Shopping for goods on the internet has become hugely popular in recent years. At the same time as the number of physical stores is largely decreasing, online shopping has increased significantly.
According to Svensk Handel’s e-commerce indicator, turnover in Swedish e-commerce was measured at a breathtaking SEK 144 billion in 2023.
But shopping online does not necessarily always have to be safe and secure, even if you are certainly often surrounded by purchase protection via card issuers and banks. Despite that, there is always a risk of being exposed to problems in various forms.
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In 2023, online trade brought in SEK 144 billion. Photo: Marcus Ericsson/TTKonsumentverket: Examining ten online stores
Against the background of that reason, the Swedish Consumer Agency has now started a large, comprehensive review of ten websites with several serious flaws.
According to the authority, there are several ambiguities and shortcomings in the structure of the websites. Synonymous for them is that they use a business model where it appears as if you are shopping from a Swedish store with goods in a Swedish warehouse – but where the goods are actually manufactured and shipped from abroad.
– This is called dropshipping and is not in itself illegal. But what we see in the notifications and contacts to us is that many feel misled by these stores, says Henrik Jonssonlegal advisor at Consumer Europe in one press release.
Dropshipping – legal but fraudulent trade
That is why the Swedish Consumer Agency audits the companies
One of the major problems discovered with the increase in the number of notifications is that the products customers ordered did not correspond to what was marketed by the websites. In addition, return processes and complaints have been unclear, where customers have also been informed that returns are paid for on their own.
– The online stores’ websites are created to give the impression that it is a Swedish company you are shopping with, not least because the payment service solution is often Swedish. That the goods are sent from a country on the other side of the globe is not as clear, if it is even apparent at all.
Now the authority will review the online stores, where the most serious parts concern:
Then you will not get your money back if you are deceived by fraudsters
The Swedish Consumer Agency is now reviewing, among other things, return information. Photo: Vilhelm Stokstad/TTHhere are 10 websites the Swedish Consumer Agency reviews
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