We are in the big pre-Christmas shopping week, namely black week which culminates in black friday 27 november.
And, this year, most people will probably shop online due to the coronavirus, which still has its clammy hand over our everyday lives.
– Most indications are that this year’s black week and friday will set new sales records – the latter day will probably be the biggest shopping day ever for Norwegian online shopping, predicts marketing director Thomas Elvestad in Klarna to Dinside.
Warns against cheap products: – Can be life threatening
Easy to be fooled
Now there are plenty of good offers in several online stores, but if you want to click home a bargain, you must also be vigilant – both to avoid “offers” that are not at all as good they can look like and not to shop from fake, junk online stores.
The payment service Klarna only cooperates with serious online stores, but Elvestad is aware that not all the players out there are equally proper:
– There are several fake online stores. Although many people look professional, it is common for them to play on well-known brands at very low prices, for example by the URL using the name of well-known brands in combination with words such as “cheap” or “sale”, he says.
Now comes the scam
Reveal fake online stores
The Norwegian Consumer Agency has also gone ahead of the annual shopping week at the end of November to warn consumers against falling into the trap. According to them, there are many foreign companies that create pages with the Norwegian language and domain.
If you are going to shop from an online store that you have not shopped before, you should check a few things before you place your order, the Authority recommends:
- Find out who is behind the online store, so you know who to contact in case of any problems. Always check if you find the company name, e-mail address, telephone number and organization number. If the website lacks contact information or there is only one contact form available, it is a sign that the company is junk.
- If you do not know the company, we recommend doing an internet search for other people’s experiences with the relevant online store. However, be aware that new, junk websites are constantly appearing, so it is not certain that the site is safe even if you do not find any negative reviews of it.
- How are the prices in the online store compared to other online stores that sell the same products? If an offer seems too good to be true, it usually is.
- Bad language The website is also a sign that you may be dealing with scammers. Information that the company operates from abroad can often be hidden in the terms of the agreement or in the company’s terms for privacy. If you shop from online stores outside the EU / EEA, the rules on the right of withdrawal do not apply either.
- If you do not find a Norwegian address on the website or the address is foreign, you should be aware that costs for VAT and customs are in addition. The import calculator for Toll.no is a good tool here.
Look for this mark
An online store that is certified with the brand Trygg e-Handel follows Norwegian and EU rules for the buyer’s rights and seller’s obligations. You will find all online stores with this certification on Secure e-commerce website, informs Frende Forsikring.
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Photo: screenshot
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Avoid being fooled by “offers”
The Norwegian Consumer Agency has also made a list that you can use to check if the offer you have seen is as good as you think:
- Do not look blindly at the discount – 40, 60 or 80 percent discount sounds like a good buy, but it is unfortunately not always case. In fact, it is possible that the item is sold even cheaper in another store, so check several places before you shop.
- Check that price actual is set down, ie that the pre-price of the item you are interested in is stated. If the pre-price is missing, the item is hardly reduced in price.
- Take a look at the price history – do not blindly trust the marketing. With the help of price comparison services such as Prisjakt.no and Prisguiden.no, you can find the price history of a number of items, see who is the cheapest and how much the price has actually been reduced.
- Do not let yourself be stressed, although marketing often claims that you have to strike at the price bargain now. In many industries, however, there are frequent promotional periods and it will often be possible to make the price coup on a regular basis.
- Be aware of number restrictions – it is namely common to market that, for example, the first hundred copies of a given item are available at a reduced price. Then you can quickly feel cheated if you come to the checkout and experience that you are number 101 who buys this product.
NOTICE: Is there a special product you want, which may be on offer? Then this is a good tip! Video: Ingebjørg Iversen / Dinside
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Insure yourself against fraud via payment method
– If you shop with Klarna, you have purchase protection. With an invoice, you can receive the item before you pay. In practice, there is zero risk for you as a consumer to suffer a financial loss if you never receive the item, or to pay for a purchase you have never made, says Elvestad.
Otherwise, most experts recommend using credit cards, especially when shopping online, because you then get extra protection through the Financial Contracts Act, especially from the provision that the creditor has the same responsibility as the seller when paying by credit card.
If there are errors and omissions in the goods and services you have bought on credit, and the seller is unable to sort them out, you can direct the claim to the credit provider, which is largely your bank. The same applies if the online store goes bankrupt before they deliver the item you have purchased.
But, remember to make sure you have enough money to pay your credit bill when it arrives – so you avoid fees and sky-high interest rates. Just see how fast unpaid credit bills are growing:
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