We all love online shopping for its simplicity and convenience, however, among the main disadvantages of this method of acquiring the things we need, there is such a phenomenon as a high probability of running into scammers, left without money and without goods. However, even in our country, not everything is so bad, and you can easily avoid meeting dishonest sellers if you follow a few simple tips …
They are greeted by clothes
Once on the main page of an online store you are interested in, you can find out a lot of important information about it:
- URL In 99.9% of cases, large and reliable sites do not spare money for a second-level domain (www.name.ru), and in the overwhelming majority of cases, sites placed in this way can be trusted, but sites with a third-level domain (www.name.narod. ru) are hosted free of charge, and therefore it is better to stay away from such stores.
- Design. The appearance of the site is one of the most striking signs of the (in) competence of the resource owner. The pleasant appearance and logical structure of the sections speaks not only of the large budget spent on the development of the site, but also of the serious approach of the creators to their business.
- Product cards. When filling an online store, it is important to provide customers with as many high-quality photos and information about the offered goods as possible (in our case, about the equipment, including its dimensions, technical capabilities and basic operational characteristics). If all this is not there, it is better to look for the desired product on other sites.
- Price. As you know, free cheese is only in a mousetrap. Even not the smartest client should understand that with a too low cost, a fraudster is most likely hiding under the guise of a bona fide seller.
The easiest and fastest way to check the average price for a particular item is to use various aggregator services like Yandex Market or Price.ru.
- Grammatical errors, inoperative search, broken links and an abundance of annoying advertisements (especially not related to the theme of the store in question) should at least alert you.
- On the Internet, you can find all the data on site traffic, when and to whom the domain is registered. If the store has appeared recently, has foreign hosting and is registered under some dubious name (for example, Kirill Kirillovich Kirillov or Niko Belich), then for sure, on the other side of the screen, crooks are ready to welcome you with open arms.
- The view statistics are also very indicative: it is certainly not worth transferring money to a site with a dozen or more visitors a day. The main page usually contains information about the owner, legal entity or individual. It would be nice to find out in state databases and details of the organization, TIN, current account, and so on.
Reviews
The most elementary way to form a first subjective opinion about a store is to simply google its name, and then familiarize yourself with the pages on which there are discussions of the resource you are interested in. Often, buyers write reviews on special forums and social networks. However, there are also pitfalls here: if you find too many negative or positive reviews on one page, chances are high that most of them are 'bought'.
Office availability
- Every normal online store should have an office, and it shouldn't be an apartment. And usually the site always has a section with contacts, where you can find a physical address, phone number, email, Skype and other vital data for clients.
If the store did not arouse suspicion on all of the above points, it is worth spending a few minutes of free time (especially when there is an expensive purchase) and call the phone number indicated on the website to ask a couple of questions of an organizational nature (for example, to clarify the opening hours, coordinates of the point of issue of goods and so on). If for each question you are told to wait a few minutes for an answer or are sent to the site for the necessary information, you should not take the risk and look for the desired product elsewhere.
Payment
- This is a very important point. First of all, remember that if the seller requires only 100 percent advance payment, then it is clearly better not to contact him.
I will repeat once again: the site must have bank details for payment. Yes, payment using systems like Qiwi, Webmoney or Yandex.Money is acceptable, but not as the main payment method.
- Do not repeat one of the most common mistakes of modern buyers: in no case (even if required when placing an order) information about your bank cards.
Warranty and return of goods
- One of the essential sections of any online store – especially when it comes to electronics – should contain information about the terms of the warranty and return of goods. If there is no such section or it indicates that exchange and return is impossible (and by law all products from the category of gadgets are subject to exchange), then it is definitely better not to consider such a platform for making an acquisition that is important for you and your family.