Are you nervous about purchasing your first wheelchair online? Online orders definitely work very different from ordering through 
your rehabilitation center or physical therapist. We’ll help guide you through the process. This quick guide will help you prepare for your online wheelchair purchase in five simple steps. Nobody wants to mess with returns!
Five Steps to a Successful Online Wheelchair Purchase
1. Get A Professional Seating Evaluation.
Longtime wheelchair owners will go through many seating evaluations over the years because bodies and posture never stay the same. This process is often just part of life when trying to get insurance for a new chair but those who pay on their own sometimes skip this step – but it is the most important step you could take. The measurements you receive from the evaluation will make the online shopping process infinitely easier.
2. Compile Your Official Shopping Wish List.
The seating evaluation will give you plenty of hard numbers to work with, but that’s not all there is to analyzing the potential value of a wheelchair. Do you want a chair that supports your favorite brand of tires? Do you want to find a model with a little more adjustability than your previous equipment? You’ll be shopping through long lists of feature sets so it helps to keep a concise list of features you want alongside the list of features you must have.
3. Use Free Demos To Your Advantage.
Local showrooms and trade shows are great places to demo wheelchair models even if you intend to purchase a model elsewhere. You can use these experiences to test out features that you are unsure about, such as folding armrests or tilt-in-place, even if you cannot find a showroom that has your favorite model or brand.
4. Choose Your Online Retailer Very Carefully.
If you order from a reputable and experienced wheelchair dealer, you never have to worry about getting a bad deal. Whether you are shopping for regular wheelchairs or complicated power models, look for online retailers that make the product manuals easily accessible. This will help you narrow down the selection on your own. Once you have picked out some interesting wheelchairs and made a list of questions to ask, take some time to get friendly with their customer service representatives. You can always judge the quality of a retailer by talking to their customer service team.
5. Know The Returns Process Before Ordering.
The entire point of this guide is to help you avoid the need to return your wheelchair, but the unexpected can overturn even the best-planned purchases. Ask whether the retailer accepts returns and then ask if the manufacturer accepts returns for items purchased through that retailer. Even if the retailer cannot assist you during a return, at least you’ll have the ability to contact the manufacturer for rectification. Always have a backup plan.
We hope you feel more confident about taking advantage of the competitive pricing and huge selection available online – a smart online purchase can save you many hundreds of dollars, and those kinds of savings are well worth the effort to investigate.
About Author
Natalie S. is an online freelance writer that contributes your work to countless health and medical related websites and blogs. She is a self-proclaimed health nut that loves sharing her knowledge to readers maintain a healthy lifestyle
