7 Biggest Online Shopping Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Let’s face it. There are very few people who don’t shop online anymore, so there is nothing inherently bad or wrong about doing so. However, there are some things that should immediately raise the red flag, warning us that something isn’t quite right. If you get that nagging gut level suspicion that tells you to click on out of there, perhaps it’s best you listen to that inner voice. Your subconscious mind might have picked up on something you’ve missed, so let that be a word to the wise. With that said, here are seven of the biggest online shopping mistakes and a bit of advice on how to avoid them.

1. Impulse Buying

If you are honest with yourself, you will admit that you’ve done this a time or two. An ad pops up that looks like something you really need and before you know it, you are happily handing over your life’s savings. Well, it might not be quite that bad, but before you buy on the spur of the moment, take the time to read the reviews. There really is a plethora of product and safety reviews out there and a savvy shopper takes the time to read them.

2. Buying from Unknown Sources

There are plenty of these out there, especially on social media marketplaces and on sites like Craigslist. While you can always make arrangements to meet up with them to get a look at what they are selling, never give over your money or credit card information without knowing who they are.

3. Buying from Sites without an SSL Certificate

Actually, you’d be surprised at the number of eCommerce sites that haven’t paid for that extra layer of security. If the URL doesn’t start with “https”, don’t give any personal or financial information. Something is wrong somewhere if they can’t be bothered to protect their customers!

4. Shopping on Public Wi-Fi Connections

You can never trust public Wi-Fi connections because they are altogether too easy to hack. Even if you are sitting in your local fast-food restaurant where you eat lunch every day, don’t do it! You don’t know who could be sitting at the next table or out in their car waiting for you to start sending your credit card info for them to access. Big mistake!

5. Free Trial Offers

How many times have you fallen for those free trials? Either you cancel but they continue charging you or you forget to cancel and get charged month after month. This has happened to the best of us, so take our advice. Skip those free trials unless they don’t automatically renew at the end of the trial period.

6. Ignoring Customer Reviews

This is another thing we often overlook. How many times were you ready to kick yourself when you purchased something that didn’t work and was manufactured so poorly that it was, at best, a joke? If you had only taken the time to scroll down the page to read those customer reviews, you wouldn’t have wasted your time and money.

7. Not Checking for Discount or Voucher Codes

You would think that by this point in time we would all know to do a quick search for discount or voucher codes. Just about every store offers them but unless we look for them, we’ll never know they are there.

There you have seven of the biggest online shopping mistakes of all time. It only takes a few extra minutes to check for the tips we’ve given to help you avoid making the same mistakes we’ve all made once or twice, or maybe a dozen times if we’re honest. By taking an extra few minutes, you could be saving a whole lot of money and the worst migraine you never want to get again!