Shopping on the net has become what would seem to be a national past-time, which is fantastic for the shopper – it’s made it effortless to shop. Moreover, a more competitive market coupled with low running costs has determined cheap prices for items.

All the same, as the online market has enlarged, so too has the necessity to be cognizant of your consumer rights, and what you should do if you are in receipt of items that don’t even turn up or faulty items. Information is available on the internet, like the consumer protection act 1987.

You also need to be aware of which payment provider to use to buy something, as each payment provider has its own terms and conditions. . Doing your homework can prevent you getting cheated by internet scams.

Our pearl of wisdom is to do your preparation regarding the vendor : do they show their phone number and postal address? What is the vendor’s terms and conditions? Their returns policy? Their privacy policy? All these enquiries must be answered prior to considering buying from the vendor.

Another very issue to think about: what are the methods of purchase? Nowadays, it’s not enough to merely look for a Secure Socket Layer Certificate – this won’t inform you how they store your data, only how it’s transmitted when you make your purchase. If in doubt, only buy from vendors who use 3rd party payment gateways such as PayPal, Google Checkout, WorldPay, SagePay and NoChex.Also you can see what reputation the seller has with his payment gateway, e.g. check his PayPal account and how many orders have occurred on this particular account.