What is Honesty in Commerce?
Honesty in Commerce is a member-driven organization devoted to promoting transparency in e-commerce. Consumers aren't just concerned about the safety of their transactions - equally important is knowing who they're dealing with, what they're buying, and when they're going to get it. The Internet makes it easy for fly-by-night businesses and basement operations to create an online presence that rivals the appearance of the most trusted e-commerce sites.
As the web has evolved, consumers and watch dogs have gotten better at spotting blatant fraud, but what about those websites that are legitimate businesses and just don't have the most up front or favorable business practices? These are the websites that do things like automatically subscribing you to a newsletter unless you uncheck a box, sharing your information with third parties, or giving you a "free" product but you have to "cancel" it later to avoid future billing. Or maybe they don't have the item shown for sale on their website in stock and ready to ship, but are counting on their ability to be able to find one after they've billed your credit card. And what about those sites that make their product prices artificially low to trick you into thinking you're getting a good deal, then hide the difference in the shipping charges?
It's these types of practices that we, and most consumers, don't like. The Honesty in Commerce Guidelines are 22 principles that we believe all ecommerce sites should adhere to. Honesty in Commerce was created so merchants who agree with our philosophy can show consumers by displaying our shield on their site. The Honesty in Commerce shield represents a merchant's promise to their customers that they're being up front about their company, their inventory status, shipping and return policies, and general business practices. It's a single line of Javascript that installs in seconds, won't cause a security error, and doesn't send visitors away from your site when they click to verify.
If you're a merchant who thinks our approach to e-commerce should be yours as well, review our membership guidelines and join us.
