Disadvantages

Despite e-commerce having many advantages and benefits, there are also many disadvantages and constraints. 

Some of the disadvantages include the time for delivery of physical products.  Although products can be purchased from businesses all over the world, it will take longer to ship and be more costly, the further the business is located from the purchaser. 

Another disadvantage is the uncertainty of purchasing online, especially from a website like eBay with millions of sellers, because the consumer does not have physical access to the business and much of it is based on trust.  Some questions that arise are whether the product is actually how it is described, whether it is a scam, whether the product will actually get shipped or get to the designated address, etc.

Another disadvantage is that not everything can be sold online as easily as others, such as perishable goods, which can be done with the right resources, but the majority of products sold online are durable and non-perishable.

Returning products online can also be an area of difficulty resulting from consumer uncertainties such as the questions of whether the item will get back to its source, who pays for the return postage, will the refund be paid etc.

One of the main problems people have with online purchasing deal with issues of the privacy of information, the security of that information and payment details, identity theft, contract, and laws and legal jurisdiction.

Other disadvantages include issues with defined services and unexpected consumer requests.  E-commerce is an effective means for managing the transaction of known and established services, such as day to day activities; however it is not suitable for dealing with the new or unexpected because such unexpected requests would need human interaction.  Although some human interaction can be facilitated via the web, e-commerce can not provide the richness of interaction provided by personal service.

To learn more about the advantages and disadvantages of e-commerce you can visit: http://www.workingfutures.com.au/sample_courses/amc/ec1/ec1_3.htm