Tips and Techniques for Safe Online Shopping

I’ve been buying and selling products and services on the internet quite a bit longer than most folks. I own the bragging rights to the first online record store in the world. This was before the web was invented. Online selling has been a major part of my life for as long as I can remember.

Online sales have grown far, far beyond what anyone could have imagined back in the ’70s.

” Overstock.com processes over $1 million in Bitcoin sales. India’s e-commerce industry is estimated to have grown more than 30% from 2012 to $12.6 billion in 2013. US eCommerce and Online Retail sales projected to reach $294 billion, an increase of 12 percent over 2013 and 9% of all retail sales.”  Get the whole story from Wikipedia here.

That’s one bunch of purchases. We’ve come a long way in a very sort time.

It’s sad that us humans find a way to screw up just about everything good we do.

We have to be careful about buying and selling online. This article is about having a safe buying experience. But I could just as well written one about have a safe selling experience. Twice in my online life I trusted buyers just a little too much. I got screwed and lost several hundred dollars in sales. I’ve become a bit hardened because of those experiences and proceed with caution; but those few people won’t stop me from offering the very best customer service and buying experience.  Buying and selling is a two-way street and we each have to watch our back ends.

 So what can we do?

Protect yourself when buying online – Money – 10 Tips – TODAY.com
Apr 4, 2007 … The following tips can help you navigate the world of online shopping and enjoy minimal hassles at the same time.  Read this article.

Back in 2007 they were saying to protected your butt. Skip forward to 2010 …

How Do I Avoid Getting Scammed When Buying or Selling Online?
Dec 29, 2010 … While a little discomfort will often rule out some safe buyers/sellers that you just …. Got any great tips of your own for avoiding scams online? Read more.

Forward 2011 …

11 Tips for Safe Online Shopping

Nov 21, 2011 … Let’s face it, there’s every reason in the world to shop online. The bargains are there. The selection is mind-boggling. The shopping is secure. Read more.

 BE SMART!

Above are all articles with excellent advice. One of the best bits of advice I can think of is “know who you are buying from.” I don’t think you can go wrong when you patronize the larger brick and mortar stores like Walmart, Target, Sears, Amazon, and etc. They usually stand behind their buyers. Just make sure you are on the correct site rather than some look-alike. On the other hand there are a million and two other stores, big and small,  that carry unique items you might like to buy. What then? Don’t shy away just because you never heard of them. I think for the greatest part these stores are legit.

Here’s something I’d like to suggest. Let’s work together to protect ourselves. As a service, we here at Shoppers’ Access check out all our stores before we add them to our index. And further, the services we work through check them out even before we get wind of them. We feel you’ll be treated well when dealing with Shoppers’ Access stores. But, we’d like to take this a step further … “let’s work together…”.

Rate and Review

When you search through our Shoppers’ Access stores, look to the bottom of each description. There are two little buttons — Review It and Rate It. We encourage you to share your experiences about our stores. This is the very best way for us and you to know the stores’ reputation. Before you can rate or review any store, you’ll have to register as a user. This is important so that we know that someone anonymous isn’t stuffing the ballot box and that all reviews are sincere and honest. To complete the registration, you’ll have to validate your email address.

Signup for the Shoppers’ Access Buyers’ Guide

The Shoppers’ Access Buyers’ Guide is an e-newsletter. Knowledge is power. In addition to VIP offers and such, we keep you informed of various store activity. When we learn of one of our stores that perform above and beyond the norm, we’ll share their story.  When we find a store that doesn’t meet our high standards of doing business, we’ll let you know, and let them go. It’s our goal to keep the Shoppers’ Access a safe place. It would be to your benefit to subscribe to our Buyers’ Guide.  It’s simple. Just enter your name and email address below. You can unsubscribe at any time and we will NOT share your address with anyone.