It is not difficult to notice that our lifestyles today have become much faster than they were in previous periods, and the availability of the Internet in the hands of adults and children now has made the user open to many things that make online buying an easy decision by pressing a few buttons, not to mention shopping online has become a thing Easy and intuitive for most users.
With the rise and spread of advertising campaigns and paid promotion of goods and merchandise, especially in the world of social media; All this has made online shopping inevitable and a good option for those who do not have time to go shopping, and taking into account the above, we will find that making a mistake or obtaining a fake product, or that does not match its description is also increasing in cases of shopping and buying online, and this is a group One of the tips we suggest you should try before you buy inferior, fake or frustrating product.
Avoid small websites and social networking pages
Most cases of fraud or sending products that do not resemble their picture or description or even inferior fake products occur through either purchasing from other users or small merchants on social networking sites such as Facebook for example.
So the first tip is to stay away as much as possible from independent advertisers or small sellers of merchandise; Because most cases of fraud occur outside the presence of a guarantor mechanism or a reliable destination to solve problems after purchase, and to avoid any fraud or purchase the wrong product, you should shop and buy through specialized purchasing applications or popular sites that have gained confidence through previous transactions, relying on names such as Amazon It is prevalent in most countries of the world, including the countries of the Middle East, and famous Arab stores such as Noon, Jumia, Desert Cart and others, and limit your purchases through social media to adding domains or after making sure that the product that you will receive is exactly what you want.
BEFORE BUYING ONLINE... CHECK PREVIOUS REVIEWS
The fact that you rely on big names in the world of shopping does not simply mean full guarantees that the product is not wrong or counterfeit or the like. Most of the major sites such as Amazon, Noon and others provide the option of having individual stores for people and companies on their platforms as well, which is something that the unattentive user may fall into. .
However, these major platforms and sites provide a good advantage for the user to prefer among the attached stores by providing a rating for the previous buyers; Rather, it is constantly asking every buyer to evaluate his purchases, and this globally applicable mechanism is one of the largest tools that help other shoppers to make a purchase decision. Therefore, avoid as much as possible products that are available without a previous evaluation, and be sure to read more than one evaluation and not be restricted to the first positive or negative evaluation you read of the product.
Check the written product description and its dimensions
One of the main reasons for the arrival of an unexpected product or contrary to what the user wants to buy is not to read the accurate and detailed description attached to the goods in the shopping sites. For example, if there is a product such as a smartphone case that is available in black color in the attached picture, but when it arrives, you find it blue or red; And when you return to the site to return the product and file a complaint, you will find that there is a sentence in small font below the description bearing the description of the color in another language such as English.
This makes it more difficult to get the product back, especially if the product is provided by an independent store, not the website itself; It may justify the refusal of the return; Because the customer did not read the description well, and it is normal for consumer protection laws here to take the side of the buyer in all cases, especially with the return laws that stipulate returning the product if there is a suspicion of fraud in the description; Therefore, we advise you to focus on accurately describing the product.
Request real product photos
Another important tip that closely follows the previous one; As most of the merchants and websites that provide a variety of goods usually do not provide pictures taken of the product from the reality of the stores, and aesthetic pictures are often available, or what is known as beauty shots, which are usually pictures taken by professionals and modified by visual modification programs to reach the most beautiful shape possible , which is widely recognized in the world of marketing and advertising.
Therefore, we always recommend asking the store or the site to provide real pictures of the product, which is now available on sites such as Amazon, Noon and others in a section you can always find under the product titled User Questions and Answers; Where you can ask your question about the product or request a picture of the actual product that will be sent.
Avoid suspicious discounts
You may come across an item that you want to buy and find it available on a site at a much lower price than you expect, or you will find it advertised and available at a huge discount up to a suspicious number, and these products are usually either imitation and not the original brand or may be out of validity their use; Which may mean that it is an old product that will not work as efficiently as required.
Therefore, we advise you to compare the prices of the item that you decided to buy outside the site from which you are going to buy first, and even compare the price with the international price as well if you have the skills of searching in English.
Pay cards for the first time
We absolutely do not recommend using bank cards in small online stores or through social networking sites, but if you intend to buy any goods from a store on a large site such as Amazon or others, first make sure that the option to pay on delivery is available; Avoid using credit or debit cards.
This is not for fear of stealing your money, as major sites always provide a secure electronic payment mechanism, but because if any problem appears in the product, the return process will be more complicated and time-consuming, and according to most sites, the return first goes through a process of inspecting the product, and then accepting its condition for return, and then Then return the money, which usually has a refund period of two weeks or more.
But cash on delivery is an option that allows you to first check the product if the situation allows it and then decide to accept it or not, or you can even ask the delivery representative to quickly review the product in front of you before your hand touches it.