As the online shopping is getting increasingly popular, there are so many vendors there featuring their wares out to get your business and money. While most of them are honest, there are a number of unscrupulous merchants who does business from homes using a computer.

As a result, the item you ordered may not be the same item you get, usually ends up with an inferior quality, or broken due to improper packing. The worst thing is that these ’fly by night’ vendors may not even answer your complaints or refuse to exchange the product and reluctant to refund.

You will have a low opinion about online shopping when you become a victim to scam artists. But any dealings with a reputed online company will certainly bring positive results and satisfaction.

This is where Amazon.com come to the scene. It has evolved into a multi-billion dollar business today, serving customers around the world with head office in the United States and branches in many parts of the world including Canada and the United Kingdom. Their specialty is books, music and video; and if they are in print, Amazon have them.

I have been a registered Amazon customer for the past six years and bought dozens of books and videos from their UK, Canada and the US operations. Their price is usually cheaper than other retail outlets. For example, most newly released books are available at a 30% discount from Amazon, and videos are generally 20% cheaper.

In addition to these savings, Amazon even pay postage and other shipping charges if your order exceeds $35.00.

Once registered, they have all the details including your address, credit card number, password etc. to process your subsequent orders. That means, when you want to buy an item, just click the corresponding icon without undergoing to fill out all the forms necessary for the purchase.

AS a registered member, Amazon will let you know their upcoming events, publishing dates of new books and release dates of videos and so on. You can also pre- order books and videos at a substantial discount.

About a month ago, I placed an order for 10 copies of Peter Beard’s new book titled ’Zara’s Tales’ from Africa, which was just published about two weeks ago. I received the books, postage free, right on time to pack and mail to my friends for Christmas.

If you receive an item in damaged condition from Amazon, they will do everything to replace it for you or refund your money. You can also track your item by going to their site. When there are dealers like Amazon, you wouldn’t have to worry about the dark side of the online shopping.

In conclusion, I have positive remarks to say about Amazon.com. They have served me well in the past six years, and I will remain as an Amazon customer for years to come.