Co-host of popular show 'The Martin Lewis Money Show', Angellica Bell, has issued a warning to Lorraine's audience about hidden fees and tricks on online websites.
Angellica Bell featured on popular daytime programme Lorraine, presented by Scot Lorraine Kelly, where she shared some of the top tips and hints when it comes to shopping online.
Lorraine was shocked to hear that one third of all retail products that are being sold comes from online websites, rather than the high street or smaller businesses.
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Angellica stated that she is working with the Competition and Markets Authority as part of 'Online Rip-Off Tip-Off', in order to share tips and hints of things people should look out for in terms of misleading business practices.
She also highlighted that there are four main areas to watch out for when it comes to online retail: hidden charges, subscription fees, fake reviews and pressure selling.
Listed below are all the topics discussed on Lorraine this morning, broken down into the categories.
Hidden Charges
When discussing the topic of hidden charges, Angellica said: "This is basically when you see something you really like, and you are happy with the cost.
"But it's not until you reach the end of the shopping basket, that you realise there are taxes of £5 here and there, shipping fees and handling fees, so the total is infact much higher than first anticipated.
"Usually, once someones reached the basket stage, they'll just buy the product anyway because they really want it. But that's where you have to think, 'do I really need it?'"
Angellica warns viewers to take their time looking through websites, and never shop late at night, as this is when people tend to be spur of the moment and just purchase unneeded items.
Subscription Fees
Angellica describes these hidden subscription fees as "really, really cheeky nowadays", given that for most sites, they are hard to unsubscribe from, can be worth the free trial but not much after the fact, and can draw you in only to keep taking money out of your bank when you forget you ever signed up for it in the first place!
Angellica's advice is to always read the small print when it comes to subscriptions, check if you really are getting the bang for your buck.
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Too often people are caught out with subscriptions that are hard to cancel and easy to miss in your bank statement.
So with the final tip, if the service is asking for your bank details despite it claiming the 'free' aspect, check again and think over whether you can cancel this easily.
Fake Reviews
Fake reviews tend to be people who are paid to review items on certain clothing and other retail websites; usually for a small fee, but with a lot of these fake reviewers about, it can add up.
So Angellica's top tip is to 'review the review': in short, actually read the words, and don't just check the star ratings. Why does this item have 500 five stars ratings?
Most products that have actually been reviewed have people describing something specific about it, so always look out for the reviews that sound believable: for instance, if a person liked the coat they received, but felt the buttons were too big for the proportions of the item.
That sounds like a more honest review than just a whimsical 'Love it!' or 'Brilliant', like most paid reviewers tend to leave on products.
Pressure Selling
This type of panic buying has become popular over the last few years on many different websites, with the logos of 'LAST ONE LEFT!!' and 'ONLY THREE REMAINING! HURRY' emblazoned all over sale items.
Angellica noted that most retailers put these signs on their items, despite the availability not being as few and far between.
Another handy hint that Angellica pointed out is to check the website address of the site: 'http' means that the website is not encrypted, meaning it can be hacked into and changed easily.
Always check for 'https' instead, as this means the website is safe to use, and won't be easily hacked into for bank details and personal information.
For more information on these tips that Angellica shared on Lorraine this morning, check out the Competition and Markets Authority website here.
