This article should be of some use to those of you who have never shopped on the internet before, and perhaps even provide a few useful pointers for those people who have already dipped their toe in the water. It’s assumed that you’ve some experience of using the internet.

What do you need to start shopping online? All you need is access to a computer with an internet connection (which presumably you already have if you’re reading this) and a credit or debit card (Visa/Delta/Switch etc).

Is it safe to give my credit card details online? One of the major worries about online shopping, particularly in the early days of the internet, was credit card details being ‘stolen’. These days most online shops (and certainly all shops which Giftique affiliates to) have ‘secure servers’ which use complex encryption methods that are all but unbreakable when handling customers credit/debit card information. Online credit card fraud is now quite rare, you’re probably a lot more likely to be a victim of credit card fraud from other means – thieves reading your card details over your shoulder in a shop, or from old receipts you throw out. As long as you follow a few basic precautions, you shouldn’t have any problems.

Always ensure the company you’re dealing with uses a secure server when you input your credit card details. There are two easy ways to check this: in the address bar, the website address should begin with ‘https://’ rather than just ‘http://’ (the ‘s’ stands for secure server); the second way to identify a secure server is to look on the bar at the bottom of the browser a window – a yellow padlock identifies a secure server (note the padlock, while a good indication, is not always shown. As long as ‘https://’ is shown in the address bar though, you know it’s a secure server).

Make sure the company you are buying from looks respectable. Do they have a professional looking website, or does it look a bit slapdash? Do they have physical ‘bricks ‘n’ mortar’ stores or are they an internet only company? Do they have telephone or e-mail support? How long has the company been operating? We do our best to ensure all companies Giftique affiliates to are reliable, well established companies.

Some companies employ third party organizations such as WorldPay or Paypal to handle payment transactions. These are well accepted and are used by many smaller companies.

Delivery Methods & Prices It’s always a good idea to check what the delivery prices are. Some companies offer free postage on all purchases, others offer free postage if you spend more than a certain amount, and other companies charge for postage regardless of how much you spend. If a company offers free postage above a certain amount, it’s often a good idea to see if there’s anything else you want to purchase from the site in order to qualify for free postage, or ask family members/friends of there’s anything they want.

For some people, delivery method can be equally important. Some companies post by Royal Mail or Parcel Force, which is often the most reliable method, if not always the quickest. Other merchants use couriers to deliver goods, and for these it is often important to make sure someone will be at home to receive the goods, or you might want to get them delivered to an alternate address, such as your workplace. Not being in to receive the goods isn’t critical, but depending on the courier company used you may have to pick up your parcel from a depot or they’ll usually make a second delivery attempt for free. Going on holiday around the time you’re expecting a delivery isn’t a good idea though!

Returns Policy

Any reputable store will refund or replace damaged or faulty goods, but not all sites will exchange or refund goods just because they don’t fit, or someone’s already got that gift, so it’s a good idea to check the returns policy. This is particularly important for things like clothes or jewellery that people have to try on and might not fit or suit them.

We hope you enjoy shopping online and find many excellent products. Remember the three main advantages from shopping online:

• It’s invariably cheaper
• It’s more convenient
• There’s a much wider variety to choose from.