Online shopping has turned out to be boon for Indians, though it started somewhat late in India, nevertheless most of us now prefer to shop online and websites like Flipakart, Snapdeal, Paytm are game changers.There are advantages as well as disadvantages of buying online and many of us are still not confident or comfortable shopping online.
Here are few do’s and dont’s:
First and foremost: Choose only reputed and most trusted websites. To name a few, Flipkart, Snapdeal, Paytm, Myntra, FirstCry, Amazon, Jabong, Yepme(The list is endless, and depending on your personal shopping experience with a particular site, the trust gets built).
TWO: After the site, it’s best to choose products from a most trusted/rated seller on those sites. For instance, WSRetail on Flipkart is the most trusted seller as the complaint ratio against this seller would be the least. Each site has a rating for their sellers based on certain criteria and you can select to buy a product from such sellers whose rating is highest.
THREE: Always try to buy a branded product. Non-branded products may sound cheaper but then it will always come with a doubt in mind-if it will work, if it will last and so on.
FOUR: Check user reviews before you decide to make the purchase. See, what others who brought this product have to say.(may be compare the product on few other sites)
FIVE: Make sure that you have done enough study of the product/make/brand that you want to buy and in general - that is the one you have zeroed in to buy.
SIX: Check Return/Cancellation/Refund policies.
SEVEN: Make sure there exists a proper Customer Care center and you have not faced any problems with them earlier.
EIGHT: Check on Shipping Charges.
NINE: If you are concerned about CC usage, ensure you use CoD.
TEN: For costlier and bigger items make sure, there is service provided in terms of installation etc.
Dont’s: There are not many of these - as personally I feel, there is not much harm in purchasing online, if you follow the above do’s.
First: Do not fall prey to cheap prices - cheap prices may mean cheap products too! Do not forget, there are no free lunches in this world - nobody is running a business for charity, everybody wants to make profits.
TWO: Do not get carried away with advertisements floating around and decide to buy from a "not-so-well-known" shopping sites. There may be so many fake sites selling fake products around.
THREE: Do not declare any personal information or credit card details if you are not sure about the website or their process.
FOUR: This is more generic advice - Do not get addicted:) Take control of your finances and your needs.
This is what I could think of - please add in comments, if you know of any more.