Webjugate

Shopping online has become what would seem to be a national past-time, and is marvelous for the consumer - it’s made it very easy to shop. Moreover, a more competitive market incorporated with low running costs has determined low prices for items.

Even so, as the shopping market has enlarged, so too has the need to be cognizant of your rights as a consumer, and what to do if you are in receipt of items that don’t even turn up or faulty goods. Data is made public on the internet, like the consumer protection act 1987.

You also need to be aware of what payment provider to use to pay for something, as each payment gateway has its own terms and conditions. For example, Paypal are an independent arbiter only for physical goods, not digital downloads. Doing your research can prevent you getting cheated by internet fraud.

Our word to the wise is to do your preparation regarding the vendor : do they show their postal address and phone number? What is the vendor’s privacy policy? Their returns policy? Their terms? All these enquiries must be answered prior to considering buying from the seller.

Another very important point to consider: what are the methods of purchase? These days, it’s not enough to merely look for a Secure Socket Layer Certificate - this won’t tell you how they store your data, only how it’s transferred when you make the order. If in doubt, only buy from sellers who use third party payment gateways such as Google Checkout, PayPal, SagePay, NoChex and WorldPay.Also you can see what reputation the seller has with his payment provider, e.g. check his PayPal account and how many transactions have happened on this particular account.