081.htm
http://donwiss.com/pictures/BrooklynStores/h0098.htm
I say use your best judgement and keep your wits about you when you inspect the package!
I'm sorry, but if I can't ever trust them to deliver the stuff I ordered (because I suspect they're going to rip me off), then I should go use another retailer and let market forces put this loser out of business.
If we think about it, its pretty much the same reason why we give our business to Apple instead of a Windows PC: to avoid the bullshtuff.
-hh