5 Tips to Shopping Online in 2018

In today’s digital world, the importance of creating an online presence cannot be overstated. The world wide web has made online shopping a lot easier and faster. Every brand that you love probably has an online store to cater to those who cannot physically go to shopping malls and outlets. You can shop for clothes, furniture, appliances and even your weekly groceries. You can pick your preferred delivery dates and even get discounts and freebies by promoting the online store to your family and friends. The possibilities are endless. However, there also consequences and risks associated with shopping online. Here are five tips that are helpful to avoid identity theft and other scams of online shopping.

  1.    Only Shop at Trusted Websites

When you are browsing the Internet and an advertisement for a 50% discount on bags pops up, your innate curiosity might lead you to click the ad. But, before you make any decisions about buying items, make sure that you do your research about the company. You can check out rating sites to verify the credibility of the sites or ask your family and friends if they have heard about the online store. Beware of misspellings especially on popular sites like Amazon and eBay (i.e. amazon.net when it should be amazon.com). You should also check the review and rating portion of the sites to find verified buyers that share their experience with the online shop.

  1.    Don’t Save Your Bank Information

Some e-commerce sites will ask you if you want to save your payment information when you checked out for future use. While this may give you convenience, there is also a risk that sensitive information is stolen and used to hijack your account. Personal information such as your credit card number, address, birthplace and parent information should be used with utmost caution.

  1.    Compare Multiple Online Shops Before Buying

Just because online shops are convenient, doesn’t necessarily mean that you should pay more. If you are looking for common items like gadgets, shoes, and clothes, try to visit more than one online shop to get the best deal in terms of price, payment method, additional charges, and shipping. Check out Dealdash Facebook page for exclusive deals and clearance sales that you can take advantage of.

  1.    Choose Secure Payment

Most of the trusted online stores have different payment methods to cater customer preference. You can pay using a debit card, a credit card, PayPal or any other virtual wallet. It is highly recommended that you talk an officer of your bank to get advice on what’s the best card or payment method for online shopping. Some stores will also offer cash on delivery (COD) which can be convenient and safe especially if you have some doubts about the quality of the delivery.

  1.    Secure your Devices

Make sure that you use different, strong and unique passwords for each of the online stores. Change the password as often as possible. Don’t share your login information. You can use a third-party password key application to store all your passwords in one place. If you are using your laptop or computer, make a habit to log out of the website when you are done. If you are using a tablet or a mobile phone to shop online, you can set additional security such as touch ID or face ID.

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