One of the best reasons for buying shoes online is that the internet never sleeps!

All those wonderful stores are all open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

You don’t waste +$4.00 gallon gas.

You don’t fight the crowds.

Heck you don’t have to find a parking space – and you can’t get a ticket! Woow! What could be better than sitting on your bum and shopping!

You don’t have to worry that you’ve ordered shoes that don’t fit. As I mentioned earlier, most online shoe stores offer free shipping for returns or exchanges. I haven’t been able to find anything to not like about it. Not to mention that you don’t have to deal with shoe clerks either!

Using your credit card online has become more safe than using it in the store. Now why is that you may be asking… well, have you ever handed over your card and the person you handed it to disappears? Ever wonder just exactly what they are doing with it??? I know I’ve wondered what’s going on – especially when they take forever to get back to you.

So, what do you do when you are shopping online?

Read the privacy policy on the website.

Usually this policy will explain how the store protects your data.

Technically speaking, a lot use a thing called Secure Sockets Layer, or SSL for short. They use this technology to make sure their equipment and your data is secure.

When a company uses SSL they are insuring that your personal information – your name, address, and credit card info is encrypted and can’t be read by anyone as it travels over the internet. The security begins when you start your order. When you are ready to pay online look at the lower left hand corner of your browser window. If there is an unbroken key, or a closed lock – this depends on which browser you use – then the SSL is active and secure. Another way to check is to look at the URL in the address line. If you’ve accessed a secured server then the first characters of the address will change from http to “https”.

Some sites that use SSL display the VeriSign logo (and a lot don’t). Websites displaying this logo are using the VeriSign SSL technology. However, the one’s that don’t display the logo but use SSL are using a similar technology – so don’t be spooked. Just read the store's policy and make sure before you buy!

You can also look for online retailers displaying the Better Business Bureau Online or the TRUSTe logo indicating that they are operating a secure and trustworthy website.

The Better Business Bureau Online offers a safe shopping site that you can easily use to make certain the online business you are planning to use checks out.

At the TRUSTe site where you can see who has earned the TRUSTe’s seal. And I do mean earned. Companies that display the TRUSTe seal demonstrate that the company sticks to strict privacy principles and complies with TRUSTe’s policies.

Please don’t just take my word on this – check them out for yourself! I love educated shoppers!

P.S. BTW dear reader, all of the advertisers on this site use secure technology or they wouldn't be here!