Consumer Kung-Fu!

Should you shop online?

   You'll probably find that there are many times when shopping online is the best way to buy.  Here's a list of advantages and drawbacks to shopping online, and also a list of common myths that should be debunked:

Advantages

Save time.  You can place an order quickly, without having to make a trip to the store, search for products and then wait in line.   It's easy to go to many different online stores to shop and compare prices.

Save money.  Online stores have lower costs, and can pass the savings to you.  The federal government has a no-tax policy on Internet commerce through 2001, and often you'll pay no state sales tax if the company is out-of-state.   You can expect the shipping costs to reduce your savings, but you'll save on car costs because you don't have to drive to a store.
  One good shopping strategy is to find the lowest price online, then ask a local store if they'll match that price.

Buy Safely.  Buying online is less vulnerable to fraud.  The NextCard credit-card company is so confident of this fact, it offers a 100% money-back guarantee on all online purchases using their card.  And a trip to the store can be dangerous: crimes and traffic accidents are possible.

Easily search for anything you want.  At most online stores, you can simply type in what your'e looking for, and it will give you a description and price within 20 seconds

Greater product selection.  Online stores can keep hundreds of thousands of products in huge warehouses.  You can search their entire inventory from your computer!  Some sites allow you to customize your order to your own requirements, such as Dell computers, and the Mattel toys site that lets you choose a doll's skin tone, hair color and name.

Clean up the environment. If you buy online instead of through mail-order catalogs, you'll un-clutter your mailbox and lessen your trash output.   That helps save our environment.  You'll also do less driving, which will help improve air quality.

A better buying experience.   It may be that you really like your experience with your local retail store, which is fine.  But if the store isn't well-designed, or if the salespeople are grumpy, why shop there?  When you shop online, you are in total control of your shopping experience. Shopping online is also a good way to avoid bad weather (rain, cold temperatures or excessive heat.)
   UPS drivers probably have a more enjoyable job than store employees, so shopping online is really something  that can help supply more jobs and better jobs for the economy.

More informative.   Most online stores have complete product descriptions, and many will let you sign up for e-mail newsletters that are filled with news and special bargains.

Drawbacks

You can't touch the product.  You can see pictures of the product at some sites.  You can also hear good music samples at most CD stores.  If it's important to you to physically see and touch a product (for example, when buying fashionable clothes), you may wish to shop in a retail store.

Online shopping may be unfamiliar to you.  It will take some surfing time to get used to online shopping, and to find the stuff you want to buy.

Most human contact is through a computer.  Some people want to meet the people they're buying from.  You'll usually get slower customer service in online stores, and returns are a little less easy.  Customer service is usually done via e-mail, although most stores can also be contacted immediately by phone.

It takes a few days for the shipment to arrive.  It can take anywhere from 1-2 days for express deliveries, to 10 days for some cross-country UPS ground shipments.


Myths

Credit card fraud:  Consumer experts will tell you that paying online with a credit card is much safer than using a telephone or going to a retail store.  The secure-server codes are almost impossible to break, and there's no paper receipts to steal the credit card number from.

Loss of privacy:  Any fears of "hacker" spies or  "cookie" abuse are usually groundless.  There were a few security problems in early browser versions, but by now security is excellent.

You'll get "spammed": Most online stores ask for your e-mail address, but they'll only send you e-mail if they get your approval.   If you're still worried about spam, go to HotMail and get a second e-mail address to give out to anyone you don't trust.

Customer service will be inferior.  Customer service varies according to which store you shop.  Some have very flexible policies on returns.  Nordstrom and Macy's will even assign you a personal assistant, to inform you whenever something of interest arrives in the store or goes on sale.

 

Buy Safe!

