(1).png "How do I check a webshop quality mark?")
Please note before making a purchase. Check whether you are dealing with a reliable online store.
Only a logo means nothing
In general, reliable online stores carry a quality mark. They then pay for a certificate that indicates their reliability. But check whether this quality mark is real! A logo of the quality mark at the webshop itself says nothing. Anyone can put a picture on their site.
Click on the label
There are two major Dutch quality marks: Thuiswinkel Waarborg and Webshop Keurmerk. Their quality mark should be clickable. Web shops pay for the quality mark and receive a certificate for it. Take Bol.com as an example. This is affiliated with Thuiswinkel Waarborg. Their logo can be found at the bottom of every page on Bol.com. Click on it and you will end up on a page of Thuiswinkel Waarborg, where the certificate is displayed.
Check quality marks via the site
Is the quality mark not clickable, or do you still not trust it? You can check which stores are actually affiliated on the site of a quality mark. Surf to the site of the quality mark and check whether the webshop is in the list.
- View the webshops that are affiliated with Home Shopping Guarantee. For complaints you can go to this page justly.
- View the webshops that are affiliated with Webshop Hallmark. You can submit a complaint via this page.
No quality mark? Not necessarily unsafe
You see an attractive offer, but there is no quality mark to be found. Then you run a risk. But not all online stores without a quality mark are not immediately unsafe. Such a license with a quality mark costs money and not all online store owners are willing to pay for it. This certainly applies to smaller online stores. Look for the experiences of others if you doubt the reliability of an online store.
Checking Others’ Experiences
When in doubt, you can contact Trustpilot. This website collects experiences from other people who have tried a site or other product. Type the name of your online store in the search field and read the experiences of others. Are these mostly negative, or is the web store not available at all? Then cancel the sale.
Example
Take the Trekinn web shop, for example. This site has tempting offers in hiking clothing. But no label. Trustpilot shows that the experiences mostly negative to be. Would you buy anyway? The shop MudSeatTrails, on the other hand, does not have a quality mark either, but almost exclusively receives good criticism.
Familiar names, beware of phishing
You don’t have to worry about reliability at the well-known large online stores. Think of Bol.com, Wehkamp, ​​Zalando or Coolblue. But make sure you shop at the real website and not a counterfeit one. Please check the URL for errors. For example, if the web address is ‘www.boll.com’ instead of ‘www.bol.com’, you are at the wrong address. Click away from the site and do not enter your details.
When in doubt, place a small order
If you give a webshop the benefit of the doubt, first place a small order to gain experience with the store and choose to pay afterwards. If this is not possible, please use PayPal or your credit card. Then you get purchase protection. In the case of a credit card, look up the corresponding conditions at your own credit card company.