Buyer beware EVERYWHERE!
What you need to be most careful with when using small vendors is that they actually honor the prices they've quoted. Pricewatch has actually gotten much better over the years. Vendors are now required to provide maximum shipping costs, and users are welcome to complain about any vendor.
Lots of good guys do advertise on pricewatch...that's how I found newegg! But yeah, if you get a "yucky" feeling when visiting the website of any vendor...just pass em up. And if the price is too good to be true, email or call them about it in advance.
For music stuff I've always stuck with 8thstreet.com for just about everything. I just like they way they do business. In fact just the other day I realized I lost my original receipt for something I bought there that needed warranty service...I emailed 8thstreet and the next day I had a new copy of the receipt.
Slackmaster 2000