Company:The webtrader must give his name, address and telephone number, not just his e-mail address.
Product:The webtrader must fully describe the goods for sale and orders must be confirmed in writing.
Too good to be true:Be suspicious of extremely cheap offers or products that appear to be miraculously good.
Price:Does the price include VAT, service charges and other duty payable? What does the delivery cost? If you buy from a non-EU Member State you may need to pay customs, excise duties and VAT.
Delivery:Goods being sent from abroad may take some time to be delivered. Check with the trader how long this will take, and set a delivery date that you must have the goods by, if that is important. Where no delivery date has been agreed then delivery must be within 30 days.
Payment:Be careful when you give your credit or debit card details on the Internet. Always find out whether the company has a secure site, and look for information about the protection the company has put in place.
If you use your credit card to buy online and the goods fail to arrive or are faulty, you may be entitled to be refunded by your card company. Remember, you do not have the same protection if you pay by a debit or charge card.
Privacy statement:Check if the company has a privacy statements on their website. In this the company will explain what they do with the information they have about you and how secure the information is. Such a company will also allow you to say whether or not you want your information passed on to other companies. Read the policy and decide if you want to leave your personal information.
Cooling of period:When shopping from webtraders established in EU-Member States you are at least entitled to a 7 day "cooling off" period when you can change your mind. If you buy from a Swedish webtrader and Swedish law applies to the contract you have a cooling off period of 14 days. The webtrader is obliged to inform you about the cooling off period on his webside. Print out and save: Print out the order, and keep any terms and conditions that appear on the web site, just in case of any disputes or problems later on. Keep the supplier's confirmation message.
Trustmark:Check out if the webtraders has joined a trustmark scheme. In this case a hallmark (trustmark) is displayed on the trader's website. In order to obtain a trustmark the webtrader is required to adhere to a code of practice, a code of conduct or other standards operated by a trustmark awarding organisation. Check out what the trustmark stands for!
