Max is going to try to help you out. I'm talking about ordering on line, but I need to focus mostly on Amazon.com.

You've probably been there. You cruise the internet for the item of your dreams. You find it. You order it, and you wait. But, when it arrives and you open the package.... "What the Hell? That's not what I ordered."

In the chain of events necessary for customer satisfaction to occur, there is but one path. However, there are 100s of ways to fail. Amazon's method of obtaining product information makes it exponentially worse.

Just to compare, if you buy an item from a website like ManateeMax.com, or from an eBay seller, the seller is responsible for their product information. The information for an item sold by Max on his site or on Max's eBay store, is provided by Max. The titles, pictures, part numbers, descriptions etc... are all ours. We're still fallible, but we're at least responsible for our mistakes.

Woah, but not Amazon... On Amazon, all of the product information comes from the seller with ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Number) authority. That's generally the first seller to have ever listed this particular item on Amazon. These folks aren't always careful about accuracy. After that, anyone else who wants to sell that item on Amazon is locked into using the erroneous information provided by seller zero. Buying on Amazon is a lot like reaching blindfolded into the mystery box. (Erroneous information can be reported to Amazon for review, but I've never personally seen that option succeed. Amazon doesn't lose money from bad info, so their incentive to do actual research and make corrections is pretty low.)

Max want's to give you a few tips to improve your odds.

Don't believe it. You have several pieces of information at your disposal, and every one of them could be wrong.

Images: The pictures you see are often the standard images provided from the manufacturers' websites. If the seller with ASIN authority was not a lazy, apathetic bum, you might be seeing the actual item for sale. But sometimes, if it's an item with multiple variations, the same image will be used for all of them. Sometimes the picture is of the old discontinued model. Sometimes.... well, you get the picture. So, if you specifically needed the one with the lapis 5/8 undercarriage flange bearing adapter with the teal stripe, you need to look further than just the pretty pictures.

Titles: Your odds are already getting better. The title sounds like they might be selling what you want, but don't stop there.

Descriptions: Real all of the description in full. Check for dimensions/sizes, colors, materials, voltage, flow rate, and anything else that might indicate you've gone off the path to customer satisfaction. Amazon will also use the same product page for variations of the item. Check for buttons to click which might change what you're buying.

The Manufacturer's Part Number: This should be your most accurate source of information. (should be) Unfortunately, it still isn't the Holy Grail. That original seller with ASIN authority can still throw a wrench in the gears.

Read the customer reviews and comments for the item. Too many "This isn't what I ordered!" comments should raise red flags.

Reference, research, cross check and compare: Here's where the savvy buyer has the advantage. Take the  manufacturer's name and part number and do a Google search. Look for anomalies. Sometimes a lot of different items will show up. The actual manufacturers' sites are gold, and if you're still not sure, contact the manufacturer and ask.

Here's the cool thing about doing a little diligence of your own. In most cases, you can find the item you're looking for outside of Amazon/eBay for much less. Buying and selling through 3rd party platforms like Amazon and eBay adds their fees which is another 10 to 30 percent to the price. By taking a few minutes of your time, you've significantly increased your odds of customer satisfaction, and might have saved money in the process.

Now, add your item to your cart and checkout with confidence. Give yourself a smart shopper gold star.