It is the Holiday season and we are all shopping for gifts and great deals. We now live in a virtual world where we shop online, which is great because it saves us time and the hassle of crowded stores. However, there are drawbacks to shopping online for buyer's and seller's alike. There are so many scams out there and it comes from both sides.
Shopping online can mean extra savings, ease of shopping among many others. But if you are going to shop online you need to be aware of where you are shopping and what you are buying. It is up to the consumer to be aware before making that purchase. For instance, I purchased a couple months ago an XBox 360, refurbished and guaranteed to play, tested for playing live online and a bundle pack. I purchased it for my son's birthday. It had a 30 day exchange only policy, however, buyer pays shipping to return, refunds were not allowed. We had the XBox for 25 days, and it begins with the red ring of death, so I contact the seller's store, and of course, they tell me send it back in original packing and we will exchange it. Keep in mind, I paid to have it shipped, and now had to pay $15.00 to ship it back. They honor their policy and send us out an exchange. We unpack it, set it up, to find out the XBox was banned from XBox Live. The store's ad stated GUARANTEED to play Live online. I call again, actually I email, no number to call. They tell me return it again, we will exchange it. I tell them, listen, I already paid shipping for the first one, shipping to return it and now you want me to pay shipping to return the second defective one, and he states, that's our policy. I filed a PayPal dispute, and lost because it states, "Buyer pays return shipping". That is not fair, because it was not my fault the item was defective twice, and they can not guarantee the third one they send is going to work, so in the end, I could have bought a brand new one by what I spent on continually exchanging it. Now I am stuck with an XBox that can not go online. And the odds are it was stolen. That will never happen again.
eBay is a great place for deals on some things, but buyer's should only have to pay to ship it back if it is not something they found they didn't want. If the item is defective, the Seller should always pay return shipping. And most do. Amazon, puts a return label, prepaid in your order should you not be happy, and will only deduct shipping charges if it is because you just don't want the item.
Another issue, I sold an item on eBay, and yes there are buyer's who scam, and PayPal is great, but they do not always protect the Buyer or Seller. I sold a TV, packed it tight, put fragile on the box very big, paid insurance to ship it. Only to get an email when they received it, it was broken. The box was crushed. Well it turns out UPS left it at the end of their driveway, they dropped it bringing it up and broke it, and then the buyer filed a claim, that we shipped it broken. Now why would I go through all the trouble to lug this very nice, but heavy TV out to ship, pay more shipping fees then they had to pay and pay insurance to get it out to them. So they make me file a claim with UPS, I get this damaged beyond repair TV back on my doorstep, UPS had stated they left it at the front door of the buyer, and the buyer's got home 6 hours after it was delivered. For all I know, someone could have tried to steal it and dropped it at the end of their driveway when leaving because of its weight. So now, PayPal, takes the money back out of my account and I was stuck to fight UPS, where I only get $100.00 for the damaged TV that cost over $800.00, and it cost $136.00 to ship it and I did not get my shipping charges back. What a rip-off. So now I was out all that money. I know when I packed and shipped it was properly packaged and secure, what happened en route I will never know.
Also, I was charged the eBay seller fee for the transaction and the hidden monthly charge for being a seller that I didn't sign up for, it went based upon my sales and amount of sales, it was not a fixed price, and they will automatically deduct it from PayPal or your bank account, so if you are selling on eBay, be very careful. Also, be aware of the scams of selling video games. Sometimes, when you test it and it's in brand new condition and you sell it, the buyer is a scammer and claims it was damaged or not working, and send it back and have their money refunded to them, it is only around $2.00 to ship it back, and if they claim damage they can get free shipping. Then you come to find out, they swapped their damaged game for a new one, which they get free. And guess what, you can not prove that what you sold was not defective even if it is in original packaging, the buyer can claim it was not, and sometimes it is not and the seller is scamming. So when you sell online, and this happens, who loses? The seller does.
Another scenario, about online stores, I have had for the past two months, daily phone calls to my cell no less, from customers complaining about a product they purchased at an eBay Store. This seller used my cell phone number, probably at random, to set up their eBay Store and PayPal account. They are selling items at their store and not shipping the product at all. I have had to explain over and over that I am not selling anything on eBay, I do not own a store, and the contact information they have is not me. Some people do not want to hear that, and keep talking and explaining, wasting my cell phone minutes, why I try to tell them you have the wrong person and report them to eBay and PayPal. Yesterday, I receive a message on my cell phone from PayPal, wanting to talk to a Dina such and such, about her PayPal account. Now I have to return their call today and explain to PayPal that this individual's store is a fraud. Do I want to have to take time out of my busy day to do this, of course not, but I must have my number removed to stop these annoying phone calls.
The bottom line here is, when you are shopping online, you need to investigate the item and the store thoroughly. Make sure you read their return policies about shipping, in reference to items you may receive that are damaged, and if they offer refunds or just an exchange. Also be very leery, it is very easy for any one of us to set up a store and sell items and claim we are authorized to sell them and they are actually stolen. This commonly occurs with electronics, but can pertain to any item sold on the Internet. I heard of a man who purchased a used vacu?m cleaner which is a very expensive brand, with a warranty. He brought it to the original manufacturer to have it repaired, and all their parts have a serial number which people are not aware of. They ran the serial number and it came back stolen out of a different state, and the buyer had to return the item to its rightful owner and he lost out on his money, because the store no longer existed.
When shopping online, also check your prices and compare. Why would you buy an item in one store, when you can find the same item, brand new for half of what another online store or auction is selling it for? Amazon is one of the best online stores to shop new and used items. Their stores and sellers are reputable, they back up their return policies and investigations, and most often have the best prices, and offer Free Shipping.
Just remember, when shopping online, research everything, if the seller or store is brand new, contact them and ask them questions, if they do not list a phone number for customer service to contact them, then immediately shop elsewhere. Contact by email is not enough, they should also have a telephone number to contact them. Before purchasing, call them and email them and ask them questions about their items, if they can not answer all of your questions or have knowledge about each item they sell, then that is another signal to shop elsewhere. Look for stores that have sold for some time and have at least a four star rating. Of course new stores are just beginning and have to get their name out there to become a reputable seller, so these are the seller's you should contact by telephone. There are plenty of reputable sellers and online stores out there, and I am not trying to knock anyone who sells items online, I even do so. Both sellers and buyers need to be aware when buying and selling online. Everyone needs to be protected to make shopping online a rewarding and joyful experience.
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