Top 5 Amazon Shopping Tips: How not to get scammed and waste your money

Amazon is a great shopping place, especially if you're into online shopping. And if you haven't tried shopping at Amazon, you might want to consider creating an account and start today. And if you're new at Amazon, you've come to the right place. I have a few tips for you so you avoid getting scammed by fraudulent sellers and avoid wasting money in the long run.

From my experience, there's always a risk involved with online shopping no matter where you shop, whether it's eBay, Amazon, or any online store. With online shopping, you risk:

• purchasing knock-offs instead of the genuine one,
• purchasing expired products (makeup, supplements, food, etc.)
• purchasing misrepresented products - e.g. dents and scractches are not described in a second hand phone or gadget
• having your item broken or lost in transit

All these risks apply to purchasing from Amazon as well. However, if you purchase from a legit store with a seller account in Amazon, it's very likely that they have a good customer service in place. In case the product arrives at your doorstep broken, just contact the seller and see what can be done with it.

I once bought GoPro accessories from Vanwalk, and I received it with the monopod mount missing. I contacted them hoping to only get the missing piece. However, they sent me another kit instead. That is what I call EXCELLENT customer service. This was very surprising to me because, sad to say, this is not how it normally works in the Philippines.

Anyway, here are my tips for shopping at Amazon so you avoid getting scammed and wasting your money.

Amazon Shopping Tips

1. Shop around and compare prices.

There are many registered sellers on Amazon. Even though different sellers sell the same product, you need to compare prices. Here's an example for you:

You may think that all three are sold directly by GoPro after seeing the "by GoPro" label under the description. In fact, these are sold by three different sellers. You'll notice the differences in prices. Before you decide, factor in the inclusions in the price. In the picture, the first two sellers offer the same additional items. But don't stop there. Click each seller and see what brand of batteries and memory card actually come with the product, because sometimes, they would tell you you might get a different depending on availability. And if you don't need the accessories, just go with the third seller because it only costs $293.49.

2. Don't rely on customer reviews.

In my previous blog, my #1 tip was to check seller feedback given by customers. In the case of Amazon, I would say feedback is not a foolproof way of gauging seller reliability nor of product quality or authenticity. This is because there are two types of customer feedback on Amazon: 1) those I would call "free reviews", and 2) "verified purchase" reviews.

"Free reviews" are given by people who have either tried the product but bought it from a seller outside of Amazon, or by people who were sent samples or complementary products in exchange for a review. "Verified Purchase" reviews are given by customers who have actually bought the product from that Amazon seller. I would say "Verified Purchase" reviews are more reliable than "free reviews".

These reviews are easy to identify. In the image below, you will see that the first review has "Verified Purchase" label on it, while the second one doesn't.

 

I'm not saying all unverified reviews are false, but fake reviews are definitely common in Amazon. I first learned about fake Amazon reviews when I started working as a freelancer at oDesk (now Upwork) in 2011. I saw projects looking for people to write Amazon reviews. So even before I signed up for an Amazon account a year ago, I knew that the reviews in Amazon (and perhaps in many other sites) are not reliable.

My advice, analyze the reviews. Do the star feedback score equate to the number of positive or negative feedback from verified customers? I still believe that your best indicator is the verified purchase reviews.

3. Check if the seller is legitimate and if they sell original products.

One of the ways you can do this is by balancing the information you get from customer feedback and Google. Yes, Google. Search online whether the seller has a physical store in the US. You can also check if there is a dispute that's ongoing regarding a certain product's patent, and if there is a complaint filed on Amazon regarding product infringement against sellers or a particular seller.

See the story behind Forearm Forklift on CNBC: "How Amazon counterfeits put this man's business on brink of collapse."

4. Buy directly from the original seller if they're on Amazon. 

To identify if it's the original seller, simply follow the link and look for the seller's name. Here is an example of Forearm Forklift's product page.

 

5. Not because it's on Amazon means you're getting a good deal.

Yes, there are good deals on Amazon, but before you make that purchase, go to the product's website first and see if the price is better if you buy it from their website than if you do from Amazon. For example, I once looked up Nars Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer and found that Nars sells it for only $45, while Amazon sellers sell it for more than that. The only advantage for me was that I could buy it from Amazon, whereas I can't from Nars because they don't accept Philippine-issued credit cards.


Those are my five tips for online shopping at Amazon. I hope you find this helpful. Be wise, be patient, and don't be an impulse buyer. Do your research and you will get great shopping experience at Amazon.

Don't forget to share this blog with your friends to help them make wise decisions, too. :-)