However sometimes the deal that looks great falls short of what has been advertised. Communicating dissatisfaction can be difficult online versus face-to-face and often takes enormous patience and tenacity to achieve satisfaction.
The Advantages of Shopping Online
- The stores are never closed.
- There is no dress code.
- You save on gas.
- There are no parking woes.
- You can escape from aggressive salespeople.
- There are vast resources for product and price comparisons.
- Products can be found that are not available locally.
The Disadvantages of Shopping Online
- The inabilities to physically check out the items you are purchasing.
- Losing the power to negotiate the price and payment terms that may exist in local stores.
- Items ordered online are sometimes on backorder but the consumer is not always informed until weeks after the purchase is made.
- Not always knowing if a site is a legitimate and safe site to shop.
- Having to pay for shipping costs that far exceed the true shipping rate.
- Returns and exchanges can sometimes be difficult because of the lack of face to face negotiations.
- Restocking and shipping costs are often charged on returns made online.
Points to Keep In Mind When Shopping Online
Pros: Many companies online provide excellent values because they do not have to pay the overhead of owning a physical business that will cost them insurance, employee pay, taxes and more. Consumers can benefit from the savings of online shopping, especially when they combine it with special promotional coupons, and other consumer incentives.Cons: Companies offering free items online sometimes hike up the cost of shipping so high that they profit from the purchase. One example of this is the free software products that are advertised. You may get three free software CDs but the $14.95 shipping cost exceeds the real value of the products.
The trick to getting a good value on products you purchase online is to look at the entire purchase amount and not just the amount that you will be paying for a specific product. Reading the customer service sections on e-commerce sites should provide you with clear answers on return policies, restocking fees and what guarantee is offered on the products. If you have any remaining questions call the company and get them answered before you submit your credit card to any site.