   To make sure your online buying experience is safe, take the following steps:

Know who you're buying from: try to buy from reputable stores.  Every online store should have a page describing its policies.  The Bizrate shopping guide also keeps tabs on policies for many online stores.  The returns and warranty policies are especially important, because you'll be ordering products without testing them first.
Use a credit card for all purchases.  If you later have a dispute with the online retailer, you can call up the credit-card company and have them mediate the dispute on your behalf.
Make sure that the online store has a secure server, which encrypts everything you type to make sure it can't be spied upon.  Most browsers will inform you when you enter a page that uses a secure server: a little key or padlock icon will appear at the bottom of the screen.  You can click this icon to get more information about the company you're dealing with.
If you're still not sure about the company, check the Better Business Bureau.  They keep reliability reports that record customer dissatisfaction problems.
Finally, if you don't like to answer the door for a stranger (such as a UPS deliveryman), here's a way to ensure your safety: ask the UPS guy to show you his delivery package through the peephole.  This will make sure that he really is from UPS.

Buy Happy!

  Here's 5 quick tips to improve your online buying experience:

Look for a store that doesn't charge a sales tax.  If the store isn't in your state, you shouldn't have to pay it.
Look for the store's physical address, to see how close the store is.  You can get your delivery quicker if you order from a nearby store  A cross-country order could take 7-10 days to reach you
Look for a well-designed store with good customer service.  Some of the shopping guides listed below track online stores and rate their quality.
Surf fast: open two browser windows and shop with both windows.  While you're reading one window, the other window can be loading a different web page.
You won't be able to handle or test the products before you buy, so take a good look at product reviews first.  Some good buyer's guides listed further down on this page.


Shopping Site Guides

   The following guides compare online shopping sites:

BizRate compares many different kinds of online stores, including books and computer products.  Their home page has about 15 different categories of stores (bookstores, music stores, etc.)  You can click on a category to get a list that ranks the overall quality of the stores.  Then you can get a detailed description of any store, by clicking on an icon that looks like a little magnifying glass.  There you'll see the store's return policies, the available methods of ordering, paying and shipping, and other features.
E-Smarts is an all-purpose independent shopping guide, really a great site.  They really look to help you make good shopping decisions, not just to make a sale.  It's the kind of site we're creating at 7 Heavens.
NetGuide has guides on almost everything in the Internet world, including lists of the best places to shop.  It's a fun and well-written site, but the lists of best sites are incomplete.
Gomez Advisors has top-notch guides for online financial, brokerage and travel sites.
E-Marketer has a series of guides that examine online stores, including bookstore and music sites.  It's mostly done from a marketer's perspective.
Yahoo Internet Life is an online magazine that gives you one-paragraph summaries of all the best sites online.
PC Magazine Online has some good analysis of online shopping sites.  This site gives you the PC Magazine Editor's Choice for superstores, computer hardware and software, books and music sites.


Buy Smart:  Buyer's Guides

   The following web sites help you research product features and make good buying decisions:

CompareNet is a Buyer's Guide that gives you side-by-side comparisons of many consumer products, so you can look at both features and prices.
Visa Shopping Guide by Yahoo!  has product categories covering almost all consumer items.
Lycos Decision Guides is very good at helping you decide which products will best fit your lifestyle.  Guides include such items as bikes, camcorders, cities, colleges, cruises, dogs and new cars.
Consumer Reports Online gives you good guides on cars and trucks, appliances, electronics, house & home products, home office products, health, food, leisure, personal products and financial advice.
Consumer World  is a directory of over 1700 of the most useful consumer resources on the Internet, well categorized.  It's truly a tremendous all-purpose site, but there's so much here that it's a little hard to navigate.


Eliminate Direct-Marketing Pests!

