Reliable Online Consumer Electronics Stores

Why shop for electronics online?

More and more people are turning to online shopping, and more so in the case of consumer electronics. The reason is simple, any model of a phone or a refrigerator will be standard across every shop and so it is much easier to order them online rather than waste time browsing retail stores.

Consumer electronics is a widely used term and covers anything from a dishwasher to a mobile phone and gadgets. However, the risk of buying a dishwasher is much lower than that of a mobile phone. The problem for online shoppers is the type of fraud for each separate electronics item is different, making it nearly impossible to keep up. For example, iPhones are the most popular item used to defraud customers.

What are the risks of buying electronics online?

Online shopping is plagued with scammers who pose as legitimate sellers. Although marketplaces such as Amazon or Walmart vet sellers on their platforms, some sophisticated frauds involve creating a fake marketplace. Here are some of the problem’s buyers face when ordering electronics online:

• Counterfeit and pirated products are rampantly sold online. The US Customs and Border Protection agency seized $1.3 billion worth of such products in 2020.
• Online sellers often shed responsibility in case of faulty products, and ask the customer to contact the manufacturer.
• Often fake or very cheap electronics are not tested, let alone certified by the manufacturer, and may contain toxic materials or be a fire hazard 

How to recognize an electronics scam?

There are several indicators to recognize a scam, check our curated list here. For consumers electronics, the biggest giveaway is the price. If the product is 50% cheaper than a branded product offering the same features, the manufacturer has likely produced an inferior product.

Likewise, if the same product is offered at a price 10% lower than anywhere else, the merchant is probably a scammer. Margins of consumer products are generally extremely thin, often 2 or 3%. Selling a product at more than 10% than anywhere else means the merchant is selling at a loss.

Tips for buying consumer electronics online

Apart from checking the Trust Score of the website on Scamadviser, we have some additional tips:

• Always buy branded products, as cheap knockoffs could be a safety issue.
• Always read product descriptions. Check if the product supports the voltage and plug in your region, and is legal to use
• If there are hardly any reviews of the product, it could be a scam. Always order from a known website with an established name.
• If you want to buy cheap electronics, buy it from one of the established market places as they check merchants.
• Always check the return, refund and exchange policies of the seller

Do check our list of indicators to recognize a scam before paying for any product online.  

Websites to safely shop electronics online

Scammers are continuously coming up with new tricks to part people of their money, but we at ScamAdviser have compiled this list of safe and reliable online electronics stores. We have included the monthly visitors to reflect the popularity of the shopping portals.