6 THINGS YOU NEED TO BEWARE OF WHEN SHOPPING ONLINE

Buying goods from the comfort of your home or office is certainly more convenient than driving to the mall or store, while still offering the ability to compare prices and a very wide range of choices. Although online security and payment technology have come quite a long way, sometimes you may experience various problems with online shopping. When shopping online, how do you tell that you are buying from a trustworthy site?

How do you know if your personal information is safe? What can you do if they send the wrong widget? How do you know if they accept returns? These are just some of the vital questions you should ask before you take out your credit card and make purchases online. Therefore, it is critical to understand some of the most common issues such as falling prey to an online scam or online scams to getting the wrong item, and how you can avoid these potential pitfalls.

1. FAKE ONLINE REVIEWS

A collection of perfect ratings (five star ratings) can help boost conversions and sales for online sellers. Therefore, some authors are posting fake reviews or offering refunds to clients in exchange for good reviews. It is important to be skeptical of online reviews that are too positive or reviews that lack detail in order to reduce the risk of falling prey to fake online reviews. However, social media platforms such a Twitter, Yelp and Facebook provide a direct, stronger relationship to customer’s opinions. You can simply check the source to verify whether the reviews link to reviewers’ social media pages, previous reviews or profiles that show the reviewers are real. Finally, it is important to read reviews on several credible platforms such as epinions.com and Amazon.

2.COUNTERFEIT GOODS

Sometimes it is difficult even for major stores like Amazon to keep counterfeit goods off their websites mainly due to third party merchants. The main way to reduce your risk is to understand that if the price is too good to be true, then it probably is. Therefore, you should always research the website or third party you are buying from. On the other hand, you should not be afraid to ask all the relevant questions you may have.

3. IDENTITY THEFT

Fraud and identity theft are terms that are commonly used to refer to crimes where someone wrongfully obtains and/or uses other peoples’ personal data in ways that involve deception or fraud, for economic gain. For instance, your entire checking account could be exposed when somebody steals your debit card number.

Identity thieves can drain all your accounts within minutes and set you back financially and emotionally for years. Regardless of where you are, you should always be skeptical about giving out any personal information to others unless you are certain that they can be trusted. Moreover, besides asking for a periodic credit report, it is also important to check your financial information on a regular basis, and look for transactions that should be there and those that shouldn’t. You should also maintain accurate records of your financial and banking accounts.

Save or print copies of your online purchase orders. The retailer will send you an email as confirmation of your purchase. This page usually includes a confirmation number and purchase receipt. You should save or print the confirmation receipt and keep it safely until you receive your item.

4. SECURE AND REPUTABLE SITES

Before typing your credit card details into a site, always ensure that the website is secure. Most secure websites have web addresses that begin with https:// and they may also have a padlock symbol somewhere in the browser window (probably in the address bar). On the other hand, you need to ensure that the site is trustworthy. How can you reduce the risk of using untrustworthy websites?

· You should be suspicious of offers that are too good to be true because this could indicate that the website is selling pirated or illegal goods.

· In case you are not familiar with the site, ask trusted family members, colleagues or friends for their opinion. Sometimes they may offer useful recommendations for alternatives.

· Do a comprehensive search on the internet to see whether the website you intend to use is mentioned favorably on other sites that you trust.

You will be asked for a password before making online payment in order to keep your personal data private. Use a strong password with a combination of numbers, letters and symbols. You should also avoid shopping online when you are in public places because the security of public Wi-Fi is not guaranteed. Besides keeping your passwords private, your computer should not be set to remember your password or credit card number when creating accounts on online shopping websites.

5. . WHAT IF YOU DON'T GET WHAT YOU ORDERED?

In case the item you have received is not the item you had purchased, sellers are responsible for either refunding your money or correcting the error at no extra charge. However, online retailers have different approaches. Sometimes information about resolving such disputes is provided in the “Legal Terms” or “Disclaimer” section of the client contract, or you can simply email or call customer support for details.

Reputable online vendors understand the importance of excellent customer service and its impact on business and will always try to fix such problems quickly. However, the process is less clear with most online auction sites because these websites only serve to connect sellers and buyers. Some online auction sites have created an online process that customers can use to resolve disputes over delivery of items and they may even serve as intermediaries in the process.

However, when you purchase items from individual vendors through services such as Craigslist, resolving such disputes can be quite difficult especially if the seller is not responsive or acting in bad faith.

6. HIDDEN OR ADDITIONAL COST

Lack of full disclosure of cost is a major problem when shopping online. Some merchants hide additional costs such as shipping until the final stages of the shipping process. Therefore, you should understand the shipping charges that apply to the item you want to purchase. Sometimes retailers squeeze profit from items that are heavily discounted by charging an extremely high shipping rate.

Source: thepear

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