There are a lot of perks when it comes to shopping online. You can get amazing deals and promos that you wouldn’t get in a physical store. You also don’t need to get out of the house and spend money on gas, on top of saving you so much time. Like every shopping method, online shopping has its own good and bad side; not everything about online shopping is all rainbows and unicorns. There are also risks that you have to be aware of. It’s best to know what these are, so your online shopping experience will be safe and enjoyable. 

1. SECURE DEVICE USED FOR BUYING

If you are using a computer, you must always make sure that it is free from viruses, malware or any harmful content. This is so that it won’t fool you to buy something from a fake website. Another important thing is to ensure that you are protected from malicious softwares and websites that ask for your personal and financial information because they can easily hack it. You should also avoid any financial transactions if you are using a public network. This also works for tablets and smartphones, you have to be careful giving out and saving passwords on malicious websites.

2. MAKE SURE THE WEBSITE/MERCHANT IS LEGITIMATE

This is one of the major mistakes people make when shopping online. They sometimes forget to check if it is a legitimate online shopping website.

It is best to look for reviews about the items and the seller. The more reviews you see, the more you can trust the seller. You can also contact the ones who made the reviews if you want just to be sure. If you already know that the store can be trusted, then you don’t have anything to worry about, but then again, it wouldn’t hurt to still check out some positive reviews if it would help you sleep at night. Doing a background check on an online shop is free and not illegal because that is technically the consumer’s rights.

3. IS IT TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE?

Even in the real world, if something is too good to be true, it’s likely that it’s not true. What more on the internet? There are so many fake people online who use fake names and photos to fool others. Online stores are no exception. If you come across a product online with a very low price, there is a 90% chance it is too good to be true.

You have to think of the possible reasons why the merchant is selling his items for such a low price. Did the seller acquire his items legally or not? There are a lot of people who became victims because of this. There is someone who bought a brand new iPhone 7 but when he finally got it, he received an iPhone 3GS and an iPhone 4 instead. And there’s a lady who bought a Tiffany and Co. bracelet online, but got a fake one from China. So you really have to be meticulous about this matter so you wouldn’t fall for this trap. One thing you can do is to ask for photos of transactions with other customers and an actual photo of the item you want to buy.

4. USE A SAFE PAYMENT SERVICE LIKE PAYPAL

PayPal is probably the most trusted online payment services there is today. It is very safe and convenient. And you can use it almost everywhere, around the world. Since you are shopping online, it is highly recommended to use PayPal instead of connecting your bank account or credit card into the shopping website. Anyone can hack your account on that website and get all your information, including your bank account and credit card details, since not all online stores have a secure site — and even then some of them still get hacked.

Or if you don’t want to use PayPal, it is best to have a credit card that is designated for online shopping transactions so if the card gets compromised and you can shut it down right away when you need to, without having to worry too much.