Buying Your Furniture Online: 10 Top Tips

Today there are a huge variety of online retailers selling a mammoth assortment of items. Buying furniture online may be particularly difficult due to the cost and size of the purchased items.

Here is a guide to getting the best furniture deal online, whilst remaining safe and secure.

Check the dimensions of the product online and then verify the access you have available in your home. Remember that most furniture will arrive in boxes larger than the dimensions of the product shown on screen. Take this into account when measuring hallways and stairs for access, as not all items are suitable for all room sizes.

Does the company offer views of the products from all angles? As a customer does not have chance to see the actual item, a company that offers various views of the product is providing a better service to you. The ability to zoom into certain features is also of benefit to the discerning customer.

Are the items in stock and available for delivery? Ensure items are in stock if you want speedy delivery. Check the timescales for delivery on each item as these may vary depending on the size of the product. Larger items should be delivered by a two man team and placed in your room of choice.

Make sure the website is secure. All payments should be carried out by a secure website which clearly states the payment system used. One way to ensure you are using a safe site is to consider if the website address in the top browser starts with https:/. Another is to see if the “padlock” symbol appears at the bottom right of the screen.

Look out for an actual address and telephone number of the company in order to validate it. This should be clearly … READ MORE

Buying Toys Online – Tips and Advice

Buying toys online can be a great way to save money and also buy toys that may not be available in your local stores. But the question is – is it safe? You don’t want to get caught by online retailers who don’t send your product but take your money or even worse sell your credit card information.

We’ve written a short guide for those consumers wanting to buy toys and really any products online and want to know how they protect themselves.

The first thing to look for when buying toys online is site security. Look for SSL Certificates on the site to make sure that your payment details are protected by Secure Socket Layer technology which is the highest security level available. Sometimes online retailers don’t make it easy to find the SSL Certificate, so have a good look in the Frequently Asked Questions or use their Search function. If you still can’t find it – don’t share your credit card details.

The second thing to look for when buying online is a phone number. Sure, every website has a contact us page, but if they don’t want to share their phone number something is not right. The safest websites are those that display their phone number on every page – you may never need to use it, but if something goes wrong you know they will be at the end of the phone. Retailers who are easy to reach will stand by their products and service.

Another important factor especially when buying toys is to make sure you are buying well know brands that have been safety tested. Whilst there are some great generic toy brands out there, the problem with buying them online is you can’t see them or feel them and you generally … READ MORE