Three Online Traps That Lead To Excess Spending And How To Avoid Them

Buying things online is now a common activity for most people, and the objective is convenience and, in many cases, even a saving on costs.

This is a vital point, especially when there is high inflation that is affecting the budget of every household. This shopping experience should not lead to excess expenses, especially when the online website or platform is using means that are not fair or appropriate.

It is the responsibility of the individual to understand the situation that they are facing and how not to fall prey to it. Here are three common traps that are usually experienced.

This is commonly seen at multiple places, including airline ticket booking or apparel shopping, wherein the online seller adds some additional items to the basket of the individual shopper without permission.

One of the main features of this activity is that the item that has been added is quite small so that often the person does not notice that there is an addition to the purchase. This could include things like insurance on a trip or it could be a donation to some organisation or it could even be a small service that has a cost element added to it.

If the individual is not alert about the exact amount that they have to pay and if they are in a hurry, then this would get added to their final bill and they would pay the amount without noticing it.

This kind of situation occurs at a lot of places and the best way to tackle this is to be aware and to know exactly how much you have to pay. In addition, going through the break up of the cost is also important because this will bring to attention any extra item that has been added.

When it comes to online shopping of goods like groceries, then sometimes even an additional item might be in the basket, so a run through the list of the purchases made is essential.

This is a trap where the entity makes it very easy to sign up for a subscription, but it becomes difficult to cancel the subscription. This makes the individual fall into a trap because they have started the expense and the billing is continuing every month, so they are paying for the services.

However, whenever they want to get out of it, the process is so cumbersome and not at all easy, so invariably, they end up dropping the effort, and the status quo continues. This, in effect, means that the customer ends up paying the amount continuously as the billing metre is running.

This can happen for subscriptions where the site puts up conditions like having to talk to a phone agent about cancelling the subscription or not providing details on how to cancel this when they want, so the customer has to call up customer service, and then getting through to the right person is not easy.

The best way to tackle this is to know these details before signing up, so one knows exactly what to do in case one has to get out of the regular payments.

This is another aspect that puts a burden on the financial aspect of online shopping for the individual. The total cost related to the purchase is not mentioned upfront, and the main point of hidden costs is that more expenses are added to the final cost once the decision to purchase has been made.

This is an additional blow to the budget, as this loads an extra expense on the buyer that was not brought to light earlier. The person who has made the purchase is also not in a position to cancel the deal because this will involve extra expenses, so they are forced to spend more to ensure that they get what they want.

Things like an extra surcharge or some cost related to transport or delivery or even set-up costs for the product will raise the final cost for the buyer. Even levying a charge for payments made by credit card is used to trap consumers.

It is always better to look at the total charges that have to be paid before buying anything, and this should only be done from well-known and trusted sites.

Arnav Pandya is the founder of Moneyeduschool