Purchase with Care Online
Shopping on the web has become what would seem to be a national past-time, and has been great for the consumer – it’s never been easier to shop. Not only that, but a more competitive market incorporated with the cost-effectiveness with selling online has cheap prices for items.
Nevertheless, as the e-commerce landscape has grown, so too has the need to be cognisant of your consumer protection rights, and what to do if you are in receipt of faulty items or items that you paid for but didn’t actually get. Information is made public online, such as the consumer protection act 1987.
Another consideration is what payment provider to use to buy something, as each payment gateway has its own terms. For example, Paypal are an independent arbitrator only for physical goods, not digital downloads. Understanding this kind of information is the difference between getting your money back or being a victim of internet scam.
Our pearl of wisdom is to do your research regarding the vendor : do they show their phone number and postal address? What is the vendor’s terms? Their returns policy? Their privacy policy? All these questions must be resolved before you consider buying from the vendor.
Another very important point to consider: what are the methods of purchase? Nowadays, it’s inadequate to only look for “the padlock” (SSL certificate) – this won’t inform you how they store your data, only how it’s sent when you make your purchase. If you have doubts, only purchase from sellers who use 3rd party payment providers such as Google Checkout, PayPal, SagePay, NoChex and WorldPay.Also you can see what reputation the vendor has with his payment gateway, e.g. check his PayPal account and how many orders have occurred on this individual account.
