Caveat Emptor
We all shop online. Online shopping is the source of billions of dollars of revenue every year, and is only growing bigger. Some reports even claim that online shopping will account for $58 trillion by 2028. That's a lot of visits to amazon.com! Knowing that, however, have you ever heard stories of people getting scammed by shysters on the internet? It's not uncommon! Even big companies can make you feel like you've been ripped off by a bad, defective, or not-quite-as-advertised product. With this lesson, we're going to learn how to be careful consumers in this ever-growing world of e-commerce. We'll be attempting to better avoid things like Internet fraud, and benefit from reviews and ratings.
This assignment is in two distinct sections, which I'd like you to do in order:
Section One: Product Comparison
To begin, you are going to select a genre of item (such as TVs, tablets, video game systems, toilet papers, or guitars), look at three different brands, compare products and select the best choice for you based on features, ratings, and value. You will begin by searching for information online, recording that data, and selecting the product.
1. Visit this file, which is your template for the first part of this assignment. Click "File," and then "Make A Copy." This will create a copy of the file that is saved to your Google Drive. Use your name in the title of the new file (ie, "Caveat Emptor Pt. 1 - John Smith").
2. Select a general category of things you would like to investigate. Don't get too specific here--instead of an Ninja Twisti, just look for "blender;" instead of Playstation 5, "video game system." To the right, list a price range you'd be willing to pay for such an item.
3. List 3 features that would be important to you when you begin comparing your devices (for example, storage size, screen size, refresh rate, variety of apps/games/products, speed of processor, ability to take wear & tear). These features should be objective, not subjective. (For example, things like "color" and "screen size" are better than "how does it taste.")
4. Determine three different brands of that product to compare (for example, for phones, you could compare the iPhone, Google Nexus, and Samsung Galaxy).
5. Do an initial search of each of the devices and find at least two prices listed for each device. You may visit any available website to do this. Get an average price for each device (add all your prices, then divide by the number of prices you had) and add it to the data chart.
6. Looking at the must have features you would like your product to have, select two main features that you can compare. (ie. screen size, storage size, battery life, etc.) Put these features into your sheet where it says "Feature 1" and "Feature 2." Research the features on the three devices and list your findings in the data chart.
7.Watch this video about online reviews and recommendations to learn how to critically look for customer reviews and recommendations.
8. Now check for consumer reviews. Most online stores have their own product reviews from customers. Go to amazon.com and look for each of your 3 devices. Find and list the star rating for each of your products. Also consider how many people have reviewed each product: the fewer reviews a product has, the less reliable that "star rating" is. Write that number next to the rating on your sheet.
9. Next, read a few reviews and comments for each of your products. List one negative and one positive comment for each product in your data chart (posting a critical portion of a review instead of an entire review is fine). Make sure that when you are reading a negative review, that it is a reasonable critique. Some things people complain about have nothing to do with the product--they instead complain about how slow shipping was, how much of a hassle they had with customer service, or how much they irrationally hate Apple.
10. Compare all of the data you recorded for the three products. Using the data collected about the products, which product do you think is the best? Record it.
11. On the data chart list your final informed choice of product. Write a paragraph that includes your choices and at least 3 supporting reasons/details or evidence to support your choice of product.
12. When you're finished with this final step, please share the document with Mr. Alexander so that he can give you a grade. The first section of this assignment is worth 45 points.
Here is my example of section one.
Section Two: Seller Comparison
1. Visit this file, which is your template for the second part of this assignment. Click "File," and the "Make A Copy." This will create a copy of the file that is saved to your Google Drive. Use your name in the title of the new file (ie, "Caveat Emptor Pt. 2 - John Smith").
2. At the top of the document, enter the name of the item you decided on from Section One.
3. Go to company websites and locate information on each of the components in the data table regarding the purchasing process. PLEASE NOTE: You are no longer worried about products themselves. This second section is concerned with comparing and contrasting sellers. (Here are some examples for stores: Best Buy, Sam's Club, Costco, hhgregg, Walmart, Target, Amazon, eBay, Etsy, the company's website, etc.)
4. For product price (including tax if applicable) and shipping, select the product and add it to the company shopping cart. Enter your zip code, etc. and get to the last page before purchase to see actual price, tax and shipping. (For any site that does not list shipping costs, assume $8.99. That's safe!). If the site requires a login, try "alexansa@japioneers.org" with the password "students" or "students1". If that fails, ask Mr. Alexander!
5. For coupons, do a web search to check for online coupon codes. To determine if they are authentic, put the code in your shopping cart. Often times, coupons are advertised by third party websites, but they are not authentic. Only list the coupon on your data chart if you have verified it is authentic. Please list the coupon code on the chart.
6. Now take the prices that appear in your shopping cart and put them into the data document.
7. If available, find the warranty information and return policies for the items. (PRO TIP: press ctrl+f and search for those words to find them on the sometimes-very-busy pages!) Enter them into the document.
8. To investigate the company reputation, go to http://www.resellerratings.com/ or http://www.sitejabber.com/ and look at the ratings of the 3 retailers you chose. You may need to scroll down the page after you enter the company name into the search field to find the star ratings and additional information needed.
9. Read a few ratings for each of your companies and reviewer comments. List one negative and one positive comment from each company in your data chart. Make sure that when you are reading a negative review, that it is a reasonable critique. Some issues people complain about have nothing to do with the company (strange but true).
10. Under Company Reputation on your data chart, rank the companies 1 for the best, 2 for the middle and 3 for the lowest rated company, based on your reading of the ratings and reviews.
11. Compare the all of the data you recorded for the three companies. Which company do you think is the best using the data collected about the products?
12. On the data chart, list your final informed conclusion including your product and store selection. Write a paragraph that includes your choices and reasons based on your needs and the data you collected. Support your decision with a minimum of three reasons. Please write in full thoughts and sentences.
13. When you're finished with this final step, please share the document with Mr. Alexander so that he can give you a grade. The second section of this assignment is also worth 45 points.
Here is the example for the second section.
RUBRICS:
Caveat Emptor Pt 1 expl.docxCaveat Emptor Pt 2 expl.docx