Wednesday, May 20, 2020

How to Shop Online Safely in 8 Steps

The Internet often represents an obstacle to making online purchases: security, guarantee of the goods to be purchased, possible scams are some of the factors that require reflection. Online commerce is also surpassing real commerce, especially in some sectors other than the food sector: by now records, books, electronics, but also medicines, technologies, and homeware, prices are better on the web than on physical stores.

In the boundless world of the internet and the online world, information has taken on a fundamental role: criticisms, opinions, opinions, feedback from other users allow us to become aware of the "reputation" of the counterpart that we do not know.

How to shop safely online:


Search on the search engines for what you need

Read third-party reviews if they are positive or negative about that specific site or seller

Compare the prices of the same goods offered by different sites or sellers

Before buying, calculate the real cost of the property, including shipping costs and any taxes

Choose the type of shipment that you should have

Check that the product factory does quality things

Place your order online

Pay with a prepaid card or cash on delivery, avoid paying with credit cards linked to your main checking account. Online commerce is never 100% secure.

Shop online without worries

Security is the crucial node in the world of e-commerce and related payments: there are a privacy problem and a problem of correctness and security of payment transactions.
One of the primary precautions is to check the presence of https in the URL of the website we are interested in (blocking external intrusions in sensitive data area).

The second care is to check the contractual conditions for the service (purchase) before finalizing the transaction. Most e-commerce sites require a registration phase, which takes the form of having a user code and password available. The reserved use of these credentials allows increasing the level of security for our online purchases.

Let's consider the payment phase when the purchase is finished.


Security for online payments


How to make secure online payments? Each online purchase is perfected with the payment, which can take place with credit cards, prepaid credit cards, Paypal (less the possibilities offered to settle by bank transfer, or other). Traditional (non-prepaid) credit cards are widespread, but it is not certain that each of us has ownership, or for the most varied reasons we have never been interested in having it.

Considering the possible scams on the internet, with the theft of sensitive data, even in the face of the use of the above precautions, many prefer a prepaid credit card. We are talking about a credit card, similar to the traditional one, but with a limited credit limit: usually, you just credit a sufficient amount to cover the online purchase. In this way, the cardholder is sure that, should fraudulent use of the card occur, he would only risk the amount deposited, and not the overall ceiling as in traditional credit cards.

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An alternative to credit cards is the use of Paypal.


This system represents a system for the dematerialization of credit cards. Paypal provides for a registration phase on your site (paypal.com) and provides for a configuration phase of your profile: online account combined with a traditional credit card, prepaid, or bank circuit.

The Paypal account foresees a recharge phase, and the relative use of the Paypal account allows not to provide the credit card data on the website for online purchases.

After making an online purchase


Having a relationship based on fairness and transparency is essential for every online purchase. Once the purchase is concluded, it may happen that the purchased good presents faults, or anomalies that do not make the good usable or do not meet our expectations, making it necessary to return it.
In order to be serious, each e-commerce site must dedicate a section to the policy of returning goods, and / or refunding payments made.

The theme of the guarantee (of the good) in the online purchase becomes more and more important.

Let's try to consider some established platforms for online purchases.

Online shopping platforms

Among the most established platforms, we can place Amazon.
Amazon is "a great digital store" where you can buy everything. The categories of products offered by Amazon range from the most disparate: electronics, clothing, books, etc.
The peculiarity of Amazon lies in the fact that the company proposes itself both as a direct seller and as an open shop for other sellers, who use Amazon as a support shop for their products.

Amazon aims to offer excellent service, perfect packaging, and of course to save the buyer.

A registration phase is also required on the Amazon website, with the obtaining of user code and password before placing the purchase. Having a personal area allows you to monitor the purchase process, delivery times, etc.

The company offers privacy protection and advanced security.

The feedback system (review of the purchase or opinion on the seller) represents a suitable mechanism to expose the possible misconduct of the seller, who would be exposed to his behavior.
Amazon also offers the possibility of having an Amazon Prime account (paid service). This service allows you to have same day shipments, discounts, and other facilities.

Buying and selling between users


Subito.it is a large, completely Italian ad portal: buying and selling between private individuals of the most varied types of goods. The portal works through advertisements of the type for sale, or wanted, which provide for the insertion of advertisements or to make transactions for already existing advertisements. The portal leverages the agreement between buyer and seller to complete the sale, for example for payment methods, and the collection of the goods.

There is a registration phase for the insertion of the advertisement, and the service is mainly free.
There is a paid service to give greater visibility to your sales announcement, which otherwise would queue as more sales announcements are inserted.

Online shopping on eBay


eBay has been the first e-commerce site since 1996. A wide variety of items can be purchased on the platform, and it has the structure of a shop with shop windows.
eBay does not deal with shipping and selling but hosts several professionals, or not, who do it. On the other side, there is a community of buyers, who can be simple private individuals or professionals.

The platform is considered safe for online purchases, and its strength is the feedback mechanism. This mechanism allows shedding light on the possible incorrect behavior of the sellers.
Each advertiser offers its own service for packaging, delivery times, and payment methods. Items offered for sale can be either new or used. eBay is not responsible for delays, or for the condition of the item.

eBay is a kind of broker, which uses its own counterparty protection guidelines.
Most of the transactions are settled with Paypal.
Online shopping on Italian platforms: ePrice

ePrice is an Italian platform for online purchases of items of different kinds: sports, technology, personal products, etc. There is a registration phase (free), after which you can make purchases at affordable prices.

This platform also offers the Pick and Pay service: it is possible to collect the purchased goods directly from the nearest ePrice point, thus saving shipping costs.
High are the security standards both for privacy and for the protection of the payment transaction data. Other sites for safe online shopping are, among many, Zalando, Wish, Kijiji, Bonprix, etc.

Buying online: conclusions


The world of online shopping, on the Internet, has grown and grown exponentially, and it is now possible to find any type of goods online.

In addition to the preliminary advice provided above, in order to be able to choose a site for our online purchases, it is good to consider the presence of reviews on the internet. Maybe they can be considered "trivial", but the reviews have the strength to bring to light deception and scams suffered by buyers before us, who have turned to a certain seller.
If you use platforms that are not correctly translated into Italian, it is perhaps better to evaluate carefully. The same goes for little-known platforms: you cannot be sure of the correctness and seriousness of the company behind it.

On the payment methods, we say that it is better to prefer Paypal which offers a protection service against goods that have not arrived (dispute and opening of a refund procedure). If not possible, perhaps it is better to opt for a form of payment on delivery, and if not possible a prepaid credit card.
Maybe it can be a discounted advice, but it is good to pay attention to the internet, to the online purchase of super discounted products, or offered at too low a price, especially if it is quality items or fashion items of famous brands.

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