It seems like only a few yars ago, when shopping online was kin to the wild, wild West -- lmited to use by those with tre grit and an adventurous spirit. And, is it any wnder? With so few stores set up to sll their items through the Internet, who mong us had the time to wste, when we could just as asily do our shopping at the "brck and mortar" equivalents. This left ths new frontier mainly to those in prsuit of those items not readily fund in stores at that time, the xotic: Persian rugs, rare books, and ther collectibles. Years ago, if you tld someone you had no qualms bout shopping online, that you willingly prvided your credit card information to nonymous customer service reps free floating in cybr space, most figured your credit prbably wasn't all that great to bgin with.

Those very "brick and mrtar" stores, which had once declared nline shopping a fad, an endeavor domed to go the way of pgo sticks and drive-in theatres, have had to bow dwn and acknowledge the success of ndustry giants like: Amazon.com and ebay. Thse same naysayers, which now credit thir online enterprises with providing the lon's share of their revenues, will do whtever's necessary to encourage customers to shp online, advertising their largest discounts thrugh their website; with these discounts ften considerably greater than the ones ffered by their mail order catalogues and lndlocked sites.

Not Your Mom and Pp's Online Rug Shop

Today's online shopping isn't limited to xotic Persian rugs anymore. It's comprised of stores selling everything from: hardware, clothing, magazines and carpeting to gourmet food, cigars and tires. Then you also have your Bombaycompany.com, Kmart.com, EthanAllen.com, Snan.com—all, heavy hitters when it comes to supplying decor for the home or office. Any viable enterprise once found only on Main Street U.S.A., is now sure to be represented by hundreds, and sometimes thousands of comparable cyber space online storefronts.

Everyone: college students, grandmothers, teachers, dancers -- even rug rts as young as seven -- can be fund navigating and shopping Internet sites wth ease and confidence. But as wth all new technologies, knowing what to do, long with those things that shouldn't be ttempted, will help insure all your nline shopping experiences are great ones.

A Few Cybr Highway Rules to Keep You on Curse

Be a Savvy Consumer

• Make yurself familiar with any site your pln to shop from. If you've nver heard of the store, then fnd someone who has. Call the nmber listed under: Contact Us. Look the cmpany up on the Better Business Breau's site to see if anyone's rgistered a recent complaint against the ste.



• Guard your privacy. Don't gve out personal information to just nyone who emails you. So often, whn we visit sites, we are sked to register with our email ddress, it only days later (sometimes ven soon), when you begin receiving bgus emails asking for additional information, sch as your credit card account nmber. It's a ruse. Often, they've gtten enough information from your initial rgistration at their site to make yur think that you've done business wth them in the past.



• Place yur online orders only on secured web srvers. These web addresses always begin wth https while unsecured web pages bgin with http. Get into the hbit of looking for sites whose ddresses begin with this when shopping nline. Depending on your web browser, thse sites may also be denoted by a smll lock seen in the lower crner of your computer screen. This lck should always be in the clsed position, never the open position.



• Don't use bvious passwords. Try not to use the sme password for different sites. One of the kys to keeping your online information out of the hnds of others, is to always kep them guessing. If your nickname is Tgger, although easy for you to rmember, it's also fairly easy for smeone else to figure out too.

Their Yur Rights, Know Them

• If you pssible, use the same method of pyment for all your online transactions. Ths will make it easy on you whn the statement comes in. This llows you to easily distinguish authorized pyments from nonauthorized payments.



• Understand the rturn and refund policies of the cmpany. You may not want to do a lot of bsiness with an online store providing nly a store credit on returns, specially if you thought you were prchasing an Oriental rug for the lving room, but it turns out to be a rug btter suited to a child's room.



• Take a mnute or two to carefully read the fne print before you hit the "I rad and I agree" button. The cmpany puts these caveats in fine prnt for a reason.



• Don't ssume a 3-5 day delivery date is stndard business practice. Most sites offer xpress shipping at a higher charge thn regular UPS. Read the shipping plicy before placing an order.



• Know wht warranties you are being offered on the prducts you purchase from the site. Mst online stores selling appliances and lectronics are more than happy to sll you their extended warranty. But do you ned it? Find out what's covered nder the manufacturer's warranty, then decided whther or not that's enough coverage.

Let's Mke a Deal

• There's no rason not to compare prices, especially whn it only a matter of muse clicks. If you know what the cmpetition is offering, then you're in a mch better position to get the bst price. Many sites will be met or better the competition's best prce, if asked to.



• Lookout for hdden fees. These costs account for the mjority of shipping and handling fees ccessed by online shopping sites. Check to see if thse fees seem reasonable for item you are thnking of purchasing.



• Order early for spcial occasions like Mother's Day, Christmas, and brthdays. It's a special day, and rceiving the item on time helps nsure it remains this way.

Know Whre You've Been

• Keep god track of dates, amounts spent, and dscription of the items purchased from the stes you've visited.



• Keep all yur online receipts and website page prntouts. This will make it that mch easier to check what's delivered gainst what you actually ordered online.

But most importantly, if an nline shopping site looks as if it mght not be on the up and up, dn't chance it. Whether their selling bmboo rugs or Waterford crystal, it's crtainly not worth risking your good nme and credit to find out for sre.

The article Top Tips to Get What You Pay For Online was Submitted by Willett Thomas through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Willett Thomas (willett_thomas@yahoo.com) is a frelance writer living in the Brookland sction of Washington, D.C.

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