Shipping

The thrill of a deal can turn to annoyance when the wait for your package seems endless. Lesson learned: Read the shipping policy to see if the site adds “processing time” — up to a week — to its shipping options. If your item hasn’t arrived in the stated time frame, says Nicole Hopkinson, author of The Online Connoisseur (Marlowe, $13, www.amazon.com), send an e-mail to the company noting this. You may be able to use it later to make a case for a shipping-fee refund. And even if the site says you’re eligible for free shipping, don’t assume you get it automatically. Click the offer to see if you need to enter a code before confirming your order.

Return Policy

No matter how certain you think you are of an item, always read the return policy before buying. (Who wants to get stuck with a lemon?) Preferably, the site should allow up to two weeks for returns, says Hillary Mendelsohn, author of Thepurplebook: The Definitive Guide to Exceptional Online Shopping (Hachette, $22, www.amazon.com). Be sure to check the policy on restocking fees: Some sites hold down costs (and others, frankly, actively discourage returns) by keeping a percentage of the price if you send back a nondefective item. Finally, be clear about who pays the return shipping fee — it may be you. If that will hamper your shopping experience, consider limiting yourself to sites with free shipping both ways.

Hacker Safe

A security logo, such as hacker safe, indicates the site has taken the extra step of installing something akin to a virtual alarm system, which keeps out hackers by running daily scans.

https

Look at the address bar for the two critical signs that a site is protected from hackers: a padlock icon and a Web address that begins with “https.” That S on the end stands for “secure.” Never enter your credit-card information on a site that doesn’t display it.