   You can use some or all of these tips on this page to reduce unwanted telemarketing, spam and/or junk mail   For an excellent site with more in-depth anti-direct-marketing information, see Fred Elbel's Junkmail Page.
   The Mail Preference Service division of the Direct Marketing Association (known as DMA) compiles a list of people who do not want telemarketing and/or junk mail.   You can write Mail Preference Service and request that your name, address, and phone number be deleted from all mailing and marketing lists.  If you want to stop telemarketing but still want to receive postal junk mail, tell them to remove your phone number from telemarketing lists.  Tell them not to release your name, address, or phone number to anyone else for marketing, mailing, or promotional purposes. Provide them with all spellings of your name, as well as with any other names at your address (including previous occupants).
   They will retain your information for five years (at that time you should write again.)  Be sure to sign and date your letter, and write again when you move to another residence. 

     Mail Preference Service
     c/o Direct Mail Marketing Association
     PO BOX 9008
     Farmingdale, NY 11735-9008
             (202) 347-1222   (212) 768-7277

   The Mail Preference Service isn't quite a cure-all.  Usage of this service by direct marketers is voluntary.  Many organizations use it, but many others don't.  To ensure that you get off as many junk mail lists as possible, you could also write the following.  They will all sell your name for another thin dime:

  1. Credit bureaus.
  2. Your credit card companies.
  3. All the magazines you subscribe to.
  4. Anyone who sends you a bill will sell your name.
  5. Your state's DMV and voter registration departments.


Privacy Tips

  1. Don't give out your address or phone number to anyone except friends and family.   When a store clerk asks for your address, phone number, or social security number, ask for theirs!  It's none of their business.
  2. When you subscribe to a magazine, become a member of a group, apply for a credit card (et cetera) be sure to require that they will not release your name, address, or phone number to anyone else.
  3. Don't send in product warranty cards: they are almost never required. If you do, your name will  be sold.
  4. If you use a personal check to pay for purchases, your address and phone number could be captured.  Pay with cash, if at all possible.
  5. If you're ever tempted to buy something from a direct marketer, get it from an online store or local store instead.  Buying from direct marketers just encourages more junkmail and phone calls.


Anti-Telemarketing Tactics

  1. Get an unpublished phone number or an unlisted number, so that it won't appear in the phone book.
  2. Get a "distinctive ring" phone number.  When people call this number, it will ring the same telephones as your regular phone number, but will sound different to you.  Give out the new "distinctive ring" number to your friends and family.  Answer the phone only on a distinctive ring, and let the answering machine handle all phone calls to your older telephone number.  The telemarketers will get the answering machine when they call, and will just hang up the phone (they almost never leave a message.)  Distinctive Ring Service costs about $3 per month.
  3. When a telemarketer calls you, say "Put this number on your don't-call list".   This theoretically forbids the company from soliciting you at this number for 10 years.
  4. Never put your phone number on any form, unless the form specifically states that you are required to give your phone number in order for the form to be accepted.  In that case, include a letter requesting that all information be kept confidential and never be used for direct marketing of any kind.  You do not  have to put your phone number on your voter registration form.  Remember, quite a few people don't have phones, so it hardly makes sense for companies and agencies to require   someone to give their phone number.
  5. Don't put your phone number on your personal checks. If it's already there, then ink out your phone number on all personal checks you give to any company.

Anti-Spam Strategies

  1. Do not give your primary e-mail address to anyone except trustworthy friends.   Never reveal it in chat rooms, newsgroups or other public places.
  2. Get a second e-mail address at hotmail.com.   Give this address to anyone you don't trust 1000%.  If this new address ever becomes a target for spam, get rid of it and get another secondary e-mail address.
  3. When you give out your e-mail address, put "NOSPAM-" next to it (e.g. "NOSPAM-yourname@yourdomain.com").  This will fool the robots that spammers use to harvest your name.
  4. Deal only with companies you trust, who post policies that promise to keep all your contact information private.  Bizrate.com has company descriptions which tell you whether they pledge to keep your information confidential (you'll see a little padlock icon with descriptions of companies that make this pledge.)
  5. If you still get spam, look in the documentation of your e-mail program to see how to use filters  to weed out most spam.  Fred Elbel's junk e-mail and spam pages have some good suggestions for using filters.