5 Tips to Avoid Scams During Internet Sales

Who says new year, also says sales. The opportunity to find products at the best prices. E-shopping is also proving to be a simple and easy way to shop during sales without braving the cold and the crowds. But buying on the Internet also comes with risks. We explain how to avoid getting caught.

Falsely lowered price

A common practice is to inflate the base price to make it look like a larger reduction. In reality, the price displayed is not the same as that imposed a few weeks earlier. Some sellers might even display the original price of a product, when it was launched, to give a supposedly better discount.

To avoid this kind of scam, you should have gone ahead and noted the price of the products that interested you. If you haven't, it is still possible to check whether the prices have been inflated. All you need to do is go to a competitor's site to compare the “base” price or simply do a quick Internet search to check its introductory price.

Certain price comparison sites also allow you to observe the evolution of the prices of certain products, in particular Idealo in France.

Deceptive reduction

Another tip for traders to encourage buying: bet on the reduction rather than the price. By doing so, consumers are more drawn to the percentages displayed rather than the sale price. In reality, the reduction is not really the one applied. An average customer will trust what they see, but doing the math yourself allows you to check if the displayed percentage is real. A price displayed at - 30% may actually be only - 25% or - 20%.

A more difficult method to hide when it comes to a -50% reduction. The calculation is easier to perform. However, for others, it is advisable to redo the calculation to be sure.

Reductions that are too attractive

To attract customers to their site, sellers do not hesitate to display impressive promotions. Less than 50%, 60%, even 70% or more, you quickly click on the site to browse the proposed catalog. However, once on the site, the articles really reduced to these percentages are few, if not nonexistent.

This kind of advertising is a good indicator of the promos being applied, but don't expect them to be plentiful or applied to the latest trendy smartphone.

Know your rights

“Sale items are neither returned nor exchanged,” a phrase that can be read almost anywhere, both in physical stores and online stores. Outside of sales, a customer can return their item up to 14 days after purchase. A right that the consumer seems to lose during the sales. However, products purchased at a discount have (almost) the same guarantees as non-discounted items.

Thus, if an item purchased on sale is defective or has a functional problem, a customer can ask the seller for a refund or to proceed with an exchange. Note that the merchant may refuse to reimburse you for the full price. In any case, it is up to him to prove that the problem was caused by your fault and that he was absent when it was sent.

Suspicious sales sites

Beyond getting a bad bargain, you might end up with an item that doesn't quite match the description posted on the site. Many sites play on the fact that the customer cannot actually touch or see the item they are buying. This then ends up with an object totally different from that of the description.

Different model, size (too) faithful to the displayed image, pun, scams of the genre are very frequent. To avoid this kind of problem, choose sites that are known or have a good reputation. Consider doing some research on the reliability of sites you don't know.

Chinese sales sites are the best at shipping products to you that do not match the illustration photo at all. It is therefore very useful to refer to the comments.

To keep your money and data privacy safe you should not forget the old law, that is 'an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure'. You should update your operating system and install and antivirus software to give multilayered protection.