WIth Our Crushed Economy Online Shopping Trends Are Growing- Are You Safe?
With our economy in the slumps people are more and more worried with the upcoming holiday seasons.
Even with the financial strains the seasons put on each and everyone of us, we still scramble and scrape up every single penny we can to try and make the holidays bright for each and everyone of our loved ones. We also pursue ever imaginative means of getting bargains whether it be garage sales( just don't tell my husband that's where I got his golf clubs lol), Ebay or Amazon. Which brings me to this point;
Now don't get me wrong, Ebay is great but with as massive and impersonal as it is you are still subject to the honesty of the individual seller. Protection with auction style companies is there in the form of buyer protection and yes they will credit you a refund (that is if they can even get it back from the seller, see many people are closing their paypal accounts before a complaint can be made). And that rings true with a lot of auction style companies as well as companies like Amazon who allow publishers without any real verification and integrity of the information provided. And yes, I do shop at both places I love em! But there are steps you can take to avoid getting scammed by people who are just out to make a quick buck and have no long lasting presence as a legitimate business owner.
1. When dealing in Ebay(or similar places) always look for how many comments a particular seller or storefront has and the length of time they have been selling which is a common sense thing that makes you want to say,"Thanks Captain Obvious!" however, to expand on that a little; When you are reading those comments make sure they feel natural and aren't "forced" as in some bot or person posting from a ton of accounts they have created and just bought their own products to quickly rise in their status( and yes this does happen for the few hundred dollars they spend on their own products they can make thousands off of their ratings).
2. If you are buying from an online catalog make sure that when you do the site meets all of these criteria;
a. When you try to enter into a secure part of their site it shows in the status bar https instead of http and no security warnings pop up saying there is mixed content( even though the content it speaks of are graphics and don't need to be secure it still compromises the integrity of the site)
b. They have a phone number and or mailing address where you can talk to a live person.Or a live chat session to talk to a live representative
c. They encourage you to email them or call them
d. Have a verifiable site Security Certificate
3. The site does not ask for any type of payment as verification of your information. I believe that the only time you should enter that information in is when you are ready to buy something.
A lot of little gift shops online are an even better place to shop than the giants especially if they have been attentive enough to think about the security concerns of their users and have implemented measures to protect their customers. And the reason for this is two fold one they aren't so big that predators try to attack their sites( they aren't aware of them) and two, they will fight to get your business and if they encourage you to call they may be willing to deal with you;)
In the end, your safety online is and should be your number one concern if you choose to go the route so many people are going to do this year. Have fun and shop wisely but be safe!
WIth Our Crushed Economy Online Shopping Trends Are Growing- Are You Safe?
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