Back-to-school season can be stressful for many kids and their parents, especially when scammers are back to work with online school shopping scams.

But there are ways to get school shopping done while avoiding scams that can cost valuable time and money.

Get the list of teacher-approved school supplies and taken an inventory of what’s left from last year. Many people like the convenience of online school shopping, but what happens if something goes wrong with the order or the website turns out to be a scam? Before dropping items in the shopping cart, remember this advice from the Federal Trade Commission:

-Check refund and return policies, especially on sale or clearance items. Sellers often have different (and stricter) refund and return policies for sale items and dishonest sellers will use tricky disclosures and fine print to deny refund requests.

-Use a credit card for online purchases, if possible. Credit cards offer the most protection against fraud, including the right to dispute charges if there are problems with purchases.

-Always save receipts or confirmation emails. If something goes wrong, these will help you get money back from the seller or file a dispute with the credit card company.

-Don’t accept shipping delays. If purchasing something online and it was not received, notify the seller as soon as possible. If the seller hasn’t shipped the item within the timeframe they promised when purchased, the law says the order can be canceled for a full refund.

-Look for pre-checked boxes. It’s illegal, but some businesses use these hoping people won’t notice that their agreeing to be billed later. Uncheck the box if its terms are unagreeable. For changing or canceling a subscription or automatic charges, sellers must give an easy way to cancel.

Visit the FTC’s Online Shopping section for more ways to save on back-to-school shopping and avoid scams.