Tips for successfully Buying Online:
Buying online has become one of the fastest ways to obtain goods and services without leaving home but at the same time you need to use precautions when you buy online. This mostly applies to buying from individuals as you do not know who they are. We recommend firstly you be very specific about what you are buying. Always ask plenty of questions and ask for more photos if you need to. Secondly where at all possible you should pay in person and pick up the goods yourself. This ensures you know exactly what you are getting, you can check for any defects and you want be sending money off to someone and not getting anything back. You can also use such service as escrow where a third party holds you money until you receive the goods. One of the companies that does this is http://www.escrowaustralia.com.au

In the case where you are buying from a large company by credit card, you have a much lesser chance of not receiving what you have ordered and if it was not exactly what you wanted you can always send it back.

Make sure you trade safely online.

Here are some tips to help you make sure you don’t have any problems when you shop online. The internet is a great place to buy and sell goods but you need to be careful you don’t become the victim of fraud. To help you trade safely online we have put together the following list of tips. When you find something you are interested in make sure you ask as many questions about it as possible. Ask questions like: What condition is it in? Does it have any damage? How old is it? Has it been used before? Questions such as these will help you gain a clearer idea of exactly what you are getting. Also try to get a few photos, some form different angles. Most people these days have a digital camera and can easily take a few photos and send email them to you.

Never give personal details

Always be on guard when buying something from the internet. Never give out your personal details. If you are asked by someone for information such as your passport number etc that are not relevant to buying or selling an item you can contact us so we can look into this seller to see if they are authentic. If we find someone is trying to abuse the site we will ban their IP address. You are able to easily do this when you are logged in at the bottom of every listing.

Receiving the goods.

Ultimately the best way to receive any thing you buy is to pick it up. This is especially good for second hand goods that may not be in full working order. By picking them up you can try before you buy. . If you cant pick it up chose a payment option that makes it harder to be a victim of fraud. Using a credit card can give you extra protection as companies that accept credit card payments are normally better established and with credit cards there are systems in place to handle disputes. For more information on buying with a credit card see you card issuer. If the company or person doesn’t have credit cards try using an escrow service. An escrow company is a third party that takes a small commission to make sure the transaction is completed. An escrow company will make sure you receive the goods and the seller gets paid or they have the power to reverse the transaction. A well known escrow company is www.escrowaustralia.com.au. You can also use other pay services such as pay pal or pay mate. Do not send a seller cash unless you are very confident that you know who they are or have dealt with them before. Sending cash is the number one way of getting ripped of. Some of the ways people ask you to send cash include, money orders like Western-Union, bank cheques, telegraphic transfers, and electronic funds transfers etc, these transactions are very hard if not impossible to get your money back if something goes wrong. They maybe a safe way to send money but do not guarantee you will get what you have paid for or have any protection. If you are dealing with someone from outside Australia you need to be even more careful. In this case you should only use a credit card or an escrow service and be very confident of who you are buying from. You may find it very difficult to have overseas police and government agencies investigate anything for you especially if it is a low value transaction. This list does not contain everything that could possibly happen when purchasing on line so we urge you to use common sense when shopping on line. If you think there is anything that may be of a suspicious nature please contact us immediately and we will look into it for you.

General Security

You should also make sure you have the correct protection on your computer such as a virus scanner and spyware protection. These will greatly help reduce anyone gaining access to your personal information

More Information

For more information on potential scams please visit SCAMwatch, a government funded website.

Also have a look at the Australian Securities and Investments Commission website.

Still can't find what you are looking for?

Contact OzfreeOnline:
OzFreeOnline
3/118 Church St
Hawthorn, VIC 3122
Phone: 1300 365 505
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