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A Guide: Shopping on the internet
by Ian Rochat (ianr@rnrtech.com)
Shopping online - Introduction
In general, shopping online is as safe or safer than traditional shopping methods as long as you follow a few simple rules.
Given, if you only shop with cash
at stores and never use a debit or credit card, then you are probably more safe than with any other means of shopping
(although you should read the note about PayPal below).
But for most people, who shop with debit or credit cards, you have to trust the person or company who you are doing
business with. They could easily copy your credit card number down and use it later, of course most don't.
Nowadays many credit card companies have protection in place for you, so that if somebody were to use your credit card number
illegally, you would get all those charges reversed. This protection is generally extended whether you use your card to do online
or offline shopping these days. You will have to read the policy from the bank that issued you the credit card to find out
exactly what your coverage is. If it does not sound reasonable, seriously consider transferring your funds to a company with
a more reasonable protection policy that has you, the consumer, in mind.
Alright, now that we've gotten some of the basics out of the way let's actually discuss online shopping in a little more
detail. As with any shopping experience you always run the risk of doing business with the rare con artist or criminal who
will use your credit card elsewhere. The difference, of course, between online and offline is all you see is a website and
you can't get a feel for the person or business as easily. There are, however, some places you can go for a little help on
deciding whether or not you want to shop somewhere.
Smart shopping online - Trusting a website
First, if the site has a Better Business Bureau (BBB online) logo on it, you can check that out, click on the logo and make
sure it is valid. When clicking on the logo you will end up on the bbbonline.org website where it will show you how that
company stands with the Better Business Bureau.
If a site doesn't have a BBB online logo, then you can always try to see if it has reviews or is rated anywhere else. Since
most online shopping sites are not a member of the Better Business Bureau, this is a good option to take.
There are a few comparison shopping sites out there were customers can rate stores based on their shopping experiences.
You an try to look up a stores rating on one of these to see if it is listed, or you can of course, just to your shopping
using one of these and looking at the store ratings. Some of the ones that I have had the most luck with are:
BizRate.com and
DealTime.com (which I believe is also owned by the same company as Shopping.com and Epinions.com).
These are good sources for how trustworthy a store is because these reviews are by people who have actually done business
with them.
And even if a business doesn't have a BBB online logo, you can always make sure they are not listed in bad standing by
going directly to the BBB online website (http://www.bbbonline.org) and searching
for the website or company name.
Of course, many may not know, but both the Better Business Bureau and comparison shopping sites cost the business money.
For the BBB it costs a business an annual fee, which varies depending on state and number of employees, to be a member.
And shopping comparison sites charge the business a fee for each time a person clicks on their store (go to their website).
So these costs can add up quickly for any business, but it will often times leave small businesses out of the picture
altogether. So if you're like me and you like to spend money with smaller businesses (as long as they are competitive
-- not just because they're small), or you can't find as good a deal on other sites, or even the same item on other sites
then you may just have to trust your gut. Sometimes you just have to weed through all the marketing and make sure
everything you see on their site really seems to be legitimate, and just follow your gut -- but don't do it blindly.
You can always test the water with a smaller order first and see how that is handled if it's a place you may want to shop
at in the future. And as with any online shopping experience be sure to follow the safe shopping tips below.
As a last attempt, if you're really unsure or want to just do your best to find out something about this business, you can
always try doing a Google search on the business name and/or the website address.
This will sometimes come up with some websites that mention bad experiences with the company or website. But often times
it doesn't come up with anything.
Safe online shopping tips
There are some common sense things which many who are new to the internet or to shopping on the internet may not be aware of.
I will briefly outline some good online shopping practices that everybody should follow. These are actually more like
online shopping rules as opposed to tips. Not to scare you or to discourage you from shopping online, but as long as you follow
these shopping tips you will have a safe online shopping experience. If you don't follow these suggestions you are opening
yourself up for others to steal your information.
Never send credit card or critical information in an e-mail. This is extremely important. The reason being is that
e-mail travels through MANY computer systems before reaching it's final destination and for those who are looking for it,
credit card information would be an easy thing to grab from a user on any one of those systems that your e-mail travels
through. E-mail is simply NOT SECURE for critical information. If a website or person is requesting credit card information
to be sent through e-mail then simply DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THEM. It is a bad business practice to ask for credit card
information through e-mail, even if they are trustworthy, because it opens the door for anybody to steal your information.
Before entering credit card information, make sure the website is secure. Once you are at the web page where they
are asking for your credit card information you need to look and make sure the address of the web page begins with "https://"
 and NOT just "http://". This is the protocol used on the web page, S stands for secure, and if it's not there then it cannot
be secure. If it is only "http://" DO NOT enter your credit card information. Just like e-mail web pages have to travel
through many computer systems before they reach their destination, so if the data being send is not secure (encrypted) then
it will be an easy target for anybody to steal your credit card information. Now if it does start with "https://" then you
can make one final check to make sure you are OK, and that is to make sure your browser says it has a secure connection.
 This will vary from browser to browser, however generally this is a lock symbol (like a locked padlock) located in the lower
right corner of your browser window. If the padlock is locked then you are OK to proceed. If you do not see a lock symbol,
don't use the site.
Those two steps just mentioned above are very simple and quick to do. It shouldn't take you longer than 30 seconds to glance
and make sure the site is secured. And it could save you from somebody stealing your credit card information.
PayPal - another option, for some sites
There is a service (now owned by eBay) called PayPal. PayPal is sort of like an online bank. You can create an account with
them for free and your account name is your e-mail address. Businesses can do the same thing. You then give PayPal some
payment information such as a credit card and/or bank account number. PayPal will then go through a verification process with
you, we won't get into details on this, but it will involve a small fee (less than $2) that you will get back once verified.
And you WILL be verified as long as it is your bank account or credit card. After you have gone through all this you are now
setup with a PayPal account which you can use to make online purchases with business that also have a PayPal account. The
good thing about this is that when you make a payment to somebody with a PayPal account all you give them is your e-mail address.
They NEVER see your credit card or bank account numbers. Only PayPal has that information, so they are the trusted middleman.
This is almost as good as using cash and not having to worry about the store you are shopping at using your credit card. In
order to make a payment from a PayPal account you need to know the password for the account. So you are protected from somebody
charging to your PayPal account unless they know your password.
All that said, many businesses don't offer PayPal as a method of payment. So you will only be able to use your PayPal account
if you are doing business with a company who offers that as a payment option, otherwise you will have to use your credit card
like usual.
Shopping sites on the web
Here are some places you can go to shop online (I have personally shopped at all of these):
| Amazon | - | Nice place to buy all kinds of stuff. I usually buy DVDs or electronics here. |
| eBay | - | Online auction site, you can find all kinds of stuff here, sold by other people or businesses. |
| Half.com | - | Owned by eBay this is a fixed price site with people and businesses selling. I usually by my CDs here. |
| Newegg.com | - | A great place to buy computer accessories and computer components. This is where I buy all my computer-related items. |
| Deep Discount DVD | - | Great prices on DVD's (and FREE shipping), I usually compare between here and Amazon (and this place usually wins). I buy most of my DVDs here. |
Comparison shopping sites:
| Bizrate.com | - | Comparison shopping, ratings, and reviews. |
| DealTime.com | - | Comparison shopping, ratings, and reviews. |
| Froogle.com | - | Comparison shopping only (free for businesses to list on). |
Other related sites:
| BBB Online | - | The Better Business Bureau Online -- Good for looking up how trustworthy a business is. |
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