1. How Did You Hear of the Product or Service? Word of mouth is always the best advertising. However, there are trusted sources online for many products and services. I conduct a lot of business online and have found a lot of great products and services while surfing the net. If you follow these steps they will help you to find trusted companies to buy from when shopping online
2. The Good and Bad of Bulk Email Folders. Today with all the spam filters a lot of our email goes to bulk mail folders. This can be both good or bad. Sometimes mail you want gets mixed into your bulk email folder. I usually check through my bulk email before I delete it. Once in a while there is a good offer.
I do a quick check by first looking at who sent the email and the subject heading. Never open attachments unless you first check with the sender. This is the number one rule to avoid getting viruses from your emails. (If you have anti-virus software use it often!)
If you see something in the bulk email folder that interests you, the first thing you should do is send them a reply. Sometimes you will get an immediate response that your reply was undeliverable. This should immediately send a warning signal to your brain.
3. How Do I Quick Check the Website? If the email gets delivered, or even if it gets returned, and your curiosity still gets to you, try to visit the company web site. If they included the web site address (URL) in the email you might want to copy and paste it into your browser window. Remember do not download anything from emails or open attachments you did not request.
Once you get to the company web site you will want to see if there is an area that has the company contact information. You will want to see if there is at least a valid email address for anyone you want to do business with. A toll free telephone is a plus. However there are a lot of newer businesses starting out and they might not have a toll free phone number yet.
I have found that the quality of the web site might not guarantee integrity of the owners. Some of the simple web pages by people just starting out are just as good as those made by owners who have a lot of money to pay for professional web designers.
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4. Search for Similar Products. Once I find the product I am interested in on one site I will go to a "Search Engine" (there are many of these to use like Google for example) and see if there are better places to get the product. Usually you get a feeling from a particular site and you end up doing business, and shopping there. Sometimes it is just that they are located close to where you live.
5. Contact the Company Before You Buy Online. When I find the contact information I usually contact before I buy. If there is a toll free telephone number I might just order that way. When I do I always mention that I found the company when doing online shopping. A lot of time, effort and money goes into making and hosting a website so it is a courtesy to tell the company that the web site brought them the business.
6. Do Not Be Afraid of Online Shopping. I have been buying and selling online for over seven years. This past year I have been more cautious as I am learning more. My main advise is to avoid impulse buying online. Think about your purchase. Is this something you really need?
Once again I urge you to take the time to contact the company before you buy. Either make a telephone call or send them an email. This will give you a better feeling of security, and you will have some personal contact. After your initial purchase you will probably be a steady customer.
7. Pay the Smart Way. It is a good idea to pay for the product or service with a method that will give you a receipt. Usually you will get a receipt announcement in your email, or you can print one out at the time the transaction is completed. Some companies will email you the "Tracking Numbers" from the shipper if you request it. A lot of credit card companies have protection plans for people who like shopping online. You might want to check to see if your card company offers this. Some of the "Pay On-line" services offer inexpensive insurance for purchases and also have methods for handling disputes. I have been very happy with each company I have conducted on-line business with.
I hope these seven tips I use before I buy on-line have helped you to break into the world of on-line shopping. I love to shop on-line. It is so economical with the high price of gasoline, and I can shop when I want to shop. I am not limited to the stores hours of business. If you follow these steps I am sure you will begin to find some businesses that you enjoy buying from. Just remember, if there is no contact information, not even an email address,you should look for another place to do business. There are several great places for Online Shopping.
