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If you want to return something that's not defective, chances are you will have to pay for shipping. Fair enough. It's not the site's fault your child didn't like the gift. But don't assume you will pay the same amount it cost to have the item delivered. Large online merchants get volume discounts from shippers, so they often pay much less than you do. When we ordered toys from Amazon, the shipping charge was $4.18; but returning them via UPS cost $11.45.

Some sites — including Banana Republic, Chipshot.com, and Macy's — have truly buyer-friendly returns policies; they include a prepaid postage label with every order. Whatever the reason, you just stick the label on the box and send it back, no charge (Wal-Mart will send you the label if you call them and ask). eToys doesn't go quite so far: it includes the prepaid label, but if your return wasn't caused by a mistake at the site, your credit card is charged $3.95 — effectively giving you a volume discount.

At many other sites, returns — whatever their cost — are inconvenient or even unfair. Lands' End, Eddie Bauer and Old Navy all shipped clothes in nondescript envelopes but wanted them sent back in carefully packed cartons. And while low-cost items can usually be returned without permission, more expensive ones, such as electronics, require an authorization number. When we clicked 800.com's live online help button and asked Jim, the courteous customer-service representative, for permission to return a player, he directed us to the site's 800 number. We made the call and got our authorization, but it would have been much more convenient to conduct the entire transaction through the site. Happily, some sites, like Outpost.com and Buy.com, allow you to do just that. Fill out a short form, and receive your authorization online.

There is one immutable rule in e-shopping: before you order anything, read the fine print. You may discover that the returns policy isn't quite so liberal as the site's advertising implies. At eCost.com, for example, you may be hit with a 15% "restocking" fee, depending on the condition of the item you return. The site's mysterious "handling fee" (which, for our player and headphones, was $7.95, on top of the $6.75 for shipping) isn't refunded, either. And when you get authorization to return your order, you will have just 10 business days to get it back to eCost, or the deal's off.

The other important lesson we learned from our tests was to check up on online merchants before ordering. Two websites, Gomez.com and BizRate.com, keep tabs on a wide variety of Web-based retailers. But the best way to learn about a site is to test it for yourself. Sign on and try out its various features. An uninspired or disorganized website is not a good sign. Send some e-mail questions to the customer-service department. If the response is lackadaisical or inept, the shipping department may not be much more reliable. Above all, don't be afraid to be an e-shopper from hell. It's your money. And besides, as we discovered, it's fun.

Alan Cohen, a New York writer, is just kidding about his grandmother's fruitcake

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