We buy more and more through the internet as reflected by all the statistics. It is comfortable and, many times, cheaper. But, as with everything, you have to be careful to avoid problems. These seven tips will help you get your online shopping right.
The sustained growth of around 20% per year of electronic commerce in Spain certifies that we buy more and more online. According to data from the National Commission on Markets and Competition (CNMC), the tourism sector (travel and airline tickets) and textiles (clothing) generate the highest income.
As volume grows, fraud also grows and it is necessary to follow some simple security tips to avoid scares in online purchases.
Information and transparency
All the product data must be perfectly specified, to be sure that what you buy is what you really want to buy. If you lack information, do not make the purchase. You also have to make sure that the delivery times and costs are detailed.
Customer Reviews
Before making the purchase it is always good to take a look at the comments of other buyers, both about the product and the service of the store: how long it takes to get there, the attention it gives to customers …
Payment gateway
You have to pay close attention to the payment gateway, which complies with all security protocols. Many cards already include a double factor: the code sent to your mobile to authorize the operation. It is the critical moment of any purchase and you have to make sure that in the browser bar the address that appears begins with https (the key is at that end). It is essential for the connection to be private.
Contact with the company
Online stores must have a file with all the details of the company: physical address and, above all, the NIF are a guarantee that we are dealing with a business with everything in order. It is also important to check if there is a contact telephone number that can be called if there is a problem.
Return policy
The Community rules, which are subject to all natural and shops online within the territory of the EU, fixed within 14 days to make any returns without justification. In this case, many times you can find yourself having to pay the shipping costs of the return, even if the original purchase did not have shipping costs. Online stores usually have a section with their return policy.
Secure purchase stamp
In many online stores based in Spain you will have seen a small stamp, usually on the bottom corner of the website or in the column on the right, which says Trust Online. It is a certification endorsed by this body, driven by Self-monitoring and digital, which guarantees the reliability of that store. That it does not have it does not mean that it is fraudulent, but if it does, there are guarantees that it does things correctly.
Way to pay
Depending on the payment systems that the commerce allows, there are many alternatives to pay without exposing your credit card.
One of the options is to have a prepaid card: it will only have the balance that you have charged and therefore they will never be able to use it to charge you with purchases of great value that you have not made.
You can also use virtual wallets like the googlepay service! or the classic Paypal. Thus, the store does not have access to your card data, but it is this second service that saves them and from where the payment is made.
And, if the store does not give these possibilities, we resorted to the classic of the purchase by catalog since long before the Internet existed: the cash on delivery, in which you pay the carrier when you receive it at home. If you bought records through Discoplay it surely sounds familiar to you.
