- Know who you are dealing with - Anyone can set up shop online. Confirm an online seller's physical address and phone number in case you need to get in touch with them.
Most of us are rushed during the holidays and are looking for a better way to do the shopping. It is easy to get caught up in all the Internet has to offer especially when you are rushed. Here are some tips to keep your holiday shopping from turning into the nightmare.
- Pay by credit card, or better still, Pay Pal. - Do not send cash under any circumstances. If you pay by credit or Pay Pal online, your transaction will often be protected.
- Keep a paper trail - Print and save records of your online transactions, including the product description and price, the online receipt, and copies of any email you exchange with the seller. Check your credit statements and promptly report discrepancies.
- Know terms and conditions - Can you return the item for a full refund? If you return it, who pays the shipping costs? Are there any other fees? Check on when you can expect to receive your order. A seller should ship items as promised or within 30 days after the order date if no specific date is promised. Can the recipient return your gift? If so, ask that a gift receipt be included in the package.
- Don't send your financial information by email - Email is not a secure method of transmitting financial or personal information like your credit card or bank account numbers.
- Check out the companies privacy policy - It should let you know what personal information the web site operators are collecting, why, and how they're going to use it. If you can't find a privacy policy - or if you can't understand it - consider taking your business to another site that's more security-conscious and customer-friendly.
- Use and update anti-virus and firewall software - Fire walls help keep hackers from using your computer to send out your personal information without your permission.
- Be sure online purchases are secure - At the point that you are providing your payment information, the beginning of the Web site address should change from http to shttp or https, indicating that the information is being encrypted - turned into code that can only be read by the seller.
- Don't use a public computer - Other people who log on to the computer may have access to your personal information. Be careful of one-click shopping by allowing the site to store your information.
- Use a strong password - Create a different one for each on-line shopping site.
I hope this hints will help you to prevent financial disaster