Consider, you can found a website that sells lawn gnomes dirt-cheap, but you’re not familiar with the company.
There are several things you need to look into before you buy from a site you don’t know. First, check the site’s reputation, and verify that the company will shop your goods as promised and fix any problems you may encounter. Next, find out what other shoppers have to say. Finally, make sure the site won’t sell your private information or share it with other parties.
A number of different websites and organizations can help you make an informed decision.
The Better Business Bureau Online Reliability Program gives seals to online merchants that adhere to a code of conduct for online buying. It also gives out seals to merchants that follow privacy standards. If a merchant don’t have or display these seals, it doesn’t mean that the site isn’t reputable. Buy if a merchant does display the seals, it at least gives you some peace of mind.
This seal means that the website has agreed to adhere to a set of buying standards.
This seal means that the website has agreed to adhere to a set of privacy standards.
You can also go to www.bbbonline.org and search for any complaints lodged against a company. While you’re at it, surf over the Consumer WebWatch, put out by the people behind Consumer Reports. The site is devoted to issues of credibility on the Web, and it has many useful studies and resources for web surfers of all stripes.
BizRate.com lets you get information about the trustworthiness, reliablity, and overall quality of a site straight from the horse’s mouth, from other people who have shopped there. Users rate their actual buying experiences at the site and write reviews for the entire world to see.
The Usenet (a.k.a. Google Groups) is another useful source where users discuss any and all topics, including shopping.
TRUSTe gives out seals to sites that adhere to its provacy standards. It requires member sites to clearly outline what information they gather about customers and how that information is used. It also resolves privacy disputes between individuals and vendors. Critics claim that TRUSTe could do more to enforce privacy standards, but its seal does give you some guidance.
TRUSTe Seal
