Instagram has rapidly become a marketplace, particularly for fashion, beauty and lifestyle purchases but without the formal buy protection offered by stores like Amazon or Jumia, shoppers must be wise and careful when purchasing. Here are 7 things you should always check before buying from an Instagram vendor.
1. Refund & Return Policy
Be wary if a vendor has a “No Refunds” clearly stated in their bio or highlights. A vendor that you can trust will always have a clearly stated refund or return policy. If there’s no policy, that means you are taking a HUGE risk in case the product arrives damaged, fake or not what you described.
2. Customer Reviews & Feedback
Don’t just trust whatever reviews the vendor has posted. Find tagged pictures, story highlights, reviews with actual customer names, etc. You can also search for the vendor’s name on Google or Twitter to look for complaints or reports of scams, etc.
3. Engagement vs Follower Count
An account with 20,000 followers and a couple of likes or no comments is questionable. Real vendors typically communicate with their customers in the comments or DMs. Be mindful of fake followers and bots.
Keep Reading
4. Reverse Image Search
Use Google Lens or reverse image search sites to see if the images a seller posted are real. Scammers will often take product photos from Pinterest, an E-commerce site, and repost them.
5. Pricing and Contact Info should be Clear
A legitimate seller will alway post pricing upfront, and they will usually have an official number, email or Whatsapp. If the seller expects you to be communicating via DM and they are not upfront with the pricing then be cautious.
6. Account History
Utilize Instagram’s “About This Account” feature to find out how long the vendor has been in business and if the vendor appears to have changed usernames a lot, that’s a possible red flag for fraud.
7. Too-Good-To-Be-True Prices
If an iPhone is listed for ₦40,000 or designer shoes for ₦10,000, wait. Ridiculously low prices usually indicate counterfeit or non-existent products.
