Ways to Make Sure You're Protected Against Scam/Ripoff Sellers on the Web

Everyone by now probably knows the do's and dont's of buying online but it's always good to remind in the event some might not be aware.

Here's what I suggest.

• Make the necessary research of a retailer you've not heard about before. Truspilot in my opinion is one of the best ways to know, and aside from Trustpilot you can use Google to a wide variety of results about that company in question.

• If you're buying from a retailer you know little to nothing about, again, use Trustpilot/Google to find out about them and if they don't offer payment through Paypal you're better off avoiding them altogether.

• Now, if you're buying on eBay/Amazon and the products are fulfilled by those dodgy sellers, it goes without saying to not buy from them as they will attempt to refuse to take returns but thankfully you are protected by Amazon/eBay (inc. Paypal) so you'll get your money back. You do need to send it back tracked so Paypal can confirm it was delivered and you'll be eligible for a full refund.

• For customers who purchase items via Flubit, has a guarantee that you always get your money back and returns are free of charge (they use a very simplistic Royal Mail system which says "FREEPOST FLUBIT"), so, if you end up buying from a rotten apple like Atronica you'll get your money back (they're overpriced and falsely sell "new" items which are actually used dirty re-seals).

• If for some reason you're not eligible for a genuine refund, you can talk to your bank for a chargeback as you were wronged.

• This bit of info is a tad similar to the second point, but I digress. Always pay on all retailers that offer payment through Paypal and even those that you deem reliable as anything could go wrong when you least expect it.

• Paypal offers returns up to six months (can seem a bit excessive but most genuine buyers never wait so long to then make a return).

• Digital-format purchases need to be taken even more into consideration than physical products because the sellers who might sell stolen/non-working keys can find a loophole to avoid refunding you. In this instance, besides checking Trustpilot, also use Reddit and Google results as a whole to make sure you know who you're buying from.

• Lastly, if you ever receive an email from eBay, Amazon or Paypal double-check the sender's email and try to remember if the purchase/sold item is actually something you have anything to do with it. Also, it's worth checking within your account of the three if there are any active claims, if not, that's an obvious scam attempt which you should set as spam and delete it.

I have read plenty of customers whom Paypal conned but in my experience, they have always done the right thing. I'll say, if it wasn't for Paypal, I wouldn't have gotten my money back from two returns I made to GameSeek (they're great for purchases but for returns they never answer to any of the messages sent). Others who ordered from SavviBuy (yeah, that scam retailer who was "selling" Hatchimals) seem they haven't gotten their money refunded and they should act on it before it's too late.

Yesterday I was looking through Trustpilot reviews (Trustpilot reviews are posted by genuine consumers than shills, though there can be the possibility of a shill plant here and there), and saw how horrible Game2dl's customer service and products are as they either don't work or the customer service refuses to refund the customer (Page 2 - Game2dl rep: You won't receive a refund.). The saying 'If it seems too good to be true, it probably is" and so, never buy from these dodgy sellers. Just pay the extra you're trying to save and get it legally.

Hope these recommendations help out someone.

Dread, did I miss anything about digital purchases?