During the last few years we have seen a huge increase in the popularity of paper crafts. This has been driven in part by the increasing coverage given to the subject by online shopping channels in particular. Although demand has grown, we have not seen an equivalent growth in traditional retail establishments and therefore the extra supply has been provided instead by new and existing online retailers.
It is probably fair to say that the majority of website owners who are providing Craft Supplies to the general public are completely honest and have their cutomers’ best interests at heart. However, there are a few retailers who would prefer to make more profit out of taking short cuts when it comes down to site security. In addition, there are crooks patrolling the Internet with the intention of hacking into the not so well protected websites to steal peoples’ identities and credit card details.
There are however a few things that the consumer can check before making a purchase of craft materials online. First of all, make sure that when you click through to the check out page that the page is delivered to you via a secure connection (SSL); If it is a secure page then the page address will begin with “https”. Also, you browser, eg. Internet Explorer or Firefox will display a padlock which also indicates a secure page.
Many websites are now employing services such as McAfee Secure, which monitors the website daily for potential hacking threats. Clearly, sites using services such as these are a sfer bet when it comes to acquiring your online craft products.