Buying safely: where and how?
Despite the fact we are leaving in an era dominated by the web and online shops, a lot of people still have doubts about buying online in a safe way.
Today we will briefly discuss about the safest way to buy online. Where should you make the purchase? What are the most important details? What should you ask the seller?
Where to buy
First of all, you must be absolutely sure of the genuineness of the website on which you are going to make your purchase. How can you do it?
- Before starting your quest for the product, take your time browsing all the information pages available on site. For example, look for brand presentation or description: any company that produces or sells is proud of its own past and is interested in telling you more about its history; any brand wants to tell you more about its philosophy e its view of the world and, most of all, wants to tell you everything about the production process.
- Read carefully the „Terms and Conditions“. They are mandatory for any e-commerce website and they are usually placed in the footer of the page.
By reading them you will find out, for example, how many days you have to return the product, how many payment methods are available or how many days it will take to process your order. - A good idea, is to read the FAQs: as a matter of fact, frequently asked questions are the easiest way to satisfy your doubts and the fastest one to understand what to do before, during and after the purchase.
- While browsing search for a telephone number or an e-mail address: companies want you to trust them, so they make sure that this information is always evident; if you can’t find one or even both of them, you are probably browsing an unreliable website. Run!
After you find that information, don’t be afraid to use it: if you have any doubt or question, call or write an e-mail to the company. Customer care will be happy to help you. - A lot of websites also have live chat: use it to receive the information you need in a fast way.
Don’t panic if a chat open automatically or a customer assistant invites you to chat: if you don’t need it, don’t run away, just close the chat and keep doing what you were doing before. - Before purchasing anything, try to be informed about available payment methods and if the online transaction will be safe; again, refer to Terms and Conditions or FAQs to ensure that the payment with Credit Card will be made on a safe Gateway or that there is a chance to pay offline, like cash on delivery or wire transfers.
Don’t give away any uncommon personal information. For example you can share with the website your VAT number, but better not to give away your credit card numbers.
Last but not least, choose a seller that gives you the chance to have a tracked shipping. Nothing reassures you more than knowing where your parcel is every time you want.
IMPORTANT: if you’re going to buy your bag abroad, make sure that you have enough information about the exotic material used and that the seller will ship it with a CITES certificate. Do not buy unsafe items!
You checked all that information and the site seems secure enough to make a purchase? It’s time to start your quest for the product of your dreams. Do not let your guard down though: there are still some details you need to pay attention to.
Which ones?
You found the product you love: the model seems the one you were just looking for and the color is perfect. But all that glitters is not gold.
- Look at the price: it could be too high for your budget or it could be too low, even lower than the one you were expecting. Always doubt a low price: it could hide a small or a big deception. In the worst case, you could face contraband products or poor quality material; in the best case, you may find out that the bag you are looking at is not made of genuine python leather, but genuine python printed leather… or plastic.
FUN FACT: As manufacturers of bags and accessories in exotic leather, we often attend fairs where new leather works’ types are presented. In recent years, we have noticed that the processing techniques have evolved a lot: now it is possible to create printed leathers that look exactly like real python, both to the eye and to the touch; only looking at the whole skin it’s possible to realise that you are not looking at a genuine python leather. The bags created with this workmanship, therefore, will look like genuine python leather bags and they will be difficult to recognise at first sight.
For this reason, when buying a bag you need to pay attention the description; only this way you will be sure about the genuineness of your product.
- So, don’t be lazy and read the description carefully! From our part, we can say that we don’t enjoy ourselves while filling our product sheets with lots of information: everything we write is essential to make you understand (in the best way possible) the characteristics of the product we offer.
Therefore, do not skip any paragraph and if you need more information, don’t hesitate to contact customer support. - Look carefully at the product’s photos: do you see the features of the article well? Are there any photos of the details? Does the color look real or seem modified with photoshop? If the answer to at least one of these questions is „no“, then don’t be afraid to request more photos taken with natural light.
Anyone selling exotic leather knows that the buyer has to incur in large expense, so the choice and the purchase may not be immediate and easy (as for the cheap products).
Customer support will certainly be more than happy to help by providing any needed information.
At Gleni, we always do it!
- Look for comments and reviews. There’s nothing better than hearing the opinion of other buyers that made the purchase before you.
What do they say about the shipment? And about the product?
At this point: the website seems safe enough and bag is exactly the one you were looking for and it’s provided with regular CITES documentation. Put the item in your cart and go to the checkout… what should you pay attention to now?
- While checking out, make sure that you fill the sheet with the correct shipping address and billing information.
- If you have a discount coupon, it’s time to use it!
- Many sites offer their customers the possibility to choose between different shipping methods: some are cheap, but without tracking number or insurance — not very safe.
Choose the one with tracking number and with insurance, even if it means spending a little more. Only that way you will be sure that your parcel will arrive at destination safe and sound. - The time has come to make the payment: choose a safe method and never provide passwords or numbers of your credit card.
Congratulations! You have completed your purchase. Now you just need a little patience and wait: you have, in fact, bought and exotic leather product and as you well know, the item must be shipped with the CITES certificate: the document requires a couple of weeks of preparation.
As soon as it will be done, you order will be shipped!
