3 More Online Shopping Pitfalls (And How to Avoid Them)

Take a good look at the return policy – Return policies vary tremendously from store to store. There are websites that offer free shipping both ways and who have liberal return policies and other sites that charge shipping and restocking fees for any returns. Recently, I purchased a couple of shirts from a well respected company's website. When I tried the shirts on, I realized that I should have ordered a size smaller. I checked the website to get information on their return policy and was amazed to find out that not only do they not pay for the return shipping, they also charge a $10 restocking fee for each item returned. I had purchased the shirts on sale for $15 each, so after paying for shipping to send the items back to them and covering the restocking fee I would end up with about $1.50 in credits that could be applied to purchasing the smaller sized shirts. But, just because a company has a tough return policy, doesn't mean they aren't a good place to do business. But, if you know the policy ahead of time then you can make sure that you only buy things from them that you are sure you won't need to return.

Always read product reviews – One of the challenges of online shopping is the fact that you can't hold or touch the product before you buy it. You are in a position of having to chose a product based on a text description and a picture. Many times, when you receive the item, the color is different than you imagined or it doesn't fit the same on you as it did the model in the photo. While this may not be a problem most of the time, it is a good idea to read the customer reviews of the product before you buy it. Based on what other people had to say about their purchase can give you clues about what to expect. They will let you know if the product looks much different that the photo, if the sizes run big or small or if there are other issues with it.

Price comparison – The internet makes it really easy to comparison shop and no matter what sort of item you are buying, it can save you a bundle. When you find the item you want to buy, do a quick Google shopping search to see what other companies are charging for the same item. Just copy the item name with all the make/model information and paste it into a search engine and you should get a list of other vendors who are selling the item along with the prices they are charging. It doesn't always pay to go with the cheapest website, especially if a company you know and trust to get it right is offering it at a slightly higher price. Be sure to factor in charges like shipping into your comparison. There are also website who have discount codes and perks like free shipping for certain companies, so be sure to search for those to see if there are any other ways to save.