There are any number of "online hobby shops" that are selling bootleg copies of anime..... its not worth it --- I got bit twice as a newbie before I realized how the anime marketing cycle worked. In both cases, the DVDs were region free, had so-so english and chinese subtitles, and were LOUSY quality (gamma setting hell from what I could tell).... they were also clearly taken from the broacast episodes rather than a remastered episode like usually done for DVD release.
The dealers mentioned on the front page of animesuki.com have all been good to me: DVD Pacific, Digital Eyes, DeepDiscountDVD. Have had few or no problems with them.
The sites I've had luck with in Japan (direct exporters) are nippon-export.com and cdjapan.co.jp both for manga and anime.
www.amazon.co.jp is also okay though their pricing and shipping seems to run higher.
The only place I've had good luck with manga/anime purchases brick'n'mortar style are the Kinokuniya Bookstores. They have stores in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, New York that I know of.... probably others if you check their site. edit: add San Jose & Costa Mesa.... didn't check their East Coast or Central lists.