Online Dress Shopping: 5 Tips for Safe and Secure Purchases

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We are truly living in the digital age and most of us buy things online. However, there can be risks attached to online shopping, particularly when buying something as precious as a designer dress. The following tips should ensure that all your online purchases are carried out in a secure digital environment that upholds you all of your rights as a consumer. Should you wish to learn even more about how you can stay safe online once you’ve read these tips, you can click here to read an article that goes into further detail about this. 

1. Look for the Padlock Icon – When you are on any website that sells products or services (a shopping cart website), there should either be a small padlock icon at the very start of the URL window in your browser that contains the web address, or the URL should begin with the initials ‘https’, as the ‘S’ signifies secure, which means the website uses a security certificate that guarantees encryption. Any URL that starts with ‘http’ is not secure and you should be careful when entering your credit card details on such a website, as this data could easily be hacked. Although there are many websites that have the prefix ‘http’, they are generally information sites that do not accept financial transactions.
2. Buy from an Established Designer Boutique – This is one way of ensuring that the goods you receive will be of the expected quality. Take a look at the line of 2020 online prom dresses at Peaches Boutique. They are one of the biggest online boutiques, with many famous designers represented. You only have to look at their very impressive review scores on Trustpilot to know that they have many happy clients who shop regularly. Depending on where you are shopping, you may even be able to apply something like a Macy’s promo code to grab some discounts.

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3. Update your Anti-Virus Software Regularly – This is essential, as there are new viruses coming out on an almost daily basis and some of these are designed to steal your credit card data when you shop online. If you are not using any anti-virus software, this is something you must change as soon as possible, as all the time you are online, you are vulnerable to cyber-attack.

4. Check the Seller’s Terms & Conditions – Every business that sells products online would have a policy, which you should read thoroughly, as it covers damaged goods and their refund policy. Understanding their terms and conditions means that you are fully informed of their terms and conditions that cover every eventuality.

5. Do Not Give Out your Personal Information – In the event you receive and email with a link asking you to refill in your personal information on a website that you use, this is likely to be a phishing website, which is a clever copy of the original, and if you re-enter your details, this could be used to commit a crime.

If you make sure that you purchase your dress from an established online boutique and your anti-virus software is up to date, there is very little chance that anything will go wrong. By following the above advice, you are minimising the risk of becoming a victim of cyber criminals, and one has to be very careful online these days.