This is really a 'catch 22'. I mean when you boil it down, I mean really rip this topic of getting great deals apart.
Without great risk there is no great reward!
Yes there's is always a chance of getting ripped off when buying wholesale products. No doubt about it!
The only real thing you can do is just do your due diligence and research research research. Now this can be very very tideious!! I know as we put the supplyshare site together that we spend hours and hours talking to companies about their products and figuring out how legit the company is. It really comes down to the product you're looking for to determine how much time you spend researching companies. Is the product in very high demand? Is there enough profit? What is the best way to sell the product? Do i have a market for this product already? How much will shipping and taxes be?? (very tedious) Are there any regulations I should know about with this product? Soo many things to consider.
For example there is a certain product that we have been researching for a few months now... And finally we found a great company offering a great product at OUR price we were looking for. But a regulation change is US law squashed all that work... So we decided to work with the company to become approved again with the new regulations.....
It's all just a balancing act that you have to decide how much time you want to spend and where! Afterall 'Time is Money'