To ask how you decide what online retailers to trust

[Graphista]

I'm panicking as I've messed up 2 weeks to Christmas and I'm trying to get stuff ordered to arrive in time.

BUT that's not my query.

My query is there are SO many hits when you search for things to buy, there's of course the well known/high street brands but of course they're the most popular and don't always have what you'd like.

But...if it's a brand/company you haven't heard of how do you know if they can be trusted? Are reliable? If the products are any good? Not all have reviews? Reviews can't always be trusted anyway

So...online buying experts how do you weed out the best companies to use?

I use Amazon if I can, their customer service is great. eBay a close second. So many independent traders use those sites anyway.

If it's an independent company, I look for a physical presence - landline, proper address, and reviews.

I don't use websites that have none of those. Availability of PayPal is also a good indicator.

If I can, like for specialist stuff, I'll try and get recommendations.

Generally I'll stick to buying through amazon, eBay or lately Etsy, all are platforms for small sellers and have buyer protections

Many of the smaller companies have reviews on them and if they have known brands n them you are usually fine. I think though if it's a smaller company the issue might be their inventory might not be real time. I have had quite a number of orders come back to say sorry we are out of stock of am item. There seems to be floods of cheap imports direct from China now too so it's hard to know what the quality is like. If it's an unknown brand, I would go off reviews on websites or recommendations from specialist interest groups. Unless it's so cheap and unimportant that it doesn't matter if you get it wrong. There are also problems with post at the moment too so it might not be just the retailer you look at at this late stage.

I check the contact pages to make sure they aren't in a dodgy country selling supposed designer goods and pay on a credit card so I can do a chargeback if necessary.

Mostly I just use amazon though.

Amazon & Lakeland.

Yes I use Amazon a LOT currently trying prime (though struggling to get my head round how to use to my best advantage - what stuff to order together how to check delivery times and costs - I'm feeling my age! Can't learn this stuff as easily as I used to)

Google Shopping has seller ratings

hope this link works

Venys that's what worries me - getting duff goods - or none at all! Especially for Christmas!

Trills wow! How do you do that?

Google search, then under the box you have "All", "Images", "Maps", "Shopping" as options.

Choose "Shopping", and once you click on an item it'll show you what shops it's available from, at what prices, and show you ratings on the sellers.

It can only match precisely matching items though, it's not so good at variants.

That's amazing thanks!

Ask someone who might have heard of them, check trust pilot (watch out for suspicious good reviews, a bad review followed by 4 good ones in quick succession is a bit suspect if other reviews are months apart), read the bad reviews and see if it sounds like a one off error. Also check their policies around delivery and returns. If you have time contact them with a question and check response times and tone of response.

I try to stick to well-known retailers, and for smaller sites I always check reviews. And not just 'very good top service excellent thanx' -- they need to be proper, recent ones from another source. Trustpilot is good.

Most important thing is: if it seems too good to be true, it almost certainly is. I don't understand the shock when a $15 prom dress, with a picture of exquisite embroidery and expensive fabric, turns out to be complete tat from China that you can't even return.

I have ordered from a few amateur-looking sites and put it on my credit card -- one place selling nursing bras, another selling kids' costumes, and one for discount airfares. Everything turned out fine, but in the last case I wished I'd just paid more since I was convinced, right up to check-in, that I'd bought an imaginary ticket and would be denied boarding. This was a long-haul flight and the discount wasn't worth the stress! Same with stuff you really really need in time for Christmas.

how you decide what online retailers to trust

The ones with the sense not to use Yodel.

Ok a particular retailer I'm looking at for quite an expensive (for me) item has a 5* rating on google and 9.5 on trust point a British address is that good?

I'm a serious bargain hunter...so I find an item I want to buy then google it on 'Shopping' and find the cheapest. Then I google the company and go through reviews and if it looks ok, I buy it from there.

I've had some brilliant deals from shops and sellers i've never heard of, just going off the reviews and the 'feel' I get from the site. Never had a problem.

I also try and bulk buy similar items and look for offers. So if I have 5 board games I want to buy, i'll look for the big shops offering £10 off a £50 spend or 20% off when you spend £40+ etc. So the individual items may be cheaper elsewhere but overall you get a better deal by bulk buying from a big retailer with an offer.

struggling to get my head round how to use to my best advantage - what stuff to order together how to check delivery times and costs - I'm feeling my age!

Okay, I'm glad this isn't just me. I tried to buy some books from Amazon tonight and just ended up leaving it until the morning, since they were offering an insanely broad permutation of delivery methods (home? locker? pass my parcel? local collect?) and timeframes (rapid, next day, standard, free, all at once, book by book, page by page), without making it clear how much each one cost. I am old and I've had a glass of wine. JUST GIVE ME THREE CLEARLY-PRICED OPTIONS.

Sorry. End of derail.

a 5* rating on google and 9.5 on trust point a British address is that good?

Well, presumably you can see how many stars it is out of? So if it's 5/5 and 9.5/10, that's good. If it's 5/10 and 9.5/57 that would be less good (and a weird system) :o

ARum - no need for apology at least like you say not just me! I get confused and anxious - that's how I've ended up 2 weeks to Christmas and all I've bought is a make up brush!

Trills oops sorry

Yes 5/5 and 9.5/10

I've also never heard of trust point either (I'll get my Zimmer frame)

You could try posting in Chat every time with a title of "has anyone bought from not-a-dodgy-site-probably.com?"

Do you want me to check it out? I buy regularly from small retailers, am one and dp used to work on ecommerce systems so we've heard of a few and know what to look for

I run a small business which sells online in a niche market. Our website gives clear terms and conditions, and includes our British landline number and our postal address. We are clear and upfront about delivery times and we only offer one standard posting service, though are happy to do others on request. If you use Whois you can look up who the website is registered to - in our case it tallies with the address on the website.

We use PayPal so you are also given an additional level of protection by their terms and conditions. As a vendor, we NEVER see the card details of any online purchaser.

We happily answer email questions and queries, though we occasionally get customers who expect instant replies even late at night!!

You can phone us and (usually) speak to a real person, and our website also gives details of the specialist events we appear at, so you can get to meet us if you like.

We have an active Facebook page with many customer comments, reviews etc.

We positively welcome approaches from bloggers, magazines etc who wish to do reviews of our products.

We offer free gift wrapping, a free tape measure if you need help when measuring, and a free sample service.

Try Googling the business and see what write ups and reviews come up.

Thanks for all the replies.

I'm feeling quite overwhelmed, very cross with myself (could and should have sorted this ages ago!) and anxious.

Hopefully will get sorted

See this is what bugs me

Looking at new look big high street store tons of info but delivery prices don't say if that's per item or per delivery so that's another email (72 hr response time at moment) or phone call (not cheap will probably be on hold ages).

Or am I being thick?