Answer

There are several important factors to consider when shopping online. First and foremost, you do not want to give your credit card to an online merchant who is not reputable. Therefore, you can look at their Web site before making a purchase and view several things that will prove whether or not they are legitimate.

Before you Buy

What is the site's performance? Does everything work or does it have broken links, slow downloads or poor HTML coding? Performance is critical because it tells you how well a Web site is put together, a big clue as to how much the merchant cares about their consumers.

Does the merchant have a legitimate return or refund policy? There should be a detailed explanation of how and when you can return items you purchase. A 100% satisfaction guarantee is a good sign, but it should be backed up with real details on how the guarantee is actually implemented.

Also, make sure the site has good usability. Is it appealing and easy to use? Understandability is key, and a reputable Web site needs to have good categories and listings. The navigation should be simple so you can easily get from one page to another, and everything should make sense.

Outstanding customer service is critical. Look for toll free phone numbers and easy-to-find contact links especially from the homepage. It is annoying to waste precious time searching for hard-to-find e-mail contacts. Online help, live chats and Question & Answer pages are a real plus. Potential customers need to be able to contact Web sites.

Security

Probably the most important thing you should research in an online merchant is their security level. Security indicates how safe your credit card information will be by using encryption and the SSL (secure socket layers) technology, the industry-standard method for protecting all Web communications. You can tell a site is secure for purchase by looking in the address / URL bar. It should look like this:

https://... the "s" indicates secure

Legitimate merchants will work hard to employ obvious measures that will earn your trust. The delivery company a merchant uses is one big key. Look for fast, reputable shipping companies such as FedEx and UPS.

When checking out, make sure the Web site has comprehensive cart functions. That is to say make sure they add up your money correctly, and make sure they have ways you can delete or remove a purchase if you change your mind.

You should expect to get an order confirmation screen after the purchase is complete. Print it for future reference. If there is an error during checkout, don't place the order again until you confirm that it didn't work, or you could end up with a double order.

VeriSign, Trust Commerce, and BBBOnline Seals

If you see these seals showing up on the merchant's website, you should be able to click them and verify with that organization that the merchant is indeed registered. DO NOT TRUST SEALS unless they are clickable. Some merchants just paste in the graphic to lure you into thinking they are legitimate.

PayPal and Google Payment Options

If the merchant has an option to use your PayPal or Google payment account, this is a good sign that they are legitimate.

Virtual Credit Card Numbers

Some credit card issuers give you a way to generate a one-time-use credit card number. Using one of those is the very best way to protect yourself from fraud, and will mean you don't have to stress so much about having to find a "reputable" seller online.

I provided a link in the "Related Links" section to an article on PlasticRewards.com for more specific instructions on how to generate a virtual credit card number for many issuers.

First answer by Smartgirl. Last edit by Duagne. Contributor trust: 0 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 76 [recommend question]