Last year, U.S. Consumers spent $861 billion making online purchases accounting for 21.3 percent of all retail purchases. Particularly during the pandemic, e-commerce flourished. But the explosion of online sales can has caused some problems. While most e-commerce stores are reputable, some are not, and some have less than admirable practices.

At John’s Crazy Socks, we work hard to earn the trust of our customers. We want people to shop with confidence when they buy from us. What does shopping with confidence mean? How can you protect yourself when shopping online?

We offer this simple guide, a series of questions to ask, before making a purchase from any online store:

1. What do you know about the business?

Check for information about the business at the website. How long have they been in business? Where are they located? Who is behind the business? Do they tell you the names of the management team? Look at their social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn). What do they reveal there and what do others say about the company?

Be wary of companies that give no information, or their corporate info does not match the image they present. Your confidence will go up when you can see the business is transparent with information about their founding, their management and their location.

2. Can you contact the company?

This may seem basic, but it is impossible to communicate with some companies. Do they offer a phone number? Do they give you an email address? Do they offer chat?

Think twice before buying from a company that does not allow you to contact them or makes it hard to contact them. What would you do if you had a problem? How will you get questions answered?

3. What is their shipping policy?

Since the onset of the pandemic, there have been many questions raised about both the supply chain and shipping of products. As a customer, you want to know when you will receive your order and the company should make that plain to understand at their website.

The first question to ask is when our order will ship. If a product is custom made, there may be some delay because they have to make the product. If not custom made, you should expect fast shipment. If there is not information on when a product ships or there is a lag between you placing the order and when the product ships, that raises some concerns. It may mean that the company is drop shipping the product, so they do not have the product in their possession, and they do not order it until you place your order.

How long will it take to get to you? If shipping by the U.S Postal Service, first class and priority packages should take no more than 5 days. If you see shipping times any longer, that most likely means the product is being shipped from overseas with uncertain delivery times and a limited ability to track a shipment.

4. What is the return policy?

Does the company make clear the return policy? Is there an absolute money-back guarantee, or do you have to meet certain criteria? If you return an item, who pays for shipping? Is there a re-stocking fee, an amount you have to pay to return an item?

Ask yourself what you will have to do if you are unhappy with the product? Are you confident that you can return or exchange a product? The company should make that clear at their website.

5. What is the quality of the product?

It is easy for someone to put up a website and a few pictures of a product. We recommend that you look for two matters when considering products:

1. How much detail does the online site tell you about the product? You should see size information, product content and where the product comes from. Be wary of online stores that do not offer information about their products.
2. What do the reviews say? Reviews matter, though be wary of what are clearly fake reviews. You should be able to see customer reviews for each product.

       6. Can I pay with a credit card?

Again, this may seem like a basic question. You expect to be able to pay with a credit card or a similar payment service such as PayPal or Apple Pay. Be wary if a company asks for a bank transfer. That is a tell-tale sign that something is wrong. The simple act of accepting credit card payments means the company is subjecting itself to review and had to meet some basic business standards.

If you pay by credit card, you can always get your money back from the credit card company and that gives you added protection.

If you ask these basic questions, you will be able to protect yourself from scams, bad sellers and problematic purchases.

At John’s Crazy Socks, we want to earn the trust and confidence of our customers. We are transparent, sharing information in detail about our organization and all aspects of our business. We share detailed information about our business and management team including our co-founders, John and Mark X. Cronin. We love talking with our customers and make it easy to contact us via phone (631-760-5625), email (service@johnscrazysocks.com) or chat.

All of the products that we offer for sale on our website are in our warehouse. No drop shipping. No waiting for a product to arrive. And we do same day shipping: if an order arrives by 3:15 on a workday, it goes out the same day. During the holiday season, we ship on Saturdays too. We use the U.S. Postal Service for small packages and offer overnight service with UPS or FedEx.

We offer a full money back guarantee, no questions asked. You need not return the product. If you are unhappy for any reasons, we will refund your money. (By the way, our refund rate is less than one percent of our revenue because customers are happy with our products.)

We offer more than 3,000 products making John’s Crazy Socks the world’s largest sock store. We are proud of the quality of our products. We offer detailed information about each product at the product page. And our customers love them too. Customers have given us over 29,000 5-Star reviews. And we have a Net Promoter Score of 92. And yes, you can pay with a credit card, Apple Pay, Shopify Pay or PayPal.

We want you to be careful out there when shopping online. We also want you to know that you can buy from John’s Crazy Socks with confidence.

About John’s Crazy Socks 

John’s Crazy Socks was inspired by John Lee Cronin, a young man with Down syndrome, and his love of colorful and fun socks—what he calls his “crazy socks.” He and his father, Mark X. Cronin, started the company as a social enterprise with a mission of Spreading Happiness™. They do this by offering socks people can love that allows an expression of one’s true self. More than half their employees have a differing ability, and their Giving Back program has raised over $450,000 for charity partners like the Special Olympics, the National Down Syndrome Society and the Autism Society of America. Most of all, they are Spreading Happiness™. 

For more information about John’s Crazy Socks, visit our webpage, Facebook page, Instagram account or YouTube channel. You can also contact us at 631-760-5625 or via email at service@johnscrazysocks.com.