Thinking about online shopping, today more people are shopping online than ever before. There is a number of reasons why there is such an interest and attraction to buying online, convenience Accessibility, shopping at your finger tips right from your computer, diversity of products for sale. A lot of online shopping sites have become quite adept in offering their customers an unique shopping experience. Here is a list of general rules I follow when buying online.
- Search for well known established online shopping sites, that offer a great variety of products with ease of navigation, well defined product descriptions, sales on products, discounts, value deals and specials. If you enjoy browsing through an online shopping site the more the diverse that better your experience will be.
- Bookmark sites that you enjoy or are of interest to you, especially if you are searching for specific items to buy. In particular good online shopping sites have a “search bar” you can query to find certain products. If you are looking for major brand items, take that into consideration when searching. I do not like spending hours searching web for products to buy, that’s why if I find a great shopping site “it’s Bookmarked” so I can go there with the click of my mouse.
- As a general rule always shop with a debit card whenever possible, and always make transactions from a secure site. If you use a credit card! use it wisely, most people do! however remember what your card’s interest rate is and the amount of credit you have on the card. Keep in mind your credit card bill’s overall cost with interest included plus your existing balance, make sure you have the ability to pay off your debt.
- Shopping online will cost you shipping and handling fees, but I found them to be very reasonable, and in fact have found sites that offer free shipping and handling and or offer reductions in those cost.
- In general find sites that offer a picture of the product with description and warranty disclosure. If your like me I dislike getting in my car and physically going shopping through the holiday seasons. I tend to shop online during those peak times in order to avoid the crowd and traffic congestion.
- When you purchase a product online, and once you receive the item, save all packaging material, e.g: box, packing insulation, plastic enclosures and written materials. This will save you a lot of time in case you decide to return an item, rather than have to find your own packing materials because you discarded them in the trash. Read return and refund policies as established online shopping sites will cover the cost of shipping on returned purchases.