Five questions to ask before you click buy
Most bad online purchases are not caused by bad luck. They are caused by comparing the wrong number, or by not checking one thing that turns out to matter. This is the short version of everything else on this page.
1. Is it the same product?
Check the model number, not the name. Retailer-exclusive variants share names and differ in accessories, warranty and sometimes specification. If two shops show different model codes, you are comparing two products.
2. What does it cost delivered?
Take each option to the checkout with your real postcode. Delivery, thresholds, large-item surcharges and installation all live there, and none of them appear on the product page. The cheapest price and the cheapest cost are frequently different shops.
3. What happens if I send it back?
Buying online from a UK business, you generally have 14 days to change your mind and 14 more to return it. But who pays return postage is up to the retailer unless the item is faulty. On anything sized, worn or unseen, free returns can be worth more than a £10 price difference.
4. Who am I actually buying from?
On a marketplace, the seller is often not the marketplace. Check the seller name, where they are based, and who provides the warranty. A manufacturer warranty and a “seller warranty” are very different promises.
5. Is the discount doing the persuading?
If the reason this looks like a good deal is the percentage rather than the price, stop and compare final totals at two other shops. A large discount from a high starting point is not a saving. This is the single most common way careful people overpay.
Two more worth asking on anything expensive
What is the warranty, and who honours it? A manufacturer warranty follows the product. A seller warranty follows the seller, and is worth exactly as much as the seller's continued existence. On anything over a few hundred pounds this is the difference that matters most, and it is usually one line in the listing.
Would I still want this at full price? If the honest answer is no, the discount is not saving you money — it is spending it. This is not a moralising point; it is the single most reliable predictor of whether a purchase gets returned.
Your basic rights, in three lines
- Buying online from a UK business, you generally have 14 days to change your mind and 14 more to send it back. Some items are excluded, such as personalised goods and unsealed hygiene products.
- If something is faulty, you have 30 days to reject it for a full refund, and rights beyond that for repair or replacement.
- Your contract is with the retailer, not the manufacturer. Send complaints there first.
What Arbi does about it
Arbi is built around these five questions. It matches on model number rather than name, adds delivery where a shop states it, separates new from refurbished and pre-owned, shows shop ratings where they exist, and refuses to call a discount code verified unless it read that code from the retailer's own page. Where it does not know something, it says so rather than filling the gap with a guess.
It informs and recommends. The decision stays yours.