Read shipping and returns policies before making a purchase. Make sure you feel comfortable with them. Find answers to these questions...What is their shipping timeframe? Is it within a reasonable amount of time? Will they notify you if it will take longer than anticipated? What choices will you have if there is a delay in shipping? Do they allow returns? Are there restrictions on what items you can return and explanations as to why? Do they make sense?

Don't make huge purchases right off bat. Make a small, low cost purchase with company and consider it a low-risk test of their credibility. This allows retailer a chance to prove themselves worthy of your business, but limits monetary risk you are taking. Should all go well, you can make a larger purchase in future with peace of mind, now knowing that this is a legitimate business.

There are many advantages to purchasing online and as long as you are careful with who you choose to deal with you can reap rewards.

Here are some of benefits:

Convenience: Why fight crowds in stores, especially during holidays, when you can sit at home on your computer and shop. And price comparisons are just a click away when shopping on internet. There's no need to fight traffic running from store to store looking for "best deal." You can have your purchase delivered to your doorstep within a few days.

Prices: Online retailers and storefronts purchase their products from same manufacturers. However, an online retailer doesn't have costly overhead that a storefront has (i.e. Lease payments on building, heat and electric, and other related expenses). Therefore, online retailer doesn't have to markup price as high as storefront in order to make same profit. So you, consumer, come out winner!

Store Hours: Online retailers are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Shop at your convenience.

So as long as you take some simple precautions, shopping online can be a very pleasurable, time saving and money saving experience.

•sends you a cashier’s check for correct amount of money but then demands a refund, requesting that you repay with your own money. See scheme above for how this trick works.

These warning signs, of course, are only for a handful of frauds and scams out there. Conmen are good at what they do, trying to separate you from your money. That’s why it’s best to always follow these golden rules of online commerce whenever buying or selling on an Internet auction or classified site.

Keep your common sense. No matter how good a deal seems, or how much clients say they want to pay, always remember old adage: “If it sounds too good to be true….”

Do your business locally. Try to buy and sell from your neighbors as much as possible. It’s safer, more convenient, and better for your local economy. What’s more, it saves you trouble of dealing with foreign vendors and buyers. Though they may be legit, dealing with them can be complicated because of different legal systems and customs, which can make any conflict difficult.

Seal deal with plastic. Paying for items with credit cards, and allowing your customers to charge for purchases, is a great all-around business decision. Under U.S. law, all plastic purchases are protected from fraud and allowed to be disputed in case of problems.

Meet at middle man. Intermediary services are virtual middle men that protect both buyers and sellers from cyber shysters. Services like Escrow act as a holding pen for both payment and sale items until both buyer and seller are content. Only then will Escrow finish a transaction.

Purchase with PayPal. As Escrow and credit cards do, PayPal guards against fraud for both buyers and sellers. It’s a secure and reliable way to transfer money over Internet. No wonder PayPal is most popular online money transfer service.

As you can see, odds are actually in your favor when it comes to doing business on online classified or auction sites. The resource of internet is far too valuable than to be taken away by a few crooks and conmen. It simply comes down to being smart, sensible, and observant whenever buying or selling on Web. Then again, that’s what all good business is about, whether you’re doing it in a mall or on information superhighway.