Ten Random Things – Online Shopping

So you want to buy that new gadget, preferably one that you read about here at technewsmadesimple.com.  But you’re having second thoughts about making a big purchase online.  Well, you’re not alone.  And because everybody loves lists, I’ve compiled “Ten Random Things you need to be aware of when shopping online”  Hit the jump for more…

If it looks too good… This is the first rule when buying anything, so online shopping is no different.  Trust me – nobody online is looking to give away a priceless antique for the low, low price of $19.99.  And no matter what somebody tells you, to borrow an old routine from Jerry Seinfeld, “Limited Edition” usually means “Limited to the number we can sell”.

Better safe than sorry. In a world increasingly vulnerable to cyber attack, you need to make very certain that you are buying from secure websites.  Although there is no such thing as impenetrable security, don’t go buying from some unknown website that will save you ten bucks.  Chances are they aren’t investing in any type of security, meaning you may have just handed your credit card number to thousands of hackers worldwide.

Paper or Plastic? Never, ever pay by cashier’s check, money order, or cash.  If those are the only methods someone accepts, they’re trying to fleece you.  You have no way of recouping your money if your item is never shipped.  Personal checks aren’t the best idea either; although you can put a stop payment on any check, you have just sent out your personal bank account and routing number along with your home address to a merchant.  I don’t know about the unscrupulous people in this world, but those three things are enough information for me to get a line of credit with any number of major stores or websites.  Credit cards will at least let you cancel payments or dispute charges if there is a problem (trust me – I know).  Another option is a pre-paid credit card.  This is probably the safest way to purchase things online – buy a pre-paid card using cash or a check, then use that card to purchase your item online.  You still get the coverage of a major credit card, without putting any of your personal information at risk.

Do your research. A lot of websites offer products that look exactly like the one you saw in the store display or the flyer that came in the mail.  But many times, they’re not.  Discount websites are notorious for selling last year’s model that looks just like this year’s.  Sure, it’s cheaper than buying the newest toy from Best Buy, but is it actually what you wanted?

Know the return policies. Some online retailers will charge restocking fees for returning items, on top of the shipping fees that you often have to pay to send things back.  So before you decide you don’t really want or need that $35 gadget, keep in mind it’s probably going to cost you $30 to send it back and pay the fees.

Double check your own information. In the past ten years, I’ve moved to and from seven different addresses between college and the years after.  Although I’ve always kept my billing address listed at my family’s home, my shipping address constantly changes.  So sometimes I’ll make a purchase and forget to check which address it’s being chipped to.  Case in point – my television died last week and I ordered the part to fix it.  Problem is, I forgot to check which shipping address I had registered on the site, so it got shipped to my last address… in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  I live about forty minutes south of Boston, Massachusetts – nearly 600 miles from Pittsburgh.  Kind of tough for me to drive to my last apartment and pick up my package.

Don’t lose your receipts. This would seem like a no brainer, but since many websites simply e-mail a receipt to you after purchase, many people will dump the message from their Inbox.  Sometimes it will even be blocked or go to a Junk folder.  This is important information that you’ll need for warranty claims, returns and rebates, so make very sure you keep either a copy of the e-mail on a safe hard drive, or even print it out and keep a hard copy around.

Shop around. While major retailers often do have the best prices and offer the most piece of mind for security, you can sometimes find better deals from some of the smaller sites out there.  You can also use sites like Gottadeal.com or Retailmenot.com to try and find unadvertised coupons for the major stores and websites.  Just make sure you’re buying from truly a secure website, and not just some guy named Corey sitting in his garage with a web server and a credit card processor.

Clean up after yourself. If you do a lot of online shopping, it is even more important for you to clean up your hard drive after purchases.  Running a program like CCleaner (detailed here on TNMS) or some other hard drive cleaning software will get rid of the small bits and pieces of transaction information that hackers look for if they ever manage to get a hold of your system.  You don’t need to clean up after every single purchase, but if you shop a lot, once a week is not too much.

Don’t be afraid. Listen, I come from possibly the least tech friendly family east of Amish country.  It was only last year that I was able to convince my mother that she could actually use her debit Mastercard at the supermarket and not have to pay credit card fees on it.  Shopping online can be a bit imposing, especially when you have to buy things “site unseen”.  But at some point, you have to drop the walls and just trust other people or companies to do what they promise.  Once you make that first purchase from Amazon, NewEgg (click the banner ad on the page!), or any number of major retailers’ websites, you’ll be good to go in no time.