Online Shopping tips

Below are some tips to help you ensure that your online shopping is a safe and a satisfying one.

Shopping online - tip 1)
Does the merchant you are shopping at have a physical location? If you're interested in trying a new online merchant who you’re not familiar with, ask the company for its physical location (address and phone number) so that you can check on its reliability.

Shopping online - tip 2)
Does the online shopping merchant have a Customer Satisfaction Policy? Determine what the refund policy is and if the company cannot offer concrete commitments on how they will handle any potential problems you may have with their products or services, reconsider doing business with them.

Shopping online - tip 3)
When shopping online you may be required to create passwords for logins, avoid using established numbers such as your name, date of birth or telephone number as this can be easily guessed. Also if you can, never use the same passwords you use for other accounts or sites.

Shopping online - tip 4)
When purchasing items leave nothing to chance. Unlike conventional shopping, when shopping online there is noone who you can ask questions to so make sure you have a thorough understanding of everything that is involved before making an order. Read the fine prints. Be clear on the price, shipping, guarantees, days before you receive your order, taxes, etc. If you are unsure you should call the merchant up and find out.

Shopping online - tip 5)
Only provide credit card details if it is in a secure environment. One way to know whether the merchant you are shopping at is safe is to check the url, for example instead of http://www.domain.com look for https://www.domain.com , the ‘s’ signifies a secure environment. Also look at the bottom right of the browser for a lock.

Shopping online - tip 6)
Keep paper printouts of your online shopping order and confirmation number for your records.