Feature

Shop With Confidence

Secure Deals This Season

Where in 1908 could you buy a saddle, a corset, and two-storey house all at the same time? From home, of course, with the help of the gigantic Sears Roebuck catalogue. With over 530 pages of home goods ordered from the comfort of the kitchen table from a brand you could trust, who could ask for more?

Today, the Web has evolved into a catalog like Sears Roebuck could never have imagined: you can buy peacocks, silver moustaches, and a house in every state. What’s more, you can comparison shop to look for the best deals, or read detailed product reviews. Just 10 years ago, few dared to send their credit card information to a virtual store; as consumer faith in shopping widely online has increased, so have the breadth of options can help us save time, money, and possibly our sanity. The consumer is now empowered as never before with the tools to shop confidently from home.

The power of online shopping has never been more relevant than it will be this holiday season, where trends in bargain hunting, and finding unique/handmade gifts will call upon shoppers to use the Web to its full potential.

Dive (Or Surf) Into Deals

This holiday season brings economic belt-tightening that will change the way we engage with shopping online. The Web no longer promises just unlimited selection, but also the opportunity to find the lowest price.

According to the Deloitte 2008 Holiday Shopping Guide, word-of-mouth is still the best advertisement for the deal, especially via email. But if you’re out of the gossip loop, comparison-shopping, sites like dealnews.com, shop.org or BizRate provide an easy means to find the cheapest available product (not to mention eBay or Amazon.com). While browsing, it may seem like there are as many online stores as actual products, so how can you know whom to trust? If a site seems shady, or if you’re about to make a huge purchase and you want to make sure that your money doesn’t go into Joe the Swindler’s back pocket, you can check the company on the Better Business Bureau’s online version or on Symantec’s new Norton Safe Web (in BETA). If the site’s not listed with the BBB, check the URL. If it says https://, the “s” stands for secure (sometimes the “s” appears on the check-out pages of the site). Don’t want to use your credit card? Services like PayPal or Google Checkout offer ways to pay through them instead (they can be hooked up to your bank account, or you can upload funds for use later).

Return to Handmade

If simply dropping big bucks on the latest gizmo is out this season, and finding a substantial discount is not your style, the other trend to watch is the growing interest in more one-of-a-kind gifts – buying handmade or vintage means a gift that’s tough to put a price tag on.

The growth of sites like Etsy.com allows hobbyists and handcraft entrepreneurs to sell their wares direct to consumer. In fact, Etsy now has over 1 million users in 171 countries. Consumers have a wider selection of interesting, useful, and original gifts, often for very reasonable prices. Another advantage of buying directly from the craftsperson is personal attention. WalMart won’t tailor your shirt to fit wide shoulders and a skinny waist, but with Etsy the seller might enquire about your size and make a new product based on your measurements. However, as with any independent seller, buy with your magnifying glass, Sherlock. If you’re buying handcrafts, be sure that all financial transaction go through the trusted intermediary of the networking site. If anyone asks you to purchase “off the radar” without the proper security measures, politely decline and buy your lama-hair ski jacket elsewhere.

Go “Retro”

Today, second-hand items are imbued with euphemisms that add much more cache than simply “gently used”. Celebrities proudly apply terms like “retro” and “vintage” to the gowns they wear to the Academy Awards, so they’re certainly fair game for the average consumer’s purchase of everything from clothes to books. Sites like Amazon.com and eBay specialize in used items, and you can often purchase items that are “like new.” However, if you decide to buy from an auction site, beware. According to the Federal Trade Commission, auction sites have the highest amount of reported fraud. So choose a site that involves a seller’s history and use your smarts. A Cartier watch for $5.00 most likely isn’t. The only difference between buying a “name-brand” watch on the street and purchasing one online could be that one’s shipped to you while the other was withdrawn from the inside of a long, black coat.

Keep it Safe

While shopping, keep an eye on your personal information and play it safe. To ensure that your cash stays that way (yours), check a site thoroughly before striking a deal. Does it have a privacy policy? And, if so, how does it handle your personal information? If it doesn’t have one, you might want to consider using another site. If you receive any sort of email that asks for your financial information or social security number, discard it and don’t respond. Proper sites never ask for personal information through your inbox. Also, is your security software up-to-date ? Keeping your computer protected from malware is just another step to keeping your identity, credit card numbers, and hard-drive under lock and key.

As consumers gain confidence in shopping ever more widely online, the rewards are great, particularly in a year when shopping smarter will be important for so many. And though it’s generally safe to buy online, we still need to keep our wits about us so that buying that used book for $2.99 doesn’t really cost a retirement of a life’s savings.

For more information about shopping safely online, check out Symantec’s holiday shopping guide, here.