Experiences and tips you should know when shopping online

I prefer having my window shopping done online; here I get to see the same or similar products from a variety of vendors from the comfort of my home and space. I have had a lot of experience with online shopping for almost a decade now, and here in Nigeria, four popular communities are Jumia, Konga, Jiji, and Ali Express. Beyond getting goods online, you can also get services from people like estate agents or job opportunities. Perhaps taking us through the memory lane of some of my purchases would be a gentle guide for online shoppers after the following steps are considered.

A) What do you want to buy? Beyond window shopping, you likely have a product or service in mind. Once you login to these sites, for example, you can search by category or input what you want to buy into the search space, which is often at the top. The search option brings up an array of products, usually bearing different prices and specifications. You can narrow your search options by applying the filter either for price, used or new items, or even by geographic location. The prices for the same product may vary, and you can select the choice of your product.

Do not skip reviews. Many of us skip reviews about a product. It is not enough to see a product you like and add it to your cart. Going through the reviews from other buyers or users of that product may save you from buying it wrong.

Do not make hasty decisions when you see price slashes on items you want to buy. Personal experiences and testimony from other online shoppers have indicated that those prices arrived at after slashing are within the limit of how much you will get those items when you walk physically into the store. The vendors give those price slashes often to lure unsuspecting customers to buy their items. Personally, prices I see online influence the expected prices when I walk into a store, and on many occasions, I may get them cheaper physically than in online shops.

B) Filling your cart should be done right after your decision is made on selecting what products you want to buy. What you should not overlook is SPECIFICATIONS. I bought many pairs of shoes recently, and about 20% of them were a little tight for me despite confirming my foot length with a tape measure, which commensurates with the shoe size I have always known for myself. Another recent experience was when I bought a track suit for my brother. A large size is just fine for me, and for my brother, an XL. The XL track suit that arrived was just my perfect size, and since it was beautiful on me, I had to take ownership of it and order an XXL size, which I just picked up today. In both scenarios, would I be justified in returning both and reordering new sizes because the specifications were wrong? This is one reason people prefer to have a feel for what they're buying before making a payment. Jumia, for example, has a reasonable return policy of 7 days, even though I have not done that before to know how easy or difficult it is. If, over time, the shoes do not expand to my comfort, I would find worthy people to gift.

Beautiful footwear but a little tight for my leg

C) Making payment is easy: Oftentimes, you can make payment via your credit card or via transfer. The third alternative is to pay after delivery. During your check-out while making payment, you have the option of choosing a pickup station or home delivery. Pick-up stations usually cost me only N760 per item, and when I have many items to pick up, it's usually below N5,000. The delivery fee for an item is as low as N1,680. Thrift deliveries can be as high as N15,000. Home and work deliveries usually attract more expenses. Some cities in Nigeria, such as Lagos and Abuja, have free delivery for certain goods. Also, be sure to take note of goods coming from abroad, most often having express written on them. Some sites, such as Jiji, allow sellers and buyers to exchange contacts for possible inspections. I got my car through an advertisement on Jiji after several physical and online consultations. The car I was interested in was inspected, and further negotiations were made before eventually purchasing the car.

For products purchased online, especially on verified sites like Jiji, there's a return policy if goods are damaged or not according to specifications. I prefer to pick up my goods at outlet offices, which is much cheaper and can be at my convenience (usually within 5 days).

Online shopping has its merits and demerits, and many times, it depends on luck. I have a sound system I bought for almost a decade now without any fault till date, though it has been infrequently used; I bought a mobile phone for my sister, which she enjoyed for about three years, etc.

And to @terganftp

Here in Nigeria, we have a statement called "What I ordered versus what I got," which is common for unverified online vendors such as thrift stores and accessory stores such as those of wrist watches, perfumes, etc. Virtually anything can be sold online, including land, but I prefer to see what I am buying and hopefully feel its texture before committing funds, especially from vendors that cannot be easily reached. There are testimonies of poor sales executive attitude from vendors when customers are not satisfied with products delivered.

I know you have some experience with online shopping and would appreciate your comments and contributions. Thank you for reading.

ALL IMAGES AND SCREENSHOT ARE MINE

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