5 Tips to safe online trading for buyers
By in Blogging, Webmaster on 15th December 2007This one is not just for webmasters, anyone who buys something online should be paranoid of their surroundings, these are just little things that you should be careful of while dealing with online sellers.
Payment options
While buying sites over at sitepoint i realized that so many transactions that are done through a non-reversible method end up in the buyer getting scammed - Always choose a method of payment that can be reversed and the person you are dealing with has a good reputation or atleast some good seller reviews (Most of the sites around have them these days!)
Google him/her/them/it
Yep i mean it, whenever you are gonna buy something google every tiny detail on them, that way you can see if there was any recent news or mention about them, this is not as effective but it works sometimes you find scammer threads outta no where and thats one heck of a sign not to deal with someone.
Get a 3rd Opinion
Always ask your friends or associates if not them then hire a professional in that line of work to ask for his opinion on the product or service that you are going to aquire - testimonials are good too but ya never know if he rigged them.
Terms of business
You should read the terms on which the buyer is selling the product or service, there are always loop holes within the contract/sales page such as “buy at your own risk” - “may cause permanent damage” - “no refunds if a particular part of the product is broken” that last one happened to me, apparently that “particular” part on the laptop was already broken and on the lightest touch it fell off and i was left high and dry…
Do it Face to Face if..
…you are dealing with bigger sums like in 5 or 6 figures, those kind of deals should not be dealt via email or just phone, if the seller hesitates in meeting face to face then you have alot to worry about, why would anyone want to hide from you when you are going to give them a 5 figure sum? Doesn’t make sense? well yah thats the point, thats why you should be careful.
Consider this an unofficial tip: You should never let people sweet talk you into buying anything, you have your own opinions and you should stick to them no matter what the sales person tells you, mostly people fall for slick marketing pitches like “Make a million! Spending nothing!” - And they deliver zilch..if its too good to be true, then it is.
December 15th, 2007 at 8:55 pm
See if the merchant has been validated by an independent certifier, like http://www.websitepromotek.com/. This is a very effective menas of verifying if the merchant can be relied on.
December 15th, 2007 at 8:57 pm
Thats true, but after all you can’t depend on anyone else for your own safety. Its always better to take the necessary precautions yourself
December 22nd, 2007 at 7:16 pm
These are definitely good points to consider before you leap into on-line purchasing. Although there is always a risk of getting a ‘raw deal’, you can always take the necessary steps to mitigate that risk.
December 22nd, 2007 at 7:18 pm
very thank you for your tip.
December 23rd, 2007 at 5:51 pm
Thank you for telling us this. The tips are good. Im gonna use them when i trade on internet.
December 23rd, 2007 at 9:45 pm
Thank you very much for the tips it will really help me next time I buy or sell something.
December 23rd, 2007 at 10:46 pm
Defintley some tips to do business by. Great post!
December 24th, 2007 at 1:24 am
Thanks for the tips. Definitely the 2nd one, use your resources and know them well. A simple search of an email address, a username can lead to threads, websites, etc that can let you know a lot about a seller or buyer. Very important, highly recommend checking different search engines, not just Google.com for optimum results.
December 24th, 2007 at 2:16 am
Omg tahnks for tips! I will use it in feature , well done !
December 24th, 2007 at 4:04 am
Not sure I agree with the last one about meeting face to face always being a necessity. I think escrow goes a long way toward dealing with that issue in larger transactions where it would be geographically difficult to meet.
December 24th, 2007 at 10:26 pm
I don`t like buying things from the internet, just domains and licenses nothing else .
December 27th, 2007 at 5:16 am
Good tips. I would especially recommend not to use virtual items for PayPal because the buyer can use reverse chargeback and PayPal would refund them their money.
December 27th, 2007 at 6:16 am
These are definitely good points to consider before purchase on-line. there’s always that risk so never ship internationally either.
December 27th, 2007 at 7:25 am
I agree on the last option..no other way of making it than that
December 27th, 2007 at 9:24 am
With paypal, you cant file complaints and usually get your money back when scammed.
December 28th, 2007 at 1:16 pm
thanks for the valuable suggestions, i am starting in the field and this could be my life saver tips.
January 13th, 2008 at 12:24 am
Agree with last option.You shouldn’t risk with sums like that.