Here are some really great online shopping tips. I love to shop for Christmas, birthday presents, anniversary presents, and even sending flowers for various occasions online. One of the most important steps of online shopping is how to find websites that are safe and secure. How to keep your information safe and out of the hands of identity thief predators. Here are some tips and helpful resources that will help you feel more in control of your online shopping experience. Online shopping can be a really great experience. However, there are a lot of concerns with online shopping. There are a lot of things you can do to ensure your safety when you purchase any item online. I will share some great tips with you and let you know my favorite websites I have used for years now with out any problems at all.  

First of all I have to say my favorite products to shop for online have to be Christmas shopping for clothing. Apparel as most retailers call it, is one of the most popular items on my Christmas list as well as electrics. No matter if I am buying for younger or older family members everyone always raves about the clothing and/or electronics they receive from me for Christmas. From pants and jeans, tee shirts to under garments with out the embarrassing moment of standing in line with Santa Clause boxers in hand and a bright red face. Online shopping can help save time, save you the aggravation from long lines, and saving a load of money that would have went in my fuel tank I have absolutely fallen in love with online shopping.

What is your favorite online shopping website, we all want to hear your favorite and why you like it. Do you have a site you do not like? We definitely want to hear your feed back on that one. Please take a minute to share your favs or not so favs and why. Thanks in advance for your feed back guys. Here are some great tips.

1. Stick with the well known most trusted webistes. You can look the site name up and type in feedback, comments or even type in -I have used "Site Name" to see waht people think about the site. Word of mouth is invaluable when it comes to online shopping reputation. Check with your friends and family to see what sites they have used and what their experience has been. You might be surprised at how many people you know that shop online and love it. My favorite website to shop with especially for my Christmas shopping which is well under way is WalMart.com.

2. Make sure you have a secure connection, if you do not know how here are some tips to find out if you have a secure connection.There are two ways you can see if you have a secure connection.

Once a secure connection is established*:

• The first few characters of the web address in your address bar will change from the usual http to https – the ‘s’ stands for secure.
• You’ll see a little padlock icon, in the locked position, appear in the bottom right-hand corner of your screen. * See the picture below for an example.

Check for a secure connection every time you log on to internet banking. It helps to keep your data safe. For a more in-depth look at checking that a website is secure, find out how to check a site certificate. You can check with with well known certification authorities such as Verisign, GlobalSign and Thawte.

3. Method of payment, pick a payment type and make sure it is secure. Credit cards are a common choice as they are generally a safe option because they allow you the buyer to seek a credit from the issuer if the product isn’t delivered or isn’t what you ordered. Also, if your credit card number is stolen, you generally won’t be liable for more than say $50.00 in charges. Don’t send cash or use money-wiring services because you’ll have no recourse if something goes wrong with the purchase.

PayPal is a safe way to make purchases online, it is a growing idea that is more or less a middle man between yourself as the buyer and the website as the retailer. It is a way of shopping with out having to give out your credit, debit or checking account information to a website while shopping but being able to utilize these forms of payments with out worry or fear of identity theft. Basically PayPal keeps the information you choose as your payment method on file and when you submit your order to a website and choose PayPal as the form of payment to the website PayPal will then email you to ask if you infact would like to purchase the item from the web site if you say yes then they will procreed to pay the website for the item.

Some websites such as walmart.com offer many ways to pay such as credit card, debit card, WalMart card, PayPal and Bill me later options. This site is my all time favorite website. Not only do you have many options to pay with you also have many options for shipping choices as well, from ship direct to your home to shipping site to store on some items, which by the way is free for the site to store option.

4. Check out the company’s shipping methods and return policies. Be sure to review the choices offered for shipping, and be sure you know the shipping and handling fees before you place the order. Find out how the merchant handles returns or complaints, and whether or not you will get a full refund if there is a problem with your order. Check out the return policy in case the need arises to return the item.

5. Check out the websites privacy policies. Every reputable online shopping site provides information about how it processes your order, and what it does with the information it collects on you. The privacy policies should tell you what type of information they gather, what they do with it, and whether or not it will be shared with other companies. Often the merchant’s data security practices are also explained in the Privacy Policy. Look for online merchants who are members of a program that gives a seal of approval to safe online shopping sites. TRUSTe, Verisign, and BBBonline are the most commonly seen programs. Be aware that a security policy and a seal of approval do not guarantee that a merchant will protect the privacy of your information indefinitely. You may have little control over your information if the company files for bankruptcy, sells its customer database, is purchased by another company, or has to give up its customer information for law enforcement investigations.

6. Always save and print out a copy of your order for your records. After you place an order online, you should receive a confirmation page that details your entire order, including charges, customer information you provided, product information, and a confirmation or order number. You should print out at least one copy of this page, as well as the page showing the company’s name, address, phone number, and return policy. You may also receive a confirmation message in your e-mail, and you should save and/or print this message as well.  

Fighting Back Against Identity Theft This website is a one-stop national resource to learn about the crime of identity theft. It provides detailed information to help you deter, detect, and defend against identity theft. OnGuard Online Provides practical tips from the federal government and the technology industry to help you be on guard against Internet fraud, secure your computer, and protect your personal information. Spyware Information about how the FTC fights spyware through law enforcement and consumer education, and by encouraging industry to devise technological solutions.

7. Make sure your computer is secure. You want to at least have anti-virus and anti-spyware software program installed. There are some great programs out there that are trusted to keep you safe and the best part if they can be found for free. A really good anti-virus program is AVG.

A free anti-spyware program is Spybot search and destroy. Here is a list of available download locations for Spybot-S&D. Select onein this list to download Spybot-S&D from that page. Security software is updated regularly to help protect against the latest threats. Visit OnGuardOnline.gov and staysafeonline.org to learn more about security software, firewalls, and other ways to secure your computer. It goes without saying that you want your computer safe even if you are not using it to shop online, we all want to have a high level of security when it comes to computer use and our personal information.

8. Never give out your social security number to any one online.It is completely unnecessary to give out your personal social security number to order a product or item online so if a website asks for it they are not a legitimate website. You should definately not trust the website with your personally information.

9. Shop around and compare prices. There are a lot of safe shopping sites out there and many are very competitive with their pricing. There is a lot of money saving offers, coupon codes, discounts as well as free shipping offers out there to gain your business. Everyone knows a return customer is what makes business grow so keep looking until you find your favorite website that has all of the great attributes we look for in a great site to make sure it is safe, secure and an enjoyable experience for this year in your shopping extravaganza. Make this season a less stressful season and do some of your shopping online.

10. Always choose your password wisely and keep it in a safe place. I always try to stay away from my user name on a website when picking a password never pick something close to the user name you picked. Next try to make it as long as you can and try to incorporate a number in with the letters. I always send my password to myself in an email I label it with PW and the websites name. Here is an example, PW-Walmart.com. Then send the email to your own email address so you can have a record of the password and you will always be able to retrieve it quickly by searching your email.