Discount Diva
Discount Diva: Shop safely on Cyber Monday
Today is Cyber Monday, the supposed kickoff to the holiday shopping season online.
In reality, it’s a date plucked from thin air by a few clever marketers. In designating this day as the Black Friday of the World Wide Web, the plan was to get American workers with turkey hangovers to spend their first day back at work shopping online.
But what started as a flimsy marketing tactic to drive shoppers to the Web has been hyped into a self-fulfilling prophecy, with online retailers orchestrating an Internet extravaganza of rock-bottom deals, free shipping and virtual doorbusters.
A Shop.org survey said 83.7 percent of Internet retailers will offer special promotions today, up from 72.2 percent last year.
Here are some things to keep in mind should you choose to partake in the post-Thanksgiving virtual sales smorgasbord:
• Always be sure you’re shopping on a secure Web site, where your credit card and personal information will be encrypted so others can’t decipher it, suggests Internet security manager RadialPoint.
Secure URLs will begin with “https,” so watch for that additional little “s” in your browser.
They will also sport a tiny padlock icon. But, be sure the lock appears somewhere in the window of the Web browser, NOT in the Web page itself. Anyone can display a graphic in the Web site window, but that doesn’t mean it’s secure. If it’s a genuine icon, security information should pop up with a double click.
• It’s easy to make a big mistake with one small keystroke. Double check the quantity of what you’re ordering. Also keep a close eye on tax, shipping, handling and total price, learn the seller’s return policy and print a copy of your sales confirmation.
• Keep a closer eye on your bank statements than usual and consider putting Internet purchases on just one card for easy monitoring. Not only will it help you stay mindful of what you’re spending, it will help you catch criminal activity quickly and increase the chances of stopping thieves before real damage is done.
• Online shopping usually translates to credit card shopping, so set vigilant parameters to keep yourself from going overboard with the plastic. Though the Internet lends itself well to comparison shopping — which is great — finance charges and late fees can more than cancel out any deals you find.
• Examine customer feedback when using auction Web sites. Don’t let unbelievable deals steer you toward a seller with an undesirable or unproven record.
• Remember your credit score is likely to take a hit if you charge more than 30 percent of your available credit line, warns the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. That could mean higher interest rates and lower credit limits in the future.
• The smartest Web shoppers will use debit cards this year. As added insurance, ask your bank about disposable account numbers you can use when ordering online. That way, you’re not putting your money in jeopardy by displaying your true account number. If someone gets to your disposable number, it won’t do them any good since it can only be used once.
e-mail: schristmann@buffnews.com
Share your money-saving tips on the MoneySmart blog at www.BuffaloNews.com/MoneySmart .
You can also e-mailmoney@buffnews.com or call the Money- Smart consumer hotline at 849-4618.
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