Leah123, I think we agree on the "buyer beware" part.

What I originally wanted to get at is that one doesn't need to go through an online therapy website to find an online therapist. In my area, there are a fair number of therapist with a traditional brick-and-mortar office who willl also work online on request (e.g. via Skype). Most of them don't work with online therapy platforms. They don't need the technology and they also don't need the advertisement; they already get enough referrals through free/cheap listings (e.g. Psychology Today, Yelp, own website) and by word of mouth.

Having a local online therapist also has the advantage that one can switch to face-to-face meetings later without changing therapists.