Nowadays we are all familiar with online purchases made, a trend popular among Indian citizens, mostly youngsters and middle aged people. Online shopping became popular due to following reasons:
One can shop from home or where ever they are.
One can purchase products, which are not available at local market.
Lucrative prices, with discounts, at times it’s really cheaper than what we can expect in any real market place.
It feels as a new concept and many feel they belong to some knowledgeable group of consumers because they know about product details, can compare them online etc., which to certain extent is true also. Online market or virtual market really helps a consumer educate themselves about products, their specifications, comparisons etc.
Now, it is a common trend that we all try to get rich as soon as possible, online marketing is no different. A new portal comes up, starts providing wonderful service delivery, low prices, good customer support, thus a healthy growth in business. Now, comes the sad part, as soon as a portal starts getting good ratings, many issues comes up, be it internal employee issues, customer interaction issues related to payments, order deliveries and so on. I now have a 2 year plus of online shopping experience with many online retailers and I still consider myself as a novice in online shopping. I am just writing this blog, hoping all you people will at least read my opinion and may be that can save you from getting cheated by frauds.
Here is a quick guideline for safe and secure online shopping:
Please compare the prices and discounts offered, many a times I have found false claims by portals, showing unrealistic MRP (Maximum Retail Price), very high MRP shown helps in showing more discount to an unsuspecting consumer. I suggest that when you purchase a product having a proper MRP tag like in case of mobile handsets, laptops, computer peripherals, audio accessories, branded clothing items(including branded undergarments have standard MRP), sunglasses etc.
Always opt for CASH ON DELIVERY mode of payment, as this is the safest way of online shopping, reasons for opting COD are as follows:
a. You can always deny acceptance of delivery if you find the package as damaged.
b. COD makes sure that your shipment will not be lost in transit, as payment for the vendor/seller is due. Many a times prepaid orders doesn’t reach the destination address and a consumer just waits endlessly.
c. I have observed that when an item is not having COD payment option, it is most likely that the vendor/seller is not having the stock of the items too. Trust me, whenever I paid in advance, I didn’t get the item delivered, had to pursue by e-mails and after mailing 3050 times, I get refunds.
d. Do not fall prey to so called discount coupons, as discount coupons are used, mainly to lure an unsuspecting consumer to pay in advance for a little less amount payable for the order, I advice NEVER PAY IN ADVANCE. One can use coupons, which can be redeemed for COD (Cash on Delivery) mode of payment only.
Never purchase expensive items from any online portal, as the chances of frauds are more and if the product comes as damaged, you loose a huge amount for a little discount. A good example are laptops and other electronic items which do have moving parts inside like fans etc, which needs utmost care while handling the shipment, which is mostly not followed by courier service providors, resulting in damages and losses.
Still if you want to purchase laptops, expensive mobile phones and electronics, do ask that who will bear the losses (if any) during transit, this is a very important factor like in many cases there is a clear policy that a manufacturer (eg: Sony) will provide support after the Sony Viao laptop is delivered to the consumer, in-transit damages are common, check with the vendor/seller, whether they are taking responsibility for in-transit damages, does they cover in-transit insurance for the product. This is a grey area and need attention too.
