Healthy Tips for Online Buyers

With just a click of the mouse, shoppers can buy nearly any product online. E-commerce enables customers to shop at thousand of online stores and pay for their purchase without leaving the comfort of home. But Online Shoppers need to take some precautions for safe and secure shopping.

v Shopping at Secure Website: Shoppers must go for secure websites. Secure website use technologies such as SSL (Secure Socket Layer) or SET (Secure Electronic Transmission). Secure websites always use encryption technique for the information interchange between the shopper and merchant. If a Shopper is not technical OR he is not aware with the terms SSL & SET even then he can find out which site is secure by using following points.

- First you look at the top of website where you put the URL and

If a website is using https:// then's' in https denotes that website is secure.

- Second way to determine if a website is secure is to look for a

Closed padlock displayed at the bottom of your screen. If that lock is open, you should assume it is not a secure site.

v Know your merchant: Before getting in to any transaction you must know some important details like check for expected delivery dates, shipping & handling fee, policies of the company, proper contact address of the company it may be email & phone number. You must be aware that no hidden charges have been applied with your transaction.

v What to use credit card, debit card, OR checks: The safest way to shop on the internet is with a credit card because credit cards are always protected by federal laws and according to federal law your liability for an unauthorized charge is limited to $50. E-commerce by check leaves you susceptible to bank fraud. Make sure your credit card is true credit card and not a debit card, or an ATM card. As debit card exposes your bank account to thieves.

v Look for Coupons and other Discounts: There are many websites that offers some coupons and discount on the commodities available for online shopping. It's a good choice for shoppers to bargain.

v Keep Records with you: When you place any order then you must take a print out of that order and that print out should cover details like cost of your order, your customer information, product information, and the confirmation number. You may also take print out of another page that shows company name, postal address, phone number, legal terms and return policy. Keep it for your own records for at least the period covered by return/warranty policy.

v Check out for product rating: Always look for product ratings from previous buyers, not only look for the number of rating stars, but also pay attention to how many ratings this product has got. The more the better, also read some reviews submitted by the previous customers regarding that product which you are going to purchase.

v Sales tax and Use tax: Generally internet shopping is sales tax free, but there is a catch. If an online merchant has a physical presence in your state, it is required to charge you sales tax. So keep this point in your mind always.