When Playfish introduced the new currency called “cash coins” in the online game on Facebook, Pet Society, I was really hesitant to buy at first because I was worried about online transaction security. At first I only bought $10 worth of credits thinking I can afford to lose that much in case anything goes wrong and I think I held my breath after typing in my credit card’s security pin until the time that my pet received that big bag of gold and saw “55 Playfish cash” on screen. I waited for a month before buying again because I had this suspicion that I’m going to see purchases I didn’t make on my mom’s bank statement (I was using a supplemental card) and when I didn’t, I bought again. Later on players can buy cash coins by using other payment methods and the method I use until now is the Paybycash. Whenever I make a purchase I would see the padlock icon and an advisory telling me that this is a secure site, I didn’t understand at the time just how secure this secure site is which is why I was so scared to make big purchases then. If I am to put up a small business I’d be hesitant to make my product available for online purchase too because as a buyer I experienced doubting the security of online transactions and my target market might prefer to not buy than to take their perceived risk of security. But if I were to choose, I’d probably sell online because I’d also be able to tap into other markets and have a wider geographic reach. For example, a friend of mine in Australia is selling handmade accessories (with cupcake/food designs) online and you can purchase her items anywhere in the globe. If she only sells in Australia she’ll hardly be able to break even but since she’s selling everywhere, she makes a good profit out of her hobby.
by: Jennifer Reyes
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