hi all,

online magic shops has provided an alternative for most of us. many offered low prices, low shipping costs, great variety,etc......but it's still an online shop. u dun know who's behind tat computer screen. so i hope my little advice can avoid u of any fraud(s). this is more catered to d newbies who are tempted by those 'low prices, free shipping' ads.

1. when u give your cc no. , made sure it's on a secured website. how do u know if it is a secured website? there will be a 'pad-lock' icon at the bottom right-hand side of d screen.

2. send d some emails. ask them about shipping charges etc, if they take 4, 5 days to reply, then it's not safe because this means inefficient.

3. ask your frends and guys in this forum. they are experienced and able to point u which are the better online shops. www.themagiccafe.com is also a nice place to to gather info on dealers

4. lookout for d online's user interface. if it's in a mess, dull, difficult to navigate, then it might meant the owner is not bother with his/her business.

i've heard horrible stories on fraud cases, such as pete best magic shop, and some 'black-hearted' e-bay sellers. so watch out. u earned your money with your blood, sweat and tears.

some recommended online shops:

www.penguinmagic.com
www.themagicwarehouse.com
www.hocus-pocus.com(sign up for d membership. it's free. they often run sale for the members)

WoW. I'd Vote for this article if it were in the Competition, but its not. Still... VOTE! :P

hahahaha.... VOTE! B)

one more thing, when you are keying in your personal info and stuff like that, the site should beeee https://
yeap. thats all.

yup i agree with retsevlys abt this https:// thing, but some secured website do not have this feature. sometimes their website still appear as http://. btw, just a reminder, when you log on to paypal website, make sure you open up a new internet explorer in doing so and key in the address yourself. Do not opening paypal website by clicking on a click There are fake websites lying around, designed exactly as paypal website. The same goes for internet banking. Back then, there were a couple of fake DBS websites in hong Kong.


yujie

Not in the competition and got 2 votes.... :)

IF daryl wins the 3 tiger decks, maybe he will give you one ;)

Yeah.... i think he just might ;)

He should -.-

If you post a money order or do a wire transfer and something goes wrong, there's no solution other than file a civil suit against the seller.

If you use credit cards, its still not too bad.

Here's why:

Consumer protection services are pretty good in Singapore when it comes to credit cards.

I don't know about you guys, but my credit card banks (I use Maybank and DBS) have entertained charge disputes because of fraudulent transactions over the Internet.

Say for instance you discovered a fraudulent transaction and / or paid for something with your credit card but never received the goods / services you bought, straightaway call your bank to trace the transaction (or if you have your bill, just give the the reference number). I have done this several times before in the past and in about 2 weeks after doing the documentation for the relevant charge dispute, the amount will be credited back into your account pending further investigations.

If the merchant is genuine, he will argue against your charge dispute and your banks will inform you. This is a failsafe that the banks have for your credit card account.

I've even gotten the banks to replace my credit card in order to change the card number to prevent repeat discrepancies. It's a bit of hassle, but not something that can't be resolved nonetheless.

Hope this helps.

i think paypal is safer.. at least they dont get your credit card number lol

Actually, giving out the card number over the Internet isn't really that unsafe for Singaporean accounts. You can choose not to acknowledge a transaction if it's fradulent. The banks will investigate and you usually don't have to pay for the amount charged.

It's a hassle filling out the charge dispute form though

WOW!!!

thanx for the advice...

hey dude, this post is a long long time ago. Do not dig them up pls... PLease not for the sake of post count.

hmm....quite surprised it was dug out.....but hey, why not pinned it? ^_^

it's funny lately....old topics being dug out.....no, i'm not angry or wat, in fact it gives me a warm feeling somehow......hahaha....brought back some memories, makes me browsing through those topics way back in sept 2004, very very old topics...........how times flies......if only everything can just go back to the beginning......haha....uncle wong is toking rubbish again, dun know wat he is writing at this late hours... ^_^

nice tips!!
but y not ellusionist.com??

Bro, I really have nothing to say abt you bringing up topic and giving one line thing.

I dun know.. Maybe the mod can do something?

He just told me that he read the rules, so let's hope it won't happen again. If he does it again, then we'll probably have to suspend him.