There are many reasons more people are shopping online today. People want to avoid the crowds at the mall, find lower prices, have the convenience of 24 hour shopping and find a wider selection. There are some pitfalls and drawbacks to online shopping but these can be avoided if you're a smart online shopper. You have an idea of a product you want to buy. You go to one of the big 3 search engines online, Google, Yahoo and MSN, to do some research. Or perhaps you use one of the many comparison shopping sites to find a store that carries the product you are looking for. Now that you've found the store and the product at the price you're happy with, what's next?

Second, take a look at the return policy of the store you're considering. Sometimes the store owners make this more difficult than it should be. If you don't see a button on the main page saying, Return Policy, look for an info page. A reputable store will give you at least 30 days in which to return your purchase for a full refund of the purchase price. Don't expect the shipping cost to be refunded. The merchant has already paid that amount to the shipping company. Look out for stores that shorten the return time to 7 or 10 days. Many of these also have a restock fee that they charge. If you return an item to them, the restock fee can range from 10 to 30% or higher. You should never have to pay a restock fee.