6 Online Shopping Tips - Don't miss 'em -

Are you one who has been hit by the online shopping bug? I definitely am one. I find it easy, convenient and stress free. In fact shopping is a stress buster for me. Period. I like going through the stuffs and checking few things out, that gives me immense pleasure. But you know how it is when you have the dreaded four letters up in the stores – SALE! You have half the population of your city in the stores hovering over every damn item. You don’t get your size or the color that you are looking for nor do you get a space in the trial room and forget about the queue at billing! That is where all the stress is.

So I have conveniently shifted to online shopping – gives me a lot of freedom to choose size, no hassle of billing line or spending your weekend at the store. In Bangalore you almost get anything and everything through online shopping – your groceries, fresh vegetables, clothes, jewelry, makeup, cakes, sweets and even coffee – delivered at your door step! Isn’t that really great? I have thus become an avid online shopper. It saves me a whole lot of time and energy.

Now if you are one like me hope you are taking care of a few things specially when you shop online very frequently. I recently came across a nice article on the RewardMe site about some useful tips on online shopping. You can read that here.

So I thought about sharing my own tips on online shopping with you guys.

1. Try and Use Cash on Delivery Option

I always prefer the COD method. I find it a little safer than paying upfront. Specially these days when you read people receiving mangoes and stones instead of their ordered phones and laptops! You at least can check what you are getting before paying. It’s a little difficult when you are buying expensive stuffs like an iPhone or a laptop but still I would prefer COD. But these days they accept credit/debit card as COD so it helps. I have bought a lot of stuff using this method.

2. Insist on checking the item before you pay

If you have chosen to pay by COD always insist on checking the product before you make the payment. This will only safeguard you from being duped by either the merchant or the courier guy. Normally a lot of these e-tailers doesn’t allow it, they insist you make payment before you receive the package. But even if you have to fight with the delivery guy do that – so that you can check you are getting mangoes instead of your phone.

And if you are one who buys vegetables and fruits online insist on returning the damaged ones right away and don’t pay for that item. I follow this religiously, it’s better that way than getting money back from the site.

3. Check for deals without Delivery Charges

There are lot of websites who charge delivery charges for your shipment. Now I understand these if it’s coming from another city or a country. But when you buy things like consumer goods, furniture, groceries I do not expect them to take delivery charges for that. Specially for groceries I keep adding things in the cart and save that shopping, even if it’s for two days in a row. You always have something or the other to order. And once I hit the minimum order amount which allows free delivery I hit the buy button.

I end up buying most of my bulk groceries this way. I am not the one who buys once a month and manage with that. I can’t somehow manage to figure how much I might need in a month. Sometimes I need more sometimes less.

4. Never save your credit card details

Even if it sounds tempting and saves on time, do not save your card or bank details in the websites. Specially if you do not have a good anti virus in your computer or phone. There is no dearth of people waiting to dupe you or collect your card details and use them for their gain. At all time you need to safeguard your security. I prefer spending two more minutes to put in an OTP (One Time Password) or the security questions than crying later on when account balance has vanished all of a sudden.

5. Check for Sales and Deals

This is probably the best feature of online shopping. You have a sale almost all round the year. Specially on apparels and household products. You can compare prices and deals among different sites and choose what fits you best.

Recently I bought a luxury pen for gifting and got almost a 43% discount on one site. This I would probably not get if I had been to the store of the brand, or a showroom at a mall.

6. Write a Review and earn points

This is another great feature of online shopping. Some websites have this shop & review program where you can earn points by reviewing products that you have bought. And later on you can redeem those points in your next buys. Isn’t that really great.

You can check sites like RewardMe, Amazon, Nykaa who have such programs.