As a car owner, you have to replace your car’s parts from time to time. Brake pads, fuel injectors, and even spark plugs all have to be changed. Even though ordering your parts online is the most convenient option, you need to be careful about which websites you buy from. The Internet is loaded with e-commerce websites, and unfortunately, not all of them are trustworthy. You can get parts like turbochargers at Goldfarb Inc. (https://goldfarbinc.com/collections/turbochargers) because they have a track record. But then, with lesser-known websites, you need to approach with a healthy dose of skepticism.
This post outlines four tips that can help you differentiate trustworthy websites from others. You need to look out for these points before you buy parts from any website.
An SSL certificate
This is one of the most apparent signs of a reliable e-commerce website. An SSL certificate encrypts your information so that cybercriminals can’t access it. Without this, valuable data like your credit card information is just waiting to be retrieved by savvy thieves. You’ll know a website has an SSL certificate by its web address. There’s usually an “S” after the “HTTP.”
You’ll also see a padlock right next to the web address. The color of the padlock is usually green or gray, depending on your browser. If the online vendor doesn’t have an SSL certificate, you should steer clear of the website.
A security badge
Online vendors have a long list of security providers to choose from. You can identify your vendor’s security provider by their logo on checkout. Some popular security badges include:
- PayPal
- Verisign
- McAfee
- BBB
If you don’t find any of these security badges on the website, you should be wary of it. Sometimes, e-commerce vendors will use other security badges on their website. Not spotting any of the famous brands may not necessarily be a red flag. However, you should still do some investigation before proceeding with your purchase. It becomes a red flag if you can’t find any information on the vendor’s badge.
Contact information
As basic as it may seem, a website’s contact information can keep or lose customers. In 2009, a study was conducted where it was discovered that two out of ten shoppers abandoned their carts because they couldn’t find any contact information. As a shopper, you’ll have questions about the parts you’re about to pay for, such as its dimensions and extra features. Not finding any contact information could mean the website isn’t authentic.
Besides an email and phone number, you should also look for a physical address. Even if the business is exclusively an online business, a physical address can still help to build trust and reliability with customers. As a rule of thumb, the less information you can find about an online business, the more likely it is to be fake.
Recognition and recommendations
Websites like Amazon and eBay are already so wildly popular that no one needs to authenticate them. However, smaller and lesser-known brands do need referrals. One way to find reliable websites is to ask your friends for recommendations. The chances are that they’ve bought parts for their cars online and they can recommend a vendor to you.
