Buying and Selling online Safely and securely

Selling your products/services online presents a new set of problems for both the buyer and seller alike. Because buyer and seller seldom meet face to face there is no way you can check the Buyers ID (drivers license, cc, etc). Also because the Buyer really does NOT KNOW the seller or has ever met with the seller, they too stand a chance of being defrauded out of their money.

Almost always a non reputable company on the Internet intent on taking a customers money and NOT fulfilling their order, or MISREPRESENTING the items/products/or services is Caught and quickly put OUT of business!

The important thing for a BUYER to know when making purchase over the Internet may be such as the following things to consider

• IF it sounds too good to be true, it probably is - Make some calls and find out MORE before you buy. People who are DISHONEST are generally NOT going to give you a Phone Number to call them at So, Look for their phone number within their ad and CALL THEM!
• Do NOT use a toll FREE type number to call them at (such as an 800, 866, 877) because toll Free numbers are difficult to TRACK by the authorities, and such phone numbers can be here today, and GONE tomorrow!
• NEVER type in your sensitive confidential information at ANY web site which does not start with the leading: https://   the https tells you that you are on a Secure Server and the information you are about to type in WILL be done securely and safely. This does NOT however mean the seller is Reputable in nature. It simply means you are on a SECURE SITE.
• NORMALLY for honest sites which offer secure payments at their site, you will see a little Secure Certificate Authority logo such as certified by Thwate or Verisign.. Click on it to verify the site if you see one of these.
• Sites which offer PayPal payments for checking out your products you have selected are generally SAFER and more SECURE because PayPal itself does all the payment processing which simply means the that OWNER of the site you are about to do business with will NEVER SEE your sensitive information (they never see your Credit card, or checking, or bank account information).. It is ALL handled by PayPal

Now, by Private Sensitive information we are not talking about your Name, Phone Number, Address, or your Email address as ALL that is Public Information ANYONE can easily find out about.. We are talking about your Bank Account Numbers, Credit Card Numbers, Social Security Numbers, PayPal account numbers, or other such information which IF it were to fall into the WRONG HANDS, the perpetrator could take money from your accounts, or even STEAL your identity...

Just NEVER type any of that into a form at a website that does NOT start with the leading https:  and even then MAKE SURE you know what site you are on as there are many Phising Sites (Imposter's POSING as popular sites and services) ...

If you get an email for example TELLING YOU that you need to update your account information at PayPal, your personal Bank, or other DO NOT REPLY TO IT.. Simply go to what you already KNOW is your legitimate PayPal account, or BANKS website and see if you really do need to update something..

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PayPal IS one of the Safest most secured online payment systems in the world.. When a Merchant sends you to PayPal to pay for their products/services, to help make certain you ARE actually at the one and only PayPal site (and not some Phising site), you will wish to look at the beginning part of the URL...

https://www.paypal.com/  is what you are looking for Nothing else in between or if there is, it is NOT a PayPal site at all... Whatever comes AFTER the / at the end is

irrelevant and simply the rest of the URL to that merchants items you are getting ready to purchase..

For the Seller of products/services online

The seller of products/services online who is fraudulent in some manner is MUCH EASIER to find, and to deal with LEGALLY and otherwise than is a buyer of the products/services.  This is why it is VERY SELDOM that a buyer is defrauded, while the Seller is far more often taken advantage of by the buyer.

The most common means for a Buyer to TAKE YOUR ITEMS and never PAY YOU are such as:

• Getting the item in GOOD condition and CLAIMING it was damaged in some fashion
• Putting the item on their Credit Card, Receiving the item in good condition, and then making a Charge Back against the card by telling their card issuer some cock and manny story
• Paying you for the item via personal OR company check (which may not even exist as checks are EASY to forge by even a child today)
• Having the Seller Ship Items to a Post Office Box (which can easily be there today, and GONE tomorrow)..

Here are some ideas to help safeguard YOU as a seller.

• Always SHIP items of any value insured, and generally a GOOD idea to require a Signature at the destination end.
• Never ship ANYTHING over seas unless it is something you do not mind LOOSING. US Laws are not valid Over Seas!
• Never take ANY type of CHECK for payment for your items period! (checks/money orders are simple to forge)
• Never take any type of MONEY order either (Except US postal Money orders)
• You CAN of course choose to always ship COD (and insist on payment via Postal Money order or CC)...

