Purchase online in complete safety: Safe buying guide
Purchasing online today has become a common practice for many people. But still many are not entirely experienced or at least attentive to the important and fundamental things to purchase online and avoid bad surprises.
The convenience of online shopping is undeniable! Anyone who wants to buy any product but has no time to go to a physical store opts for online purchases. These are fast and practical. Indeed, with a simple click it is possible to make the most varied purchases.
Although it has become quite common as a practice, we often hear about internet fraud. This happens because the parameters that make a store or online website reliable are unconsciously ignored.
In this article we will explain the features that make an e-commerce website safe and reliable in the conditions and services offered.
We propose an interesting interview with the President of the Consortium of Italian Electronic Commerce (NETCOMM) about fraud and online forgery.
Parameters of reliability of an online website: company data
First of all, when you decide to make an online purchase, you must check the company data, ie company, VAT number, address, telephone number, e-mail address. In this case it will be possible to verify through a further research whether the company to which the website belongs is actually existing or not and whether the company and / or the website can be contacted by telephone during office hours. It is always advisable to make a telephone contact with the company to verify its actual availability and existence.
Payment systems offered
The second aspect to be taken into consideration is the set of payment systems that are provided. It is important to check whether in the e-commerce there are payment systems that guarantee the buyer, such as PayPal. Indeed, PayPal guarantees the buyers who use the system giving total guarantee in case of non-receipt of the purchased products and for any amount. It guarantees both the buyer and the seller in the event of any problems concerning the quality and integrity of the product. The lack of this payment system has to make you reflect on the reliability of the site.
General sales conditions and consumer guarantees
A site in order to be considered reliable must report all the general sales conditions and the guarantees offered to the consumer. The consumer benefits from the legal guarantee of conformity pursuant to articles 132 and ss of the Consumer Code, for a period of two years starting from the purchase.
If the product purchased does not comply with the order, the customer has the right to replacement or repair and may ask for one or another solution.
In the event that replacement or repair is impossible, the consumer may request termination of the contract.
As required by the “Consumer Code” it is possible to withdraw from the contract within 14 days of its approval for a product that does not comply with the order or is defective.
Price out of market for the type of product
An element that should be taken into consideration when you are about to make an online purchase is the price of the product. First of all, you need to make sure of the real value of the product you are buying at that particular time. Sometimes it can happen to come across sites that offer goods at half price or even at a cost even lower than the price offered by other sites, which is strange for the type of product. Let’s take an example: we happen to find designer shoes at a bargain price and this should make us reflect on the authenticity of the product and consequently also of the site.
Presence of the website on social networks
Index of reliability is the presence of the website on other platforms such as social networks. Through this presence it is possible to figure out how long the site has been operating online. In addition, the likes it receives and the number of followers are further reliability indices. This is because a website that has been online for a long time clearly has a consolidated reliability in sales and online communication.
Site and sold products reviews
Reviews should not be overlooked. In addition to those on the site and related to both the site itself and the products, we must also take into consideration those present on authoritative external sites such as Google, Facebook, Trustpilot, Trovaprezzi, etc.
In the next paragraphs we will briefly mention Netcomm and Trust E-commerce Europe and in particular the guarantee seals that have been processed. If these are present on a website, there is a further guarantee to the buyers.
Guarantee seals for the consumer: Netcomm
Netcomm was founded in 2005 and has been promoting the development of e-commerce and digital businesses ever since. It represents the point of reference to be able to buy from online sites safely.
Indeed Netcomm has created a seal to identify e-commerce sites that are committed to offering an excellent online shopping experience in compliance with the regulations for those who sell and offer online services.
Netcomm seal is synonymous with reliability of a website or company, so anyone who has it has an additional guarantee in terms of secure purchases.
Trust E-Commerce Europe
Trust E-Commerce Europe is an association of 20 European countries that represent 70,000 businesses operating in e-commerce. So buying on a verified site to which the seal has been released offers a certainty in the purchase because it is like buying at a store that you know.
As for Netcomm, even in this case the seal is given to companies and / or websites that operate in compliance with the Consumer Code.
The guarantee of Trustmark seal also lies in the fact that, if the company from which the purchase is made is not able to solve problems relating to purchases, it is possible to contact Trustmark Service Center free of charge which will take care of the problems and their resolution.
Through this article we have tried to provide advice and useful information for anyone who wants to purchase online without the risk of having bad experiences.
