Keep your Money Safe – Avoid Black Friday Pitfalls
We can all be tempted by the online Black Friday and Christmas sales this time of year. Every year many of us end up in that last minute rush to find presents, but it’s a good idea to take a minute to think about staying safe while spending online.
Here is a small list of helpful tips to keep you safe while online shopping:
- Firstly, reputation matters. Using a reputable trader is one of the best ways to ensure you don’t get scammed while shopping online.
Some simple quick checks that you can do to check if a website is safe, would be to first check if they have the SSL certificate or icons with the words “Secure” or “Verified” located beside a URL at the top of the webpage. You could try using Google Transparency Report webpage. This will allow you to run a website’s address through this service to see its safety rating from Google.
- Read Reviews. By checking out what others are saying about a company and their goods can be a simple but highly effective way to know what to expect from them. Using Trust Pilot, Google Business Reviews and Feefo are great ways of finding out what other shoppers’ experience has been. Remember, everyone has different opinions and view experiences differently but it’s good to get an overall view of a company.
- A top tip, if you are shopping online and you are a Revolut member, you have the option to create a ‘virtual’ card within the Revolut app that you can use for one-off purchases online. Then the card details expire. This is a great option for security that even if you did purchase off a site that wasn’t legit the scammers will not have details to any more of your money.
Know the rules!
If you are purchasing goods online from within the EU, then you are protected under the consumer protection laws.
It is worth mentioning within the EU you have a 14-day cooling-off period that applies from when you receive the goods and means you are entitled to a refund within the 14 days. Be careful though as some goods are excluded from this cooling-off period, such as: hotel bookings, car rentals, perishable goods, and some personalised goods. So best check on what goods have a 14 cooling off period before purchasing.
Just like Santa checks his list twice, it’s good practice to read the terms and conditions of any site before purchasing. A key area to pay attention to is the returns policy of the company.
Don’t forget that now the UK is outside the EU, and this means that VAT and customs will apply to orders coming from there.
Lastly, don’t feel pressured to buy under sales events. We all are aware of the Black Fridays and Christmas sales making us feel we must purchase these goods now. However, these are often just sales techniques and may not be money saving.
A good rule of thumb is that bargains are only bargains if you needed the item, to begin with.
