Many people have asked us whether or not it is safe to shop online. The article below should answer your questions and make you feel more comfortable shopping online for your favorite pet(s).

Online shopping is still new for most people. As a result, many people are afraid to give out their personal information and credit card (or bank account) data to a website. This is only natural, after all, we hear about online scams and ripoffs all the time.

So, the question is, "Is online shopping safe?" And the answer is...Absolutely. As long as you follow a few simple rules which we will discuss below. Basically, the only people who get scammed or ripped off online are the people who are uninformed and don't know what they are doing. As long as you know a few simple rules, it is easy to spot questionable websites. Using a little common sense and the tips we'll provide below, you should have a safe and convenient online shopping experience.

The easiest way to prevent being ripped off is to only buy from a "real" company’s web-site, such as PetsMartor 1-800-PetMeds. Major nationwide companies such as these will not only keep your information private, they have respectable customer service departments which will help you in the event a purchased item does not get to you. Most well-known businesses can be completely trusted. Another way to tell if one of these companies is legit is if you see a commercial on television about them. If a company has a televised commercial, they are for real.

If you find a product you want to buy from a website that you found simply by doing a web search on your favorite search engine, then you need to look things over and do a little digging. First of all, look at the website. If it does not have a professional look to it, forget it. Fly-by-night websites will often have a "thrown together" look with poor graphics and content with poor grammar and/or spelling.

Then look around the website for a "Contact Us" page. If they list a phone number and address or P.O. Box, you can feel more secure as you have another means of contacting them should your purchase never arrive. It is a good idea to call the telephone number listed to make sure that it is a legitimate business. If so, you should be good to go. Also look around for online tracking of your order. Most larger, respectable companies will track your shipment from the warehouse to your front door...and you can log in and see where your shipment is 24 hours a day.

Next, see if the online store has a privacy policy. Legitimate websites will always have a privacy policy, usually found at the very bottom of the page or in the Help or Customer Support section of their site. If you have the time, you can read the policy to see how they will treat your personal information.

If the site passes all of these tests, you should feel rather secure that you are buying from a legitimate online business. But we're not done yet. Once you add your items to your "shopping cart" and you're ready to enter your personal information, you need to look at the website address. The internet address of the page you are entering your information into should begin with the letters https://. Https is an internet standard for encrypting and securely transmitting sensitive information and if the website address begins with https then you know you are transmitting over a secure connection. You will also see a small yellow padlock at the very bottom of your browser window. Only do business with online stores that use an encrypted connection for transmitting your credit card information or stores that use Paypal for funds transactions.

Remember, people are generally good. You can trust most of the e-commerce sites out there. However, there are websites out there that are looking to take your money. The only people that get ripped-off are the people that don’t know what they're doing. Always look into a site before you purchase from it. Then you can feel completely comfortable doing business online with them.

• Never buy from email or forum spammers
• Only shop at websites you trust or have used before
• When finished, always log out of the online store
• If someone else may use the computer, clear the browser cache
• Follow the instructions in the article above

• Deal only with businesses and agencies you trust
• Never send credit card details through email or instant messanging
• Make sure the company has a privacy policy on the website
• Use a credit card with online fraud protection
• Always make sure your connection is secure (see article above)
• Use a low limit credit card for your internet purchases
• Check your credit card statements regularly to make sure there are no unauthorized charges. If you find one, report it immediately
  

Pet Strollers

Dog Collars

Pet Carriers

Dog Crates

More Coming Soon!

Copyright © 2004-2007 Lonestar Farms Miniature and Toy Schnauzers.
All rights reserved. Miniature Toy Teacup Schnauzers for Sale. Miniature Schnauzer Puppy.