The thing about checks and money orders is that anyone can forge these today. Your BANK WILL take a forged check and deposit it into your account for you as the bank has no idea or way to ensure the check is Valid until it either comes back as Paid/OR invalid... Either way this process will take from a week to several weeks.. IF it comes back as Invalid, you not only will have LOST the payment, but your bank will also charge YOU a $35.00 fee OR MORE for the bad check!

Money orders work a bit different, but they too are very EASY to forge today! Overall best advice is to have the money in your hand before you ship anything and make certain the money IS REAL and not just a piece of paper!

The best way to help ensure you GET PAID for your items is to accept PayPal payments (easy and free), OR to accept a US Postal Money order ONLY for payment for anything you do online!

The US post office WILL KNOW the instant you present them with the postal money order IF the money order is REAL OR NOT and will give you your money right then and there. IF the money order has been FORGED, I guarantee THEY WILL look into it and the sender WILL go to prison!

PayPal is also a good option as it allows YOU to take payment via the buyers Credit Card, Bank Account, or other, all safe and securely as it never allows YOU to see the buyers confidential information, and the buyer NEVER sees YOURS. It is all handled via PayPals secure servers and is very easy for anyone to setup a Free PayPal account to buy and sell securely online.

This site makes IT EASY for registered members to include a PayPal Buy button within your products/services for sale here at this site. You must have a PayPal account of course, and create your buttons at PayPal in order to setup PayPal buttons within your classified ads at this site. Be aware that setting up a PayPal button for something you may ONLY have a single one of is NOT productive and may cost you money in fact....

IF you only have a single 1929 rocking chair for example, you can ONLY SELL that chair one time. Putting up a method for online viewers to PAY for that same chair by multiple people WILL get you into trouble as under law IF you take payment for an item you ARE required to deliver that item... Just make such sales via Email, Telephone, or in person (the old fashioned way is sometimes the ONLY way to do business) for ANY items you may only have a single one of...

It is pretty easy to have a potential Buyer EMAIL YOU about an item you have for sale, and then give them your PayPal email account in a return email to them so that they may PAY YOU INSTANTLY via your PayPal account.

SHIPPING OF YOUR PRODUCTS:

Shipping is one of those things which even for seasoned merchants can be difficult to get it right as well as time consuming. Different Carriers charge different rates, and different States will be different in shipping costs sometimes to an extreme difference. International shipping CAN be a nightmare unless you are a global company and know the rules, tariffs, and what you CAN and can NOT ship overseas.

Even with such hurdles Today - Shipping need not be complex or time consuming at all. IF you are dealing with USA shipping only, your life will be easier when selling products online and you can even opt to have many carriers PICK UP your properly prepared, boxed, and labeled items right at your door step..

The most popular shippers are USPS (united states postal Services), DHL, and UPS.. ALL of these have online sites which offer free boxes, labels, tape, and more and will pick up your items at your doorstep. They also all offer shipping calculators from your location to the address you are shipping the items to so that you can have a pretty accurate total price you can tell your BUYER the item will cost them TOTAL to receive the item they are buying.

When wording the total price for your items for sale, generally Say such as: $39.95 PLUS shipping and handling to your location, USA ONLY please... Or something such as that and when you GET a buyer interested to to one of the shippers above, see how much it will cost to ship and let your interested buyer KNOW the total price at that time..

IF you are using PayPal and have a properly setup account with PayPal as a vendor, you CAN let PayPal figure all that stuff out easily enough.

Now, for very large items such as Furniture, Cars, etc - You will have to look around for Special shippers for such items, but they are out there (expensive but available)..

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By and large, MANY MORE people are defrauded every single day doing business the old fashioned way (taking items to the store checkout at a regular store) than are defrauded on the Internet.. You can look up the current Stats on FRAUD if you wish, but they will bear out the above statement clearly.

There is no such thing as a total safe method to ensure all parties involved in the selling/buying process are honest. Use of common sense and some of the above advice should be your guide to assist you in forming your own methods and solutions to the process.
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