We continue to buy more and more on line. This year, as a nation it is expected we will spend c. €7.5 billion buying goods on line, and this figure is expected to increase by about 25% in the next three to five years.

Incredibly Irish consumers are spending c. €850,000 an hour online, making Ireland one of the fastest growing digital economies in the world.

Our on line spend will increase significantly in December with the run up to Christmas and with that in mind, I want to tell you what your rights are if and when you decide to buy on-line.

Some people are put off buying on line because they think they will not be as protected as they would be if they bought a good in a store but, in the majority of cases, your rights as a consumer are actually better if you buy on line than in a shop.

If you buy a good from an on line website and it is not of good or satisfactory quality as described in their website, then you are entitled to it being replaced, repaired or refunded. You also are entitled to what’s called a “cooling off” period.  And this gives you the right to cancel an order for the good or service within 14 days and this cooling off period for online sales starts on the date the contract is concluded.

The EU Consumer Rights Directive that was amended a couple of years ago where it increased the cooling off period from 7 days to 14 days.  Other changes to this directive are where online retailers have now only 14 days to provide you with a refund whereas under the previous directive they had 30 days.

I like to buy books on line from iTunes and I really buy too many and have lots waiting to be read and sometimes I wonder why I purchased them at all – the purchase I regretted most was a book called Positively Happy written by Noel Edmonds. And I bought it shortly after I saw him on the Late Late Show - don’t ask!

Anyway I wondered if the 14 days cooling off period would last for on line purchase like that and unfortunately it doesn’t – it would only apply up until the moment I pressed buy and started to download the book so in instances like that, this protection isn’t worth anything really.

The new regulations don’t apply for everything you buy on line, banking and insurance products for example are not covered, nor are you covered for things like concert tickets, airline flights, car rentals, perishable goods or package holidays.

What is really important to know is that you are also not covered under these regulations if you buy directly from an individual rather than a company – so if you buy something on line via eBay or a site like Done Deal, you are buying directly from an individual rather than the site you are buying it through – they are just facilitating the transaction.

What you also have to be very careful of from a consumer protection point of view is if ordering from a website that is based outside the EU. That is unless you are comfortable that the company is very well-known/has a recognisable brand etc. Of course regardless of whether the company is well known or not, you need to familiarise yourself with their refund policies and warranties promised because they are not covered under this new EU directive.

Another thing to be on the look-out for, that was pointed out to me recently is when buying on line, is always to ensure that the locked padlock or unbroken key symbol is showing in your browser, when you are about to enter your credit card details. The beginning of the online retailer’s internet address will change from “http” to “https” to indicate a connection is secure. Just be on the look-out and be wary of sites where the https changes back to http when you have logged back on.

In these fast moving times, it really is too easy to buy in haste and regret it later. So please research on line purchases thoroughly so you know exactly what you are entering into. And if you want to be a smart consumer then you need to know your rights and be prepared to act on them – because the best form of defence, is knowing, what your rights actually are.