Showing posts with label online buying-selling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label online buying-selling. Show all posts

Friday, August 31, 2012

Email & Online Safety Tips:

Most of us have been using email and shopping online for quite some time, so we know how to use it safely – right?? Wrong… we all get comfortable and too often when we aren’t paying attention, we leave ourselves open to scams without even realizing it… so just a few basic reminders to stay safe online…

BE SURE IT SAYS HTTPS - Before you ever type in any personal information whatsoever on a website (shopping, medical facilities, registering on a company site for info, travel websites, etc) – always be the one who went to that website by typing the website into you browser address bar..  Don’t go there by using a link in an email you received..  Once there, you always want to see https in the Internet browser address bar before you ever type any personal information.  For example when I got to walgreens.com to see what’s on sale – the address in the browser bar will read:

But when I left click on the “shopping cart” the data in the internet browser toolbar changes and now reads:


reputable companies never ask for info via email - Your bank, favorite online store, mortgage or credit card companies will NEVER – NEVER – NEVER - send you an email requesting sensitive information such as your username, password, account number, etc. If you ever receive an email asking for you for this information – print it off and delete it.. Once you print it off, notify the company directly of what has happened.  When you type information into any website, you want to be sure you generated the access to that specific website… never click on a link from an email to visit the site.

BE WARY OF EMAILS FROM GENERIC NAMES – Spammers, Scammers and others who are phishing often send emails using a single name “Jean” or other common names, such as “Uncle Dave” or a common company name – Wells Fargo, Bank of America, or political affiliation these days…  But that doesn’t mean that it is who you think it is.. Most of our friend or families emails come in showing both their first and last name - Pay attention to the email and any attachments they may include – go with your gut, if it looks funny or unusual delete it…

IF IT SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, IT’S PROBABLY A HOAX!
When we receive emails offering easy money, free or cheap products and services, requests for money because our friend is stuck in another country or an offer for a foreign lotteries – remember they are almost always a hoax…  delete them and never, never forward them to anyone on your email contact list/address book

Protect your friends & families privacy - Always be sure you type friend & families email addresses in the “BCC” line of all emails (not the To line), so they receive the email but don’t see each other’s addresses – this way if and when they forward the joke or information to others, email addresses won’t be shared unknowingly..  
If and when you receive an email with lots of other addresses, as soon as you choose to forward it on, be sure to eliminate any of the addresses that are listed before your forward it…  Together we can protect each others privacy and reduce the amount of junk mail we get..

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Who is PayPal and why would you use them?

Wikipedia's description of PayPal: PayPal is an e-commerce business allowing payments and money transfers to be made through the Internet..

But to me: PayPal is simply an easy and safe way to pay for things that I buy online…

Many say that PayPal is:
  • the fastest, safest easiest way to pay and get paid
  • the most popular online payment source in the world today
  • lets us send money to anyone with email
  • free for consumers
  • works very easily with our existing credit cards and checking accounts
  • easy to join-it takes just a few minute to set-up your free online account

Personally, I like the fact that I can shop online and not share my financial information with the company I am buying from (credit or debit card or checking account information with anyone other than paypal). Everyone seems to agree that PayPal uses the newest and best anti-fraud technology to help protect us and our financial information… so that if a companies information is compromised my account information isn’t…

With PayPal it’s also easy to transfer money to anyone, anytime, anywhere in the world from whatever computer you may be at.

You can pay most retailers on the internet with PayPal and in some cases that is the only payment form they accept.

If it’s free than how does Pay Pal make it’s money. Easy, they charge the sellers for each transaction. So for “sellers” the rumblings are that PayPal’s fees are increasing much too high and much too quickly!!

Visit their website for more information: www.paypal.com

Sunday, February 28, 2010

What's Craigs List, eBay or PayPal?

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ONLINE AUCTION SITES & CRAIGS LIST?
• Craig’s list is more like a listing service where the seller or hopeful buyer can list the specifics of what they want to buy or sell including price and other information
• On line auction sites, such as eBay – list items for a set period of time (typically 7 days) and then bidders can bid on the item sometimes far above value – EBay now also offers pricing as “Buy Now” to avoid bidding

POPULAR ONLINE AUCTION SITES: just a few or check out www.nettop20.com
• Ebay.Com
• Ebid.Com
• Epier.Com
• Onlineauction.Com
• Overstock.Com
• Oztion.Com
• Amazon.com
• Shopgoodwill.Com
• Ubid.Com
• Webidz.Com

Buying & selling items on online auctions should be fun, easy and safe and online auction sites should be easy to navigate, provide a wide selection of categories and subcategories, several custom selling options and a straightforward feedback forum. These issues are important to most of us when we consider on line auction sites…
  1. User Base
  2. Selling
  3. Buying
  4. Reliability/Security
  5. Help/Support

HOW TO GET STARTED USING eBay.. It's easy and free! Registration is required in order to buy or sell on eBay. As a registered eBay member, you can shop on eBay and participate in the world's largest online community of buyers and sellers. EBay has a complete and very easy to understand Learning Center..

WHO IS PAY PAL? PayPal is eBay's preferred way to pay. It is a system that lets anyone with an email address securely send and receive online payments using their credit card or bank account. eBay members can use PayPal to quickly and easily pay for items on eBay – set up your pay pal account before you begin to shop to make buying easier. (go to www.paypal.com)