Shopee Malaysia - Shopee Guarantee

What is Shopee Malaysia?

It is a mobile application platform designed for buyers and sellers to perform business activity safely online. 

What is Shopee Guarantee?

A function designed by Shopee to protect users from online scams and frauds and mediates the process of buying and selling. It is a secured payment system where payment to seller is hold until buyer has confirmed in receiving the goods.   

How Shopee helps?

For Sellers

- Sellers ship out products after Shopee has verified buyer’s confirmation of order.

- Shopee acts as mediator for issues raised by buyers.

- Shopee handles refunds or returns of orders.

For Buyers

- Pay to seller only after order is received.

- Shopee solves issues faced by buyers.

- Shopee bans unlawful or unethical sellers from the platform.

Below is an illustration on how Shopee works

If you are a relatively new e-commerce buyer or seller online, and afraid of being a victim of online fraud, try using this application to help secure your business transactions. With the advantages and protection it has, you will experience a lower chance of involving in a fraud or scam.  

Source:

Milo, E. (2016). Shopee Malaysia prevents scams with Shopee Guarantee. eCommerceMILO News. Retrieved 15 September 2016, from 

http://news.ecommercemilo.com/2016/02/shopee-malaysia-prevents-scams-with-shopee-guarantee.html

Helpful Tips for Online Shoppers

Verify the legitimacy of website.

Check the website's URL see if it involves “scam” or “fraud” in other sources. A slight change in URL are often made to represent as legitimate website. Spend time to do some research of the business if you're unsure about it.    

Know who you are dealing with.

When you’re dealing with sellers that have little or no selling history, Google search on the image and search for others that dealt with them before. A genuine seller would not hide their identity or information. Use a service that you know and trust.

Beware of offers that sound too good to be true.

Don't be tempted by offers that are low in price, especially when the seller contacts you directly. Think twice, if the offer is unbelievably low price and you doubted, chances are it probably is a fraud. Weigh the quality of item versus price paid.

Beware of phishing websites.

Don't merely sign up on websites to enjoy great deals, or agree to update account details as requested, your credit card details would then be disclosed. Double check the source before providing your personal information.   

Beware of social media sites' sellers.

Photos posted might not be from legitimate accounts. If sellers failed to ship the product promised or don’t respond, it is a scam. Call up the seller or stop buying from them again in future.

   

Check for refund or return policies.

Read the terms and conditions carefully, check if the policies sound fair. It should contain a list of process to handle disputes or cases for customers' reference. 

Check item’s description properly.

Read on every description carefully. Always ask seller questions if unsure of anything. If spotted difference in the description from the genuine product it claimed, you shouldn’t proceed to buy it.

Read website’s feedback section.

Feedback section provides real time and honest comments from previous buyers. Check the product ratings, comments on service, or any dissatisfaction based on their experiences.

Pay using secured payment service.

Paypal or URL with “https” indicates a secured payment site. Avoid using virtual currencies, wire transfers, money orders, or international funds transfer. There's risk of inability to recover back money once sent since the protection differs from other transaction methods. 

Opt for “cash on delivery” payment. 

Inspect and pay after receiving the goods. It is more secured than transferring money online. Check if item matches with the description online. 

Follow the tips above and be sure to share it with your friends and family around! Be safe, be smart, avoid online shopping fraud from happening to you!  

Sources:
1. Online shopping scams. (2015). Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. Retrieved 20 August 2016, from
https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/types-of-scams/buying-or-selling/online-shopping-scams
2. Online shopping fraud. (2010). Action Fraud. Retrieved 10 September 2016, from http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/fraud-az-online-shopping-fraud
3. Protect yourself from scams. (2015). Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. Retrieved 10 September 2016, from
https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/get-help/protect-yourself-from-scams
4. Manolescu, D. (2014). 6 Essential Tips on How to Prevent Online Shopping Fraud. E-crime Expert Blog. Retrieved from
https://ecrimeexpertblog.wordpress.com/tag/prevent-online-shopping-fraud/

Consumer Protection (Electronic Trade Transactions) Regulations 2012

Consumer Protection (Electronic Trade Transactions) Regulations 2012 is a regulation under Section 150 of the Consumer Protection Act 1999.

A person who operates a business for the purpose of supply of goods or services through a website or in an online marketplace, we named it as “Online Seller”. “Online Marketplace” means a website where goods or services are marketed by third parties for the purpose of trade. While “Online Marketplace Operator” means a person who provides an online marketplace. For example Lazada, 11street, eBay, Lelong, Zalora, Groupon etc. 

Disclosure of Information

Based on this regulations, online sellers need to disclose the following information on the website where their online business is conducted. Failure to disclose the following information is an offence. 

Section 3(3) stated that any person who discloses or provided any information as specified in the schedule that he knows or has reason to believe is false or misleading commits an offence. 

Rectification of errors and acknowledgement of receipt

The online seller shall

• provide the appropriate means to enable the buyer to rectify any errors prior to the confirmation of the order made by the buyer; and
• acknowledge receipt of the order to the buyer without undue delay

Maintenance of Record

Any online marketplace operator shall take reasonable steps to keep and maintain a record of the names, telephone numbers and the address of the person who supplies goods or services in the online marketplace, for a period of two years.  

"This regulation is a good move to protect online shoppers although online sellers may incur higher start-up and operation cost. In my opinion, it is a “win-win” situation. If online sellers are complying with this regulations, it will create a trust to online shoppers and boost their online shopping confidence thus it increase sales of online sellers. However, some of the requirements of this regulation are not clear. It does not specify what are the term and conditions should include on the website. It should avoid online sellers 
setting terms and conditions that unfavourable and not 
fair to online shoppers”.

Source: Consumer Protection (Electronic Trade Transactions) Regulations 2012