Shop ’Til You

Drop... But

Safely

T

he convenience of shopping online is won-
derful. You can buy just about any product
or service online, any time of the day, any day of
the week. Return policies are usually generous.
(Although you may have to pay for return ship-
ping in addition to the original shipping, which
is the online equivalent of the time and gas it
costs you to return something to the mall.)

In addition to convenience, online shopping,
whether through a store, classified, or auction
site, provides a much larger selection than you
can find under one roof in a store in town. You
also have the ability to learn a lot more about
most products, compare brands and features,
read the product reviews of other customers
and see what kind of experience they had with
the store or seller. Another great benefit of
online shopping is that it almost always gets
you the best prices, out-of-state purchases may
be tax free, and shipping is often free or at
low cost.

Shopping safely, which we discuss in this chap-
ter, involves knowing who you’re doing busi-
ness with, understanding what information to
provide, avoiding scams, and knowing which
methods of payment are safest.

12

In this chapter...

➟Overview of Online

Shopping Safety ................248

➟Choose Safe Sites..............250

➟Make Online Purchases ......253

➟Sell on Classified Sites ......255

➟Buy on Classified Sites ......257

➟Payment Services ..............259

➟Online Auctions ................260

➟

Chapter