Every minute, you are bombarded with ads on your social feeds. Great deals, beautiful product portfolios, sometimes too good to be true.
Many of those sellers are genuine. But a larger number of them are scams! How would you know which ones to trust?
I have been a devoted online shopper since my first e-retail encounter and have had my share of bad experiences-shady claims, abysmal product quality, zero responsiveness. After years of mediocre to terrible experiences, I started Rookiekart with the conviction to make customers believe that buying online from small sellers can also be incredibly satisfying and super safe.
Do a quick 2 minute read of the 5 basic safety pointers below. Proceed to purchase from a seller only after you check these off.
1. Secure website: You will know if a site is secure if it has secure sockets layer (SSL) encryption installed. The URL for the site should start with https://, instead of just http://
2. Fly-by-night web pages: Enticing, incredible products that are very cheap. Buy now and get a discount. The ad asks you to click on a link that takes you to a web page, not a web site. Never trust these pop-up web pages. What happens if you get a shoddy product? What happens if you are duped? You will never be able to trace them back.
Genuine sellers will have authentic websites, with secure payment gateways.
3. Clear policies: Review policies for privacy, refund, delivery and terms of service. These should be listed on the website, with clear terms and conditions
4. Responsiveness: If you as a customer, are the King, then you will be treated as one by the seller. One good measure of that is how soon they respond to you and take action. If they care about you and making the sale, they will respond timely to any issues or feedback that you have.
This is true for your interaction with their site, phone, email and social pages like Facebook.
5. How much data is too much? No online store needs your social security number or your birthday to do business. However, if hackers get hold of that data, it is very easy for them to steal your identity. The more they know, the more damage they can do. Fair sellers will ask you just the minimum they need to safely complete your transaction (for e.g., your email ID or your phone number to send you information on your transaction and your correct residential address to send you the product. That's it. Other details should be optional.)
Online shopping is perhaps one of the greatest boons of our modern times. When you shop online from smaller independent sellers, you are empowering them to create, innovate and serve you better; and you are helping strengthen socio economic communities. There are just a few things you have to keep in mind to enjoy a genuine shopping experience.
Till you click again,
Happy Shopping, Happy Living
Chay
https://rookiekart.com/