Online shopping is the wave of the future, and has increased substantially since its early beginnings. When customers were first able to buy online, it involved a limited number of retailers who had contracted with each ISP, and what you bought was billed to your Internet bill. The concept has certainly gone through an evolution since, and today there is hardly a retailer that doesn't have an onsite presence, including restaurants. Of course, with so many retailers, a customer needs to learn how to buy online safely.

It's important to keep in mind that not every retailer that opens a website is going to be honest and trustworthy. As a buyer, you have to learn to weed out those who appear to be on the shady side. Sometimes a new buyer is drawn into a scam and then assumes that every retailer online is dishonest, so they refuse to buy online any more. One of the things that creates so many retailers who are less than trustworthy is the number of free classified sites that exist. That doesn't mean that everyone who uses a free classified site is dishonest, but the risk is higher. Of course, on the other hand, as a buyer, you may not know if an advertisement was a free or a paid advertisement. For that reason, you need to learn to have a feel for what sound legitimate before you buy online with any frequency.

Does that mean that every retailer has to pay for their advertising in order to be legitimate with their online presence? Of course it doesn't, but on the other hand, how many legitimate retailers do you know who use free advertising? There is customarily a budget for advertising, and they utilize it to the highest degree possible because they know sales depend on effective advertising. It makes good business sense for someone to buy online from a retailer who makes use of their advertising budget by using paid advertising sources. After all, the paid classified advertisements draw more traffic to the retailer's site than free advertising because of the way the classified advertising company puts the advertisement together.

When you buy online, you have to have a credit card—another important reason to make sure that the retailer is legitimate. Another source of verification is possibly to contact the credit card processor they use—if they are legitimate, they will provide this information—and find out their experience with the company. Don't worry about offending anyone, you have to protect yourself when buying online.

David Betz is a consultant doing work for http://www.mycityslist.com and Houston based http://houston.mycityslist.com