ARTICLES > Internet Shopping - The Basics.
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Internet Shopping - The Basics.
► Ensure any business you deal with is reliable. ► Use sites that provide full contact details – more than just a post office box. Look for a phone number and both email and street address. ► Look for online testimonies that support the integrity of the site you are buying from. ► Even better, try and use a site someone you know has used successfully. ► Ensure the site has proper security for online payments. ► Check the site’s security before giving out credit card details etc. ► Check the site’s privacy policy – some sites will on-sell email addresses. ► Ensure you know what currency the site’s pricing is in. ► Ensure you add on the cost of postage and handling.
Do some research; ► Check other retailers, online and at your local shopping mall, and make sure you are getting a good deal. ► Check out the site’s return, exchange, or refund policies. ► Find out how you can lodge a complaint and what legal jurisdiction will apply to the transaction should something go wrong. ► Print out your order before you send it – that way you can be sure you have proof of what you’ve ordered and what you haven’t ordered. ► Don’t deal with retailers who are evasive and won't provide contact numbers or addresses. ► Don’t give details of your bank account to any business. Paying for online purchases; Because of the oppurtuinties for fraud, buying over the Internet is not as safe as shopping at a store. The principal problem is that a consumer usually needs to give their credit card details to the supplier. ► Use your credit/debit card for payment online only if the retailer uses a secure payment system. How to identify a secure website; ► T  here should be a lock icon appear somewhere in the window of your browser - often near the website address. NOTE - not in the web page itself, but in the window of your browser. (it will look something like the picture on the right).► The address of the website should also begin with https: (not just http:). ► If you are still concerned, most bona fide online stores will allow you to send your credit card details to them by phone or by fax, or to pay by cheque or money order.
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