Christmas Shopping Online Volume 1

As the Christmas shopping season begins, and shoppers search the web for Christmas and holiday presents, questions of online shopping security become important. It is estimated that online shoppers will spend a record amount in online purchases this year, in the Billions of dollars.

With this in mind, BellClocks.com is going to post some tips over the next few days, to help make online shopping safer for everyone. These tips are not specific to Christmas shopping online, they apply to online shopping throughout the year.

Our first tip will focus on basic credibility of online businesses, and some simple ways shoppers can help protect themselves.

Christmas shopping online tip Number 1:

Before shopping online at any website, always ask yourself: "Is this a real business?". You can usually answer the question easily and quickly by following these simple tips:

Look for the business information, including an address, and phone number. This information is usually located on the main page (at the very least), normally at the top or bottom of the page. Also check for any "contact us" or "about us" or similar pages, which may contain contact information. These areas of a website are normally accessible via tabs, buttons, or text links located on the main or welcome page.

Most businesses want to be sure their customers are able to contact them in the event of any issues with the product or service, as this is the basic foundation of customer service. This allows the businesses to respond to any issue, and fosters communication with shoppers. It also helps protect businesses and customers from fraud and scams.

We strongly recommend shoppers beware of any site which offers contact by "email only", or does not publish contact information including address and phone number.

As one example of acceptable disclosure of business contact information, BellClocks.com maintains contact information in easy to find locations throughout our site, including our welcome (main) page. Have a look at: http://bellclocks.com

One other thing which bears mentioning - U. S. shoppers should be careful when shopping at any site owned by a foreign company. We do not suggest that foreign companies are dishonest. We merely point out that most online purchases are bound by the laws at the "point of sale", normally that means the country in which the business is located. While credit cards provide some measure of protection, serious disputes requiring legal action could be under the jurisdiction of a foreign court.

In closing Volume 1 of our Christmas online shopping tips, we would like to point out that most businesses of which we are aware are honest in their dealings with shoppers and customers, and are committed to customer service. We also state that none of this is to be considered legal advise in any way.

Watch for Volume 2 tomorrow, which will discuss policies and service issues.

Visit us online at: http://bellclocks.com
a Division of Windward Instruments