Web traders wary of accreditation costs

Web traders are reluctant to pay for online accreditation services, according to ecommerce hallmark TrustUK.

The government-backed organisation has appointed the Mail Order Protection Scheme (MOPS) to provide online accreditation to consumer web sites following the demise of the Which? Web Trader scheme earlier in the year (Computing, 27 February).

TrustUK has decided to change the accreditation model slightly and introduce an annual fee of £250 for consumer web sites to bear the MOPS logo and receive its associated services and guarantees. The Which? scheme closed because it became too expensive to run the service for free.

But TrustUK secretary Robert Dirskovski says the response from the 2,700 organisations who received accreditation under the Which? scheme, has been disappointing.

'We've got expressions of interest from about 300 companies,' he said. 'It's clear that unless you get hold of the right person [at the companies who were accreditated under the Which? scheme], it's very difficult to get a response.'

Dirskovski says he managed to find the details of named individuals at 60 per cent of former member companies, and has received some form of response from 34 per cent. He is optimistic that TrustUK and MOPS will be able to increase this figure to 40 per cent, but says that the responses are not firm commitments.

'Some people are still not getting it. I don't think they understand what they get for that £250. It's not just a logo, it's a whole system that assures consumer protection,' said Dirskovski.

Cost is the main factor in retailers' reluctance to sign up for the new scheme, which will be be called Web Trader when it is up and running.

'I'm still amazed that we are getting rejections on the basis that £250 is too expensive,' he said. 'When you have the web traders saying this is too much to pay for an accreditation system with substance behind it, you have to ask if they understand this.'