Online shopping has hit an all-time high in popularity. Beyond the added safety of being able to shop from home during a worldwide pandemic, there’s also a considerable amount of convenience that comes along with online shopping. However, shopping online doesn’t come without its risks.
Senior citizens may be even more at risk for falling victim to some of the scams out there. Although you’ve reached retirement age, and have plenty of life experience, that doesn’t always mean there aren’t sour deals that you could fall for. Take a look at some of the best tips for online shopping for seniors.
Buy From Reputable Websites
One of the most important places to start is knowing that you’re purchasing from a reputable company. Get to know the online store, and whether it’s got good reviews. If you’ve never heard of the website before, nor has any one of your friends, that’s a pretty big indication that it could be a dishonest website.
The best way to tell if a website is legitimate is by looking for contact information like a phone number or email. Above all, look for other reviews from people who have purchased from the website before.
Read Return Policies Carefully
You never know when something you buy online could be a good fit for you. Whether you’re buying shoes or a computer, it’s always important to make sure that you can return it if it doesn’t work out. That’s why you should always read the return policy to ensure that you’re protected. If you buy from a seller that doesn’t accept returns, you should be wary and probably purchase from somewhere else.
Use PayPal When Possible
There are all sorts of different payment options out there nowadays. However, one of the most secure ways to pay is with PayPal. PayPal is a third party so both the buyer and the seller are protected. If one of the two parties doesn’t live up to their end of the deal, PayPal will give the funds to the deserving party.
In other words, as the buyer, if you pay for something, and you don’t receive what you were promised, you can dispute the payment with PayPal, and they’ll get your money back. Not to mention, you don’t have to risk giving your credit card details to a potentially phony site.
Don’t Click On Spam Emails
Sometimes you might receive promotional emails from your favorite websites. However, sometimes it might not always be the real merchant. Remember, if an email asks you to share your password, or any payment information, chances are this is someone else posing to be your favorite online store. Don’t click on it and delete it. You’re always better off safe than sorry.