Buying and selling on the Internet have changed the way we live. No longer are we required to go to the store to find our favorite products – we can now perform a web search to locate, compare, and buy goods and services.  This has changed things not only for the consumer, but also for the business owner. 

Investigate e-Commerce from a consumer standpoint, and see how to shop online, avoid Internet fraud, and locate reseller ratings. 

E-commerce refers to conducting business via the Internet, includes online banking, trading stocks, and purchasing goods and services. E-commerce has become a fact of modern life, with millions of people now shopping regularly from the convenience of their computers. Many retailers have websites where you can purchase products online, including flowers, pet food, and tonight's dinner.

(Source:  http://www.learnthenet.org/index.php)

Everyone is shopping online.  How can you protect yourself as a consumer? Check out this video on “How to shop online” from Learnthenet.org. You will learn how to buy online, and how to avoid scams.

Key points to remember when shopping online:
·   Shop with businesses you know and trust
·   Shop from secure sites that contain ”https://” in the web address
·   Use a credit card from a reputable company; one that provides protection from scams, theft, and illegal use
·   Never send your credit card number or social security number by email
·   Watch out for “too good to be true” deals
·   Look out for excessive shipping or hidden costs
·   Print or save a copy of your order for your records

Protect yourself from identify theft, scams and rip-offs by being e-smart!  If you are a victim, report your complaint to the Internet Crime Complaint Center or the Federal Trade Commission

Check out the reseller ratings of any potential seller BEFORE you buy to make sure they are reputable, honest and trustworthy! 

Consider how you might protect yourself from scams, hoaxes, and cyber-thieves.  Visit the Digital Citizenship and Search Strategies “things” to review other resources about protecting yourself on the Internet.

This Buyer Beware Activity covers the next two activities

Before you spend your hard earned money, you want to make sure that the company you are making a purchase from is reputable. 

First, go to http://www.resellerratings.com/ and look at the ratings of 3 retailers that you or your family has purchased from, perhaps Amazon.com, BestBuy, or Sears.   Next, create a word processing or Google Document and insert a table with 6 columns.  Label those columns: Retailer name, Retailer Web Address, Retailer Rating, Good Things, Bad Things, Your Rating.

Transcribe data from Reseller Ratings to the first three columns.  Then read some ratings for each of your companies and summarize the good things you read about them, and then some bad things about the company people have posted.   Finally, in the last column, rank the companies 1 for the best, 2 for the middle and 3 for the least good based on your reading the summaries that others have posted online. 

When you are done with your document, share it with your instructor or save a copy for your electronic portfolio.

Your parents have decided that they are taking you off their cell phone plan. Do some research to find out the best plan to meet your needs for your own feature-phone or smartphone. Things to think about include the purchase, activation, text message plan, data plan and damage insurance.  

First, start at the website Bill Shrink - https://www.billshrink.com/cell-phones/plans.html or MyRatePlan - http://www.myrateplan.com/ and click the Get Started button.  Follow the prompts and then review your results.  On a word processor or Google Document, describe how much your monthly bill will be, to include taxes and 911 fees.

Now that you know the cost per month, determine how much you would need to make per hour at a job to pay for just your cell phone.  Figure that you can work a maximum of 20 hours per week.  On your document, calculate and write out what your hourly rate would need to be to afford your phone.

Also, do some research and locate the current minimum wage in the United States.  How much more would you need to make above the minimum wage to afford that new phone?

When you are done with your document, share it with your instructor or save a copy for your electronic portfolio.

Your nice Uncle Mike says you need to go away for at least three days so they can do an extreme home makeover on your disaster of a bedroom. Uncle Mike gave you $1000 to take a vacation by jet airplane.  You can go anywhere you want, but you have to stay within your budget. 

First, figure out where you want to go based on an estimate of how much your $1000 will get you.  Use Google Maps to investigate some nice places.  

Next, using the website Hipmunk, plug in the airport closest to your home and then your destination.  Choose a date about 2 months from now to give everyone enough time to plan for the destruction of your bedroom.

Start a word processing or Google Document to keep track of your trip details to include times, dates, the airline and flight numbers. 

Next, you’ll need a place to stay.  Using Trip Advisor - http://www.tripadvisor.com/ , search for a hotel at your destination, and determine how much it will cost for your 2 nights of lodging and add that to your document.  Remember your budget!

Add some details on your document about how much it might cost you for food, souvenirs, taxi ride to the hotel from the airport.

Finally, describe what you learned from going through these steps.  Did you find out anything that was surprising to you?  What costs involved in the trip did you not think of before you started your planning?

When you are done with your document, share it with your instructor or save a copy for your electronic portfolio.

NETS-S:
Research & Information Fluency: 3.a, 3.b, 3.c, 3.d;
Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making: 4.a, 4.b, 4.c, 4.d;
Digital Citizenship: 5.a

METS:
Grades 6-8
Communication & Collaboration: 1;
Research & Information Strategies: 1, 2, 3;
Critical Thinking: 2;
Digital Citizenship: 2, 3, 4, 5, 7

Below are OPTIONAL activities can help you to better understand e-Commerce. 

You Are Here! Where Kids Learn To Be Smart Consumers!

Co-Co's AdverSmarts - Although it's designed for ages 5-8, this interactive web site allows the visitor to review online marketing techniques for children using Cereal. 

The Target is You!: Alcohol Advertising Quiz - Designed for grades 6-8, helps students identify how their perceptions are influenced by branding, advertising, sponsorships and daily bombardment by marketers.  This quiz will help students understand how alcohol is marketed to youth.   Check out common myths advertisers promote. 

Jennifer Parker-Moore, Ed.D., Macomb Intermediate School District
Ron Houtman, Kent Intermediate School District