This page will describe how to use HopTech's on-line shopping cart system.
Important Notes: The shopping cart system uses Javascript, Cookies and Secure Transfers. You must have all three enabled on your browser in order to use the system. (If you are using AOL's browser, you should switch to whatever they currently support as an external browser - currently Microsoft's Internet Explorer. You can download Microsoft's latest browser by clicking on the icon on our home page.) We only use a cookie (a small, secure file on your computer) to store the items in your shopping cart. No other data, not even your name, is stored in the cookie. It will vanish from your computer as soon as you leave our site. Both cookies and Javascript are perfectly safe.
Security Settings and Certificates: Since the final form where you submit your credit card and other sensitive information is located on a secure server, your browser must be "modern" enough to support digital security certificates and secure transfer modes. For most of you that means Netscape 3 or higher and/or Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.01 or higher. If you have an upgraded browser and you're still getting an error message that says something like it doesn't recognize the security certificate, you'll need to make sure that you have security certificates enabled. Our server uses a certificate from Verisign, and your browser should already be set up to handle those certificates as it is the original and most common certificate. Make sure you have secure transactions or transfers enabled in the security options section of your browser.
Overview: The "shopping cart" works like this: As you browse the site and see items you'd like to purchase, you put them in your shopping cart or basket. You can review the contents of your basket at any time. When you are done browsing and are ready to check out, you once again review the contents of your basket (this time with tax and shipping included - if applicable). If all is OK you'll be asked to fill out an electronic form where you tell us who you are, where you'd like us to ship to and other information including a credit card number. When the form is completely filled out, it's contents (along with the items you ordered) are sent to us via a secure server. Detailed info follows:
Shopping: As you browse the site, each item's description will include a small window to indicate the quantity of the item and a button labeled "Add" (for add this to my cart). The quantity box will usually contain a quantity of one (1). To order more than one of this item, click on the box and either drag to select the "1" or backspace/delete the "1" and type in the new quantity. Click the ADD button. A dialog box will pop up asking you to confirm that you really want to add this number of that item to your shopping cart. If you really want to, click OK. If this was a mistake, click CANCEL. You can continue to browse the site adding items to your shopping cart at any time.
Checking/Updating Your Cart: You may check the contents of your shopping cart at any time by clicking on the "Review Cart" link/button that is always visible in the lower left frame. It will show you the items in your cart along with the quantity, price each and subtotal for that item. You will also see the subtotal for your order as it currently exists (minus any tax or shipping if applicable). On this screen you can also change the quantity of any item or remove it entirely. To change the quantity of an item, select the number in the quantity box and type over it with the correct quantity and then click on the "update" link for that item. The subtotal for the item and for the entire order will be recalculated. To remove an item from your basket, simply click on the "remove" link for that item. You can also clear the contents of the entire cart by clicking on the "clear cart" button.
Checking Out: When are done shopping and are ready to complete your order, click on the "Check Out" link/button that is always visible in the lower left frame. First you'll be asked to select whether or not your order is being shipped within California, within the continental United States (other than California), or to Hawaii, Alaska, APO/FPO address or other foreign country or US territory. This is so we may correctly calculate the tax and shipping for your order. (Please note that this is for your information only - if you click the wrong thing we're going to correct it.) You'll see a complete list of items similar to the one described above except now you'll also see the tax (if applicable) and shipping charges. Note that if you don't live in the continental US, the shipping charges will be listed TBD (to be determined) as they are based on the weight of your order. If all is OK, click the continue link/button. Now we'll ask you for a lot of information, all of which should be pretty self-explanatory. Be absolutely sure the information is filled out correctly. If all is OK, click the SUBMIT button. Your order information will be sent to us via a secure server. You will not receive an automated response via email, but you should receive a human-generated response via email within one working day (M-F). (If clicking on "submit" gives you an error message about digital security certificates, see the section above called "important notes" for info on what to do to fix the problem.)