rtle_3.1INF

=**3.1INF rough draft**= Rachel Le

=**Online Shopping: Things you should know!**=

As being a girl with the shopping addicted is a common thing and nothing to be a shame of because shopping does not always mean of wasting of money or buying trash, and all of other harsh words people used to describe “stereotype girls”. Shopping is about bargain things you wanted at discounted prices. In the last couple decades, people would go to flea markets or auctions to get goodies but today, the tech-century, I can get my most precious items within a few clicks or bids and wait for it to “knock” on my door. So what does a college student like me buy online? Well, not only I or any other college students because everybody who has access to the internet does, nowadays. I’ll inform you all the advantages and disadvantages of buying online so if you haven’t try “shop ‘til you drop online” then it’s not too late to be started but if you are an expert at online shopping, then there tips for you to be cautions for next time when you click your cart. Shopping online is convenience, because you don’t need to get out of your home and driving to places due to the mall at your area don’t have stuffs you wanted. As you see, most stores would have their own websites and not all of items on the website are displayed in the store, and not all sizes. I’m a small-figured female so it’s hard to find clothes that actually fit my size, not talking about the out of stock items. I also like international brands such as FCUK design, so I would fly in my own private jet to the store in England and pick up my own sized jeans then fly back and going to school to show off. Yes, I’d have done that if I was a fabulously wealthy. As a normal college student without a private jet, I can pre-order some of my text books or school related items online for a decent price and delivery to my door steps, plus, with a discount for my next purchase. Besides of ordering books, I mostly would order shoes because of the saying, “a girl cannot never ever have too many pair of shoes,” I’m a shoes slave, period. I would order shoes from many different countries because of the different designs and styles comparing to the one-style shoes that you have seen walking back-and-forth on the street but I could walk down the street wearing the rear footwear that look like a million bucks but I actually paid for less with free handling and shipping. If you are interesting in buying electronics but are on a low budget, please type in EBay.com on your search engine because EBay has large selections of anything that if people could possible come up with prices then EBay will serve you or likewise you can sell to people worldwide. Such as myself, wanted to buy a printer that also has copier so I don’t have to drive to school to print or copy a sheet then driving 30-minutes to get back home. So on black Friday, I log on to buys.com and spent 75.99 dollars on a brand-new Cannon 3-in-1 laser printer with cartridge included, which are copier, scanner and fax. Mentioned, it’s free shipping and handling. If it was at the physical store, and I wonder if I can get a touch of the machine, when I get a chance to step inside. Just like how it had happened at the Apple’s store when I tried to get the T-shirt, which were gone an hour after they opened. Spending a whole day of driving from mall to mall to finally get all items that you need is hectic and gas. By spent same amounts paid for gas, I can buy something else or pay for shipping and handling. Also at the mall, you don’t have price comparison of stores and items than if you are browsing on the internet. Unless, if you considering of going back and return then buying the better deal item(s). Another great thing of order online is you can always use free promotion code for more discount percentages and the online special sales that wouldn’t happened in the physical stores. Fortunately, holiday is coming and all these sales going on, i.e. the black Friday or Christmas sales at the mall. Majority of us, get up early, fight for parking spaces, spent more hours getting in line than to pick out stuffs, and most importantly, your cart is getting full comparing to the online cart which is never full, “the more you buy the more you save” slogan that appeared on almost all websites. As Google being part of everyone lives, I think we should start with “googling” for shop online safety tips because there are millions of issues that users should be caution, caused of identity thefts, fraud items, and paying for too much shipping and handling. Especially, when it’s come to buy a real expensive brand-name designs, refer to safe shopping’s website, “Review the site for a guarantee of the product's authenticity,” if you are paid thousand dollars for a Channel’s purse that is made in China then it’s really not a happy ending, is it? Also take your time to proofread when you are typing a large amount of money because you really don’t need to input 4 zeros for a 10-dollar item. “Research the Web Site Before You Order,” is the number three tip on privacy right’s website. So when buying something that you haven’t seen in “the real life” or know anything about the product, do research or read customer’s reviews and rate before you buying them. Pictures describe thousand words, so ask seller to provide pictures of the product rather than their long “sound-too-good-to-be-true” descriptions. Do look at the price and think if it’s a smart choice to buy it or not. Would we rather spent hundreds on the worth items than to buy it at a few dollars but then trash it? Most concerns is only if you reach a certain amount or get special promotion then it’s free shipping and handling, otherwise, think if your total spent is reasonable to pay for a shipping and handling because international shipping cost is different than our domestic prices. Internet security is important when buying online as well, who might think that it’s not the seller that scam us but it’s our virus or hacked computer that sell us out. Once you are on the internet, you are at your own risk, if you are browsing unprotected on the net then please prefer of driving to a particular mall for your safety and for your physical exercises. Your credit cards or bank accounts that may have been transfer to the “black hands” without you knowing due to cookies that are saved on your browser/computer. So when you order online, check if the site is secured, usually by the lock icon on the browser and clean out your browser after you have done ordered. Last is to keep a record of your total order, just like a receipt. By keep the confirmation email from seller or printout your transaction when you are finished ordered because you can always make a claim to your seller or bank services and have proof. Those are also to in case, if you have received the wrong or missing items. The downside of most online shopping is you can’t touch the items and pictures could be fraud, so only buy if you know the item well. Always thinks of cancel the order while is still processing if you have changed your mind. Ask for return or exchange if the item wasn’t exact of how you thought it is. Whether if it’s online shopping or in the physical stores, you always have considering your budgets and keep all the receipts or records of your orders. Don’t let shopping turned into a disaster or burden yourself in credit cards’ debts. Also, don’t ever let sellers seem trustful fool you because if something goes wrong then you are by yourself on the one-sail boat to deal with a planned situation. Let shopping be a sport of excising the fingers, extend your skill as bargain hunter and beat all of your family and friends in shopping smart but safety.

NOTE:
 * 1) the **3.1Informative Essay** (rough draft) so that the writer's peers can review it. Also, post a copy to the 3.1INF: rough draft slot in MyCompLab.

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