There are a few things to consider when making an online purchase however. Keeping our financial and personal information safe is probably the foremost concern to online shoppers. The first rule is to ensure you are indeed shopping via a secure site and the easiest way to do this is simply to glace over at the address bar when you're on the page that asks for your personal information and make sure you are looking at https//: as the (s) is the part of the address that tells you that you are about to divulge your credit card or other information over a secure site.

Once you start noticing that innocuous (s) in the address bar, you'll see it crop up everywhere. College students who take online tests do so through a secure connection that also begins with https//: If you do your banking online, you should see the (s). In fact, anytime you are at a website that asks you to divulge personal or financial information, you should see the (s) and if you don't, give it the X by closing your browser.

Look for contact information before you do business with an online site for the first time. This information should be easily accessible and should include a telephone number, physical address and email address. Some time ago, a national consumer advocate got involved in a complaint a woman had made against a website she had purchased items from and which had arrived damaged. The only contact information available on the site was an email address and while the woman emailed the company several times, there was no answer.

Once the consumer advocate tracked down the owners of the website, it turned into a learning experience not only for the business and the consumer but for those of us who make online purchases and for those of us who want others to – at our websites. It turns out the two women who operate the online store did not want to list a physical address or phone number as in both cases this information was the same as their personal information. The email from the woman with the damaged item was missed due to one of the co-owners being on vacation and the other left alone to take care of the business.

Once they realized the need for dedicated contact information, the two entrepreneurs remedied the situation and are enjoying continuing success. This is just one of a few things to consider when making an online purchase but it is an important one. No contact information: no purchase.

Another important item in a list of a few things to consider when making an online purchase is the forms of payment the seller accepts. When online shopping first made its debut, few sites accepted anything other than a credit card making it nearly impossible for those without a credit card to shop online at all. While that has changed dramatically, it would be prudent to limit the methods of payment you use when you shop online just for added safety and tracking purposes. If you're still leery about giving out your financial information online, you could always sign up for an account with one of the online payment processors. In this way, regardless of how much shopping you do online, only one company has your bank or credit card information and you can fund that online account as you go.

Online auctions are a lot of fun and cheap entertainment when you're in the mood to browse. There are hundreds of thousands of online vendors who participate in these auctions with millions of items from which to choose. While it may be difficult to deal one on one with a stranger hundreds or thousands of miles away, there are certain steps we can take to make the process go smoother.

Most online auction sites have a built-in feedback system that aids present shoppers by reading what previous shoppers had to say about dealing with a particular vendor as well as the satisfaction level with the specific product purchased. Use these feedback systems! While everyone has to start somewhere, most people are much more comfortable making a substantial purchase from someone who has been a member of the site for more than 12 months and has a high percentage of positive feedback.

It was just a few short years ago when "armchair" shopping was popular, so named because millions of us were shopping from the comfort of our armchairs via catalogues. It was more convenient that way and we were able to bypass the traffic and the long lines at the stores. Have we come a long way baby!

Forget the armchairs. Now we're shopping anywhere and everywhere from our bedrooms to the boardrooms, or at least while we're at work. No more trying to squeeze some much needed shopping in during our lunch hours. We can just take care of it while we're watching the news – in our pajamas if we want to! With offers of online coupons, buy one get one free and free shipping landing in our inboxes daily, it's easy to get caught up in the excitement of online shopping. By reading all the fine print and using basic common sense, most of us can ensure we have a positive online shopping experience.