Find the Physical Address

Find out who the seller of a particular product is before you buy an item from them. For example, go to the contact page. Find the physical address of the business. Look up on the Internet and find the exact location of the business. Often, a direct buy scam will have a business location in some weird country, so if they don’t have a physical street address in the the U.S., you will need to do some more research.

Call the Customer Service Department

Call the customer service department. Ask questions about the product, delivery policies, shipping and handling fees and company history. Be cautious if there is no customer service department or someone that cannot find you the answers to simple questions before you buy the product.

Listen for Background Noise

When you call the customer service department, listen for background noise. Do you hear small children? Do you hear pets? Often, scam operations work from their homes and not a professional office. While someone might be an entrepreneur, it is good to be on the cautious side when shopping from a stranger. Be extremely cautious if there is no service department, lack of answers to basic questions and a great deal of background noise.

Listing with the Better Business Bureau

Another safe shopping method to practice is to determine if the company is listed with the Better Business Bureau. Now, this will not always work for every single shop. Any shop that is listed in the United States should be listed with the Better Business Bureau. Additionally, there should be no unresolved complaints against the potential company with the Better Business Bureau. It is ideal if the company is listed. However, no listing with the bureau simply means digging deeper before conducting business and exchanging money with the company.

Review the Fine Print

Examine the company’s terms –of-service, shipping and handling policies, refund policy, returns policy and any other fine print posted on their Internet pages. Check all the pages. Often, the fine print can let a buyer know that there are problems with the company or that there is a potential scam taking place. The policies may be so stringent that it is nearly impossible to get any type of money for a refund or even exchange a faulty product for a replacement product. Always read the fine print prior to checking out and exchanging money with the product seller.

Using some common sense, researching the company and reviewing the fine print on the company’s pages is the best way to shop safely and shop smartly. Protect yourself. If you are in doubt if you are getting scammed, then simply walk away before making any transaction.