Internet marketers dwell across the World Wide Web, lurking in dark niches, waiting to spring their trap on the innocent consumer who falls prey to their talents. They offer guarantees they know you're too lazy to process, promises that even legitimate establishments couldn't make, and prices that always seem just on the border of what a rational person would spend.

It's very easy to lose a lot of money to these people, and it's often hard to get it back, even if you do go through the 'guarantee' process. So, how can you tell whether the product you're seeking is a good one?

The only real answer is word of mouth. Research the product before you buy, and see what other people are saying. Reviews, comments, opinions, complaints...you need to see it all. It can be a pain, but it's worth it.

Taking shortcuts is dangerous - too many "review" sites are affiliate marketers hoping to convince you to buy through their site, hoping to make a quick buck from your attempt at being a good consumer. You can tell these people because they have almost nothing bad to say about their product - and they only review one product (or a tightly-related group of products) at once.

Your best bet is to find a site that reviews broad groups of products, isn't afraid to tell you the good from the bad, and strays away from flashy graphics, bold headlines, and other telltale signs of salesmanship.

There are a few tricks you can keep up your sleeve if you can't find an honest review website. If you are considering purchasing a digital product, and you want to know if it's going to be a good deal or not, here's a list of Do's and Don'ts:

DO: Google for the product name, in quotes, plus this: 'inurl:forum'. This will take you to forums (message boards) that will get you (usually) honest reviews of the products you're deciding on purchasing.
DO: Google for the product name, in quotes, plus this: '+waste'. Of all of the words people commonly use to describe bad deals, 'waste' is one that the marketers rarely use. 'Critique' is another good one.
DO: Check the money-back guarantee on almost all of these products. The standard is 60 days -- but that's not the important part. The important part is: will the product have a noticeable effect within that 60 days? If it's not assured to work within 2 months, that guarantee is worthless.
DON'T: Google for the product name along with any of the following terms: scam, suck, work, work, review, opinion, comment, or the plural or gerund form of any of those words. These are all words that the marketers deliberately base their headlines around to try to lure you in.
DON'T: Buy *anything* that has more than two nearly-identical "reviews" on the first two pages of Google. These are products that rely on marketing, rather than actual effectiveness, to get sold.
DON'T: Be a jerk about the products you do decide to buy. If you read an honest review that actually seals the deal, so to speak, and that reviewer provides a link to purchase from -- use their link. They'll probably profit from your decision, but if they're honest about what they're doing and not trying to scam you, is there anything wrong with that?

I've only been purchasing products from a couple of 'genres' recently, so I can only point you to two honest review sites: for "make-money-online" products, check out Explosive Reviews. For Health and Fitness products, From the Inside is my choice.

Regardless of the genre you're buying in, doing your own solid research is your top priority. Finding a good honest review site is also very helpful.