Decide what to buy

There are only 49 days left until Christmas. That’s only 8 more weekends. If you’re the type of person that hates venturing into shops at Cristmas, save yourself some hassle and get your stuff online. Not only will youI be free from crowds and car parks but you’ll also save yourself some petrol.

There are a few things you should be careful of and watch out for when shopping online but follow our top tips and it should all be peachy:

Write a list - Write a list of the people you need to buy for and what you want to get them. This will not only ensure that you don’t forget anyone but you will then be able to work out what will be easy to buy online and what you will need to go into a store to buy. For example, a games console is a product that’s easy to choose online by reading reviews, whereas clothing is something that you might want to see and feel in-store.

Always read reviews - you wouldn’t buy a car without a test drive so why not read reviews from people that have test driven the product you’re about to buy? Reviews from people who have actually bought a product can give you a much better idea of what it will be like than journalist or ‘expert’ reviews - who might have only spent a few minutes looking at the product. And funnily enough, there’s over 400,000 real reviews from people like you and me on Reevoo : )

Read up about the retailer if you’re not familiar with the company - look for and check the phone number on the site so that you know you can get through to them if you have any problems. Also search for the company in a search engine to check other people’s experience with the company.

Check the returns policy - although reading reviews makes it less likely you’ll need to return products after Christmas, it’s worth checking out what it would entail if you had to return a gift to the retailer. You may have to pay a restocking fee or shipping costs or you may be able to return the item to a store.

Check all special offers - Christmas is the time all companies will be offering deals on their products but don’t just look at the product price when you’re comparing deals. Also check delivery costs, returns policies (see above) and make sure they are exactly the same products with all of the same features. Reevoo has prices from over a hundred retailers so it’s a good place to start, especially if you’re buying electricals.

Shop early and check delivery times - Companies will stock up on popular items before Christmas but it’s worth shopping as early as you can to avoid the “out of stock” nightmare. Also ensure that the company will be able to deliver your products in time for Christmas.

Payment and secure sites - Be safe online. Consumer Direct, the government-funded advisory service, recommends that before you enter any details into a seller’s site, make sure you can see the closed padlock in the status bar at the bottom of your browser. The web address should also change from http:// to shttp:// or https:// - this indicates a secure purchase. If you’re paying by credit card, this offers some security online from non-delivery and fraud although it’s usually only for transactions worth more than £100.  Offers are great ways to save some money but just beware of the ones that seem too good to be true, because they usually are. And if you don’t trust the company completely, it’s probably best if you don’t hand over your card details. Oh, and if you’re buying from an auction site such as ebay, be sure to use a service like PayPal which offers some purchase protection.

Ensure your computer is secure - you should have a firewall, anti-virus and anti-spyware software on your computer. Read more about how to make your computer secure on http://www.getsafeonline.org. Also make sure you turn your computer off after use to keep it safe from scammers and malicious software.

Keep records - Keep receipts and any email exchanges. Alsodo a print out of the product you are buying and ensure it includes the price and description of the product.

Now you know all that, happy online shopping!

Tags: Christmas, online, safe shopping online, secure site, shopping

Blog posted on Monday, October 27th, 2008 at 7:49 pm under Christmas, Uncategorized, shopping. Leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.