Doing your research is the key to safe online shopping. If you've never bought anything online before, ask your family and friends for advice and try to find out more about the company you want to do business with, and give your credit card information.
All of this is important because the more you know about your purchase, the better off you will be if something goes wrong with it. If the website is for a local business, you should always look for the street address, phone number, and other information. If you aren't sure about a company's track record, you should do some research online. You can search for complaints and the company name on Google Forums.
When you're ready to buy and you're sure you're on a reliable website, do the following:
1. Check the product's description, price (including shipping costs), currency, taxes, and other warranty information. You should be able to confirm or cancel your order before you pay for it on a good shopping site.
2. Check to see how you can pay, like with a credit card, a money order, a check, or something else. Most of the time, it's safe to pay with a credit card like Visa or Mastercard, which have chargeback policies and won't hold you responsible for goods that aren't delivered or transactions that aren't yours.
3. You should make sure that the website's checkout is safe because Secure Socket Layer (SSL) is the most common way to protect shopping websites. This is because it encrypts your personal information as it travels over the web.
4. Check to see where your information will be stored in the future. Some online businesses store your information on a secure server or delete it after the transaction is complete.
