Last Updated on September 3, 2020
4. Buying products from a scam website
Phishers are a specific type of hackers trying to obtain critical pieces of information such as passwords or credit card details by disguising themselves as trustworthy and reputable companies.
They create fake websites that look completely legitimate at first sight and use them to deceive consumers into giving away their personal information such as passwords, social security numbers, bank account details, etc.
These scammers can either steal money directly from your bank account or use your personal information to commit crimes.
To avoid online phishing scams, you need to be always very suspicious of any email or text messages that you receive with external links that promptly request you to enter log in details, for example.
5. Not knowing how to evaluate online reviews
In theory, online reviews made by unbiased customers are great. They can help potential buyers decide whether the product they are interested in is worth buying or not. But the problem is that sellers found out a long time ago how powerful these reviews are, and nowadays, there are tons of manipulated reviews.
Additionally, some reviews don’t give any insight into the product and its experience. The bottom line is: don’t ignore the reviews of a product completely and don’t decide based solely on them.
It’s important to know how to distinguish a good and insightful review from a manipulated or irrelevant one. Additional tip: keep in mind that consumers are much more compelled to express negative opinions about a product.
6. Not checking the listed price history
Every experienced consumer knows that, from time to time, online shops (and physical ones, for that matter) list a product at an extremely high price so they can then claim to be selling it at a huge discount. Even the most trustworthy websites use this technique to lure consumers.
Fortunately, it is fairly easy to know whether the discount you are seeing is legit or not. Search the product on the internet and compare its price with other stores. Chances are the discount is not as great as they claim. Don’t be naïve!
7. Not taking advantage of cashback reward programs
In a way, not taking advantage of cashback reward programs is an online shopping mistake that costs you money. These programs operated by credit card companies give you back a percentage of the amount you spend every time you make a purchase – typically somewhere between 0.5% and 2% of the investments made as an annual rebate.
Some credit card companies offer even better deals in online purchases, so make sure you look that up. Many online retailers also offer their reward programs, so make sure you take advantage of that if you frequently order things from a certain website.
