Online Shopping Rules

Since now I study and live in Europe, I have the opportunity to actively shop on the Internet. On the same Amazon, prices as rules are lower than in METRO, what to speak of retail stores. Therefore, almost everything in my house, starting for hours and ending with a refrigerator and electric stove, was purchased via the Internet.

But, despite the already great experience of buying and selling on the Internet, something is overlooked and brings additional problems and inconveniences. Therefore, I wrote a checklist for the rules of purchase on the Internet (for Habr, I added comments to each item):


Checklist of online shopping rules:
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0. Make sure the price is good.

Prices on the Internet are different from the prices in stores.
In just one day, prices can change, so before buying you need to compare the price with other online stores. Usually on request in Google “buy <product>” on the first page there are several price comparison services similar to Yandex.Market.
Need to consider shipping cost. Sometimes the delivery is free, and sometimes (especially on eBay) is overestimated several times.

1. Read the full description.

Sometimes the picture and / or title does not match the product being sold. Additional terms may be written at the end of the page.
There are 1001 tricks on how to fool an inattentive buyer on eBay. For example, in the photo is a new phone model, and the previous one is being sold. If you are not careful, you can buy a case for it instead of a phone. Some arrange a lottery, that is, you will receive not the desired product, but one of the three, which is notified at the very end of the description of the lot.

I, too, once, through inattention, fell for the scammers, but I knew about this before paying for the lot. After the correspondence with the seller, "separated amicably."
The seller may withdraw the sale of the goods even after the end of the auction in the problem solving section. Then the buyer receives a notice of reversal of the lot, if he agrees, the auction is canceled, and the seller does not pay a commission for the eBay lot .

2. Check the reviews and ratings of the seller

On Amazon and eBay, you can post reviews and ratings only after purchasing the product, which makes it almost impossible to cheat the rating.

3. Make sure there is an invoice for the goods

On eBay and Amazon, private individuals are also trading. If such a seller in the description of the goods does not indicate that there is an account, then most likely it does not. Without an account you will not receive a guarantee in the service center.

4. It is advisable to pay via PayPal or bank transfer

Paying through Western Union and other similar systems, you, most likely, will be thrown with the goods. This is especially popular in China.

PayPal does not remove interest from the buyer and PayPal has its own conflict resolution system. With its help, I returned a used phone purchased on eBay, which did not have a camera.
Despite the fact that the description of the lot was written "Without a guarantee or return of goods," PayPal returned me the money. Otherwise, it would be possible to return the goods only through the court, and then only by proving that the camera no longer worked when receiving the goods. For the same reason:

5. It is better to receive used goods or goods from individuals by mail

where in the presence of an employee of the post office "without departing from the cash register", make sure that the right product has arrived and check its main functions. If there are problems, then immediately refuse to receive and return the goods to the sender.

6. Choose a good delivery service

Find out who will deliver the goods. If you are not satisfied with the courier service, ask to send another item. Some services deliver the goods for a long time, you can learn about it from reviews on the Internet.
Make sure that the delivery service has the ability to return the goods. For example, in DPD, you can return goods to the sender for free within 7 days.

7. After receiving the goods, make sure that the packaging is original and has never opened

A “new” product in Europe is also one that could stand on a shelf in a store or that someone had already bought but returned, or which was opened and tested .

If the goods were opened, then some parts could have been lost or an unscrupulous seller specifically laid out some accessories. In this case, as soon as possible, inform the seller in writing via e-mail, so that there is evidence of timely notification. In my case, there were no pallet wheels in the microwave.

8. Do not forget to leave a rating or feedback about the seller

So we will help weed out the bad sellers and maintain the rating of the good ones.