

1. Read customer testimonials before you buy anything. People are delighted to complain about bad service online, so look for sites and testimonials that are terrible so that you know what you're getting into. You should take bad reviews with a grain of salt, but if you see many, you know there is a problem.
2. Be extra careful when you search for shopping deals on social networking. Although it's a great way to get announcements regarding sales and coupon-codes, social media accounts can easily be impersonated or even out-right hacked. Get your information on the social networking sites, then proceed directly to the primary site in the store mentioned to wheel and deal.
3. When you shop online, make sure the site you might be on starts with "https". The "S" means that the site is secure, which entails that one could safely enter your personal information without having to worry about identity theft. When a site lacks the "S" in it, you might like to avoid using it.
4. When a company has a newsletter, register. Often, companies will give sneak peeks, promotions and discount codes to people on the mailing list. However, be careful. You don't want to sign up for every company's newsletter or you'll soon be buried under endless emails. Only subscribe to a company's newsletter if you really like their goods and would use a promotion code.
5. Ensure that when you make a purchase online, you are aware of when the site is secure or not. You do not want your information being compromised in nowadays. Identity theft is very common, and you also must protect your information at all cost so that you will wish to keep making purchases online.