Once you start your online shopping, you should answer some important questions
1- What are my online payment options?
2- Which payment options is better for me?
You always take a risk when you shop online: there’s a chance that thieves could steal your payment information and make purchases on your dime (or pay themselves fraudulently). That risk isn’t exclusive to online shopping – it can happen at stores as well. But it’s especially easy to put sensitive information in the wrong hands online.
In this article I will discuss most of common online payment options. Which is safe and which is risky for you. Each one has its advantages and disadvantages.Continues reading! By the end of this article, you will be able to selct the best online payment options for you.
I pick up here the most common methods of payments, including direct and online payments:
1 – Bank transfer:
Risk for the buyer: Risky
Paying through bank transfer to buy wholesale, the supplier will receive the money before production starts. That’s why I don’t recommend this method when dealing with unknown wholesalers. If something goes wrong during the process, there is very little chance of you getting a full refund. So, It is not a good option neither for wholesale or retail shopping, unless you know the supplier very well.
2 – Letter of credit
– Risk for the buyer: Very safe
It is another way to pay for whole sale purchases. This payment method is safe for both the buyer and the supplier. The disadvantage being that its hard to do. This method is best used in purchases of big volumes costing thousands of dollars. But, it is not an option for retail shopping.
3 – Western Union
– Risk for the buyer: Very risky
This is an extremely risky method I only recommend when you know the supplier very well. The reason it is risky, is that it doesn’t have any kind of insurance or liability if something goes wrong. Better to avoid this method.
4 – Paypal
– Risk for the buyer: Very Safe
This is a pretty good payment method, much safer for both, buyers and suppliers. It’s easy to use and provides good 
protection. Although a popular payment method among buyers, suppliers might avoid it because Paypal commissions are high and it’s hard to withdraw the money.
PayPal is a favorite tool for sending and receiving money online. It is one of the oldest services available, but when you link your financial accounts to an online service, security should be at the top of your mind.
So how safe is PayPal?
For the most part, it’s safe to use the service and link accounts to PayPal, but it ultimately depends on what your concerns are.
For the most part, PayPal is safe when you use it to send money. Nothing is completely risk-free—glitches and data breaches are possible anywhere. But PayPal is a reputable company with enough security and consumer protection in place to keep you relatively safe online.
Using PayPal might even be safer than giving your credit card number or bank account information directly to the website you’re buying from. Why? You keep that information in one place—at PayPal—instead of spreading it around everywhere you shop. If something happens, you won’t need to cancel your cards and update all of your automatic billers. You can just secure your PayPal account by changing your password or card number.
5 – Escrow
– Risk for the buyer: Very Safe
Escrow works a lot like Paypal and is equally safe. When you use Escrow, money is retained by a third party that only releases the payment when the buyer confirms they’re happy with the products received. Escrow is a very popular method for online transactions because it protects both the buyer and the supplier. It can be an option for both whole and retail shopping.
6- Credit Cards
– Risk for the buyer: Very risky
The good: a credit card is often a good choice for shopping online. Fraud protection with credit cards is quite strong, and getting charges reversed is pretty simple (just report the suspicious activity to your card issuer or let them know you never received what you paid for). But once the supplier received your money, it is hard to refund.
Bottom line
– If you are just getting started and don’t know the supplier you are using, I recommend using Paypal or Escrow.