Trying to be a Smart Shopper

[susandennis]

dizzdvl asked a very good question in a comment and I thought I'd elevate it to an entry. She wanted to know how I know when a website online service is safe.

The short answer is that I do not ever know. Every time I order online, I take a chance. Of course, every time I give my credit card to a waiter who takes it away, I take a risk, too. So there are two things I do to help my odds.

I evaluate every risk carefully and I stay intimate with my finances.

Evaluating the risk: Every time my card leaves my sight or my card number goes somewhere, I pay attention. Has the restaurant been there for a while? Does the website look like they know what they are doing?

It's more a gut feel than anything else but there are signs I look for:

• In general, I do make sure that any screen I enter my credit card number into is a secure page - that the http in the address has morphed into https.
  
• Is there a phone number and street address anywhere on the site? If I am in doubt and there is not phone number, I usually go somewhere else.
  
• Does everything seem reasonable? Are they asking weird questions or not providing enough information?
  
• If the item is available on more than one website, I definitely check a few. Not long ago I was looking for a particular item and noted that the listing, including a typo, was exactly the same on each. Yellow flag there easily.
  
• In the case of a service like sending a fax, I want to see a lot of the action before I give them my credit card number. I hit a couple of sites that wanted my credit card number before I got answers to my questions Wrong.
  

I much prefer a site that gives me the opportunity to 'create an account' or not. And I will rarely even order from any site that will not give me a shipping cost BEFORE I give them my credit card information. I pay way more attention when I'm spending big bucks and not so much for $25 and under.

All of this is relative. I recently ordered something I could not find anyplace else from a site that broke most of the rules above and even ripped up my sacred cow - tracking. No tracking number - no order status at all. And the website looked a little shady. BUT, the item was less than $25 with shipping and I really really really wanted it and no one else had it. They do have a toll free number and I did call it and they seem kosher.

Staying intimate with my finances: And I am dead serious about my credit cards. At least once a week, I check every credit card account I have(4 actually) online. Three are basically inactive. For the one I use most often, I checked literally every day. It's as routine a part of my online day as checking my LJ Friends' page. If something goes wonky, I'll know it in less than a day.

Comments

[dizzdvl.livejournal.com]

Well all that makes sense! I've been getting better, but just kind of weenie about stuff. But I like all those guidelines and I will try out some new places.

Oh,and I am the queen of knowing where my finances are. I check everything daily.

Thanks for expanding this. I think it's very helpful.

[kyrielle]

Some credit cards, I've been told, will issue you "one-off" numbers to give a web site if you're worried about them, which are usable only for one transaction.

I'm kind of fond of using PayPal, even though they have aggravated me hugely in the past by putting a hold on my account and making it nearly impossible to clear. Despite that, I continue using them because I'm not giving any re-billable information to the third party at all.

[susandennis]

Yes, you are right. My Discover card gives me a one off number. I have used it but not lately since I know my Discover card will be replaced soon.

Paypal's freezing of stuff makes me twitchy. I can pick up the phone and always get a reasonable result from Discover. I tried calling Paypal once. Never again. I use Paypal but usually only when there is no other alternatives.

[kyrielle]

I was eventually able to get Paypal straightened out (eventually being a couple of days, which I consider ludicrous, but). I also now know how to avoid having them do that again, in theory, so that should help. And I really, really like being able to shield the CC number. (That said, I can, have, and do place orders at places that don't take Paypal, as well. It is, as you note in your post, mostly a matter of caution, choosing your sites, and checking your bills.)

[howeird]

Good points. On the credit card side, I only use credit cards which allow me to download daily into Quicken. And I do so - it has saved me at least twice. I don't use Quicken's online storage, all my stuff stays on my PC.

I don't use Mastercard - they have a bad habit of mistaking normal account activity for red-flag "these charges don't match your history, so we are locking your account without telling you".

PayPal has been berry berry good to me. Never been locked out, and I have been using them since the week they started up. I know if a business takes PayPal, their basic info has been verified, and the business knows mine has been too. You're right about trying to get them on the phone, it's not their business model, they use the internet.

Your point about waiters is good, but the first time one of my card numbers was hijacked, it was by a cashier who copied the numbers from the merchant's copy of the charge slip. These days most businesses use a machine, and the machine does not print the full CC#, which helps a lot.