Question: I spotted something on the Internet that I am interested in buying, but I have never heard of the cybershop where it is being sold. Is there anyway to find out information about the reliability of a particular online merchant? Answer: There are some easy ways to gather data that should help you decide whether a Web site is reputable. Such information can be drawn from a company's Web site as well from outside rating services.

With thousands of e-retailers crowding the Web these days, it is no wonder that shoppers are overloaded with options.

For instance, someone searching the Internet for a Palm V hand-held computer will come up with dozens of different e-retailers to buy from. At first glance, the only thing that differentiates the sites is the price of the product.

But experts say that shoppers shouldn't base their purchases only on price.

Some merchants who discount heavily add on steep shipping costs or take their time in delivering the goods.

To find out if an online merchant is OK to buy from, you should start by browsing around its Web site. Check out the site's return and shipping polices and look at whether there are easy ways to contact the company by e-mail or phone. Also, look for a reliability seal from the Better Business Bureau, which signals a merchant has strong business practices.

You also might want to think about whether the site looks professional: Is it easy to navigate? Are the pictures and graphics high-quality? If these things aren't up to par, it may be worth taking your business elsewhere.

For more in depth information, you can turn to those companies that rank online merchants. They base their findings on a wide range of categories including customer support, on-time delivery and price.

The best-known is BizRate.com. Online stores cannot pay to be listed on its site.

BizRate.com collects is data by asking shoppers at hundreds of different Web sites to fill out a survey after they buy something. The survey focuses on all aspects of their shopping experience. Shoppers can also agree to be surveyed again after their purchase arrives at their home.

BizRate.com then analyses the customer feedback and ranks the site.

For instance, a shopper who searches on the BizRate.com for a Palm V computer comes up with a list of 60 stores that offer that product. Electronics retailer Outpost.com had the highest rating, with four and a half stars. Its service and delivery levels were especially strong.

On the flip side, TC Computer was last on the list, with three stars. Its prices, customer support and shipping were average.

The survey results are listed on the BizRate.com Web site, as well as through a number of Internet search engines, such as Microsoft's MSN (www.msn.com), Alta Vista (www.altavista.com) and Go2Net (www.go2net.com).

In addition, e-retailers can use the BizRate.com information on their sites as an advertisement for quality service, selection and prices.

Another resource for merchant and product information is ConsumerReports.org, which charges $3.95 a month to subscribe to the wealth of data drawn from its thousands of studies.

The site also has an e-ratings section, which ranks about 50 of the most popular merchants on the Web today that sell books, music, toys, electronics and appliances as well as those cybershops linked to catalog companies.

Bizrate.com information is also averrable on ConsumerReports.org.

In addition, many of the online search engines such as Lycos offer reviews from shoppers about their experiences with different Web sites.