Good Signs For Retailers On Cyber Monday

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Cyber Monday is expected to deliver a $7 billion payday to retailers operating online on Monday. And it's not just the Amazons of the world celebrating.

"It's been crazy!" says Carliz Teague, CEO of Dallas-based Wigs.com. "We've done over a million dollars in sales in just this holiday weekend."

Teague says thanks to the relentless marketing and media blitz, customers have come to expect deep discounts if they can buy it online.

"I think all clients go online expecting deals today. They wait," says Teague. 'They wait for them."

And what's bought online, has to be boxed and delivered. That's opened up new opportunities for small businesses like Carrollton-based Selery: They ship what their entrepreneurial clients sell.

"It really started Friday morning," says owner Jason Taylor. "A lot of the Black Friday sales start at midnight, so by the time we show up, there's a pile of orders."

And it's a good sign for retailers, that Selery is super busy.

"You don't really make any traction," says Taylor. "A customer's got 2,000 orders and you ship all day and you look up at the end of the day, thinking you've made tons of progress and you've still got 2,000 orders!"

The only thing dimming the online bliss: Thieves looking to take advantage of distracted, deal hunting shoppers. So experts say it's good to pause, before you click purchase.

"You want to make sure the spelling is correct, and there's a little lock at the URL," says Amy Rasor, Regional Director of the Fort Worth Better Business Bureau. "And you want the https - the 's' stands for secure."

The spelling on copycat websites is critical says Rasor, because even one transposed letter can take you to a phony site.

"It's really easy to fall for something that is a close thing," cautions Rasor. "So women are buying purses all the time, thinking they're getting a legitimate, authentic designer purse, and it's really a knock off. And so this is gonna be similar to that: The websites are going to look very close to the real deal, but, check it out and do your research."

Teague agrees, saying, "There are tons of copycat sites! A lot of foreign knock off sites come and try to poach off of the good name of other sites," before adding that her company hears from those customers all the time. "It's really sad."