Does anyone else hate buying things these days?

Caporegime
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Ive come to the realisation that i simply hate buying anything now. This is, largely, for a couple of reasons..

A. The main one - **** me there is just simply too much choice for almost everything now. For example if you want some wireless earbuds, there are literally hundreds, probably thousands to choose from at such a wide variety of prices and with such varying reviews, how in the hell is anyone able to make an informed decision on what is good? I went through a couple of different ones of varying prices, first pair was cheap and absolutely awful. Second pair was twice the price, but still not that wonderful, third pair was barely more expensive than the first, but has much better sound quality and more features than either.

This is just an example though. It applies to pretty much anything, especially anything in the electronics market.

If you punch in any sort of cheap electrical good into an ebay or amazon search you get 1000's of results. Now a lot of this is due to the insane amount of chinese brands, but then that doesn't help, because i have often found some of the cheaper stuff is better than the crazily expensive known brand stuff.

B. Constant changing of discounts, voucher codes, cashback etc. Prices of things change too frequently and by too much, ALL THE TIME. One day something is worth £100, the next day it will be £50 with a cashback offer or something. Often you will buy something from a retailer, and then the following day you will receive a newsletter email from them informing you that the thing you just bought is now half the price.


It is just becoming absolutely impossible to make an informed choice on the quality or price of almost anything these days. Few things seem to have any inherent or lasting value and the prices charged for things just change seemingly on a whim.

/end rant

So GD, anyone else just totally exasperated with the retail market?
 
Often? I can't remember this ever happening, TBH.

I think you might be suffering from boredom.

Well i was being a little hyperbolic, but the point still stands. Because you have viewed and looked at certain items, you tend to get marketing emails or notifications about them, even if you have already bought them. Sometimes, said marketing material is showing you it is now cheaper :p
 
I think the key is to not care about discount codes, vouchers, cashback, etc.

I agree with you there. I think i get a little too obsessed with trying to get the best deal all of the time.

However, that doesn't solve point "A". there is simply too much choice.
 
The problem I face is one of going a bit too Rainman when it comes to working through the choices. My wife - and others - will see [thing] and buy [thing] because it's probably pretty good and seems like a good idea. Not a spreadsheet in sight, no multi-layered reviews of reviews, no informed second opinions :(

I go the other way, to the point where it almost removes any joy of actually buying [thing]. My satisfaction is knowing that I've bought the right [thing] (which is of course subjective so is really a false win) and then I get some marginal enjoyment from actually having [thing]. I could bore you with football boot examples, my recent Timberland experience (nailed that one, though *fistbump*), two new guitars I bought, and a car. I get some grim satisfaction from removing the fun of spontaneity and I'm actually okay with that. Come at me.

I am with you man.

Maybe it is because being that way is now a lot harder as there is simply too much choice of almost everything.
 
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I hope this isn't taken as insulting, but do you have anxiety issues?

I'm not sure it is anxiety as such.

I just like to be able to make an informed decision on what i buy and that is becoming increasingly difficult, maybe impossible nowadays.

It is just something i have noticed more recently (ie getting annoyed when buying/searching for things). The sheer amount of choice is simply daunting these days.
 
The infiltration of Chinese brands annoys me and the number of fake reviews associated with them on the likes of Amazon.

Plus the fact the seem to release a new iteration of the same product every 6 months with no real change or benefit to the design, it's purely a marketing ploy to make it seem current, but when it comes to researching something to buy it makes it a tedious process.

I agree.

The main issue is that almost everything, especially consumer electronics wise, is mostly just the same few differing models of something, repackaged and rebranded, but at wildly differing prices.
 
So read some (legit) reviews, find the best price, buy? Or don't, its not compulsory. I'm not sure why you're getting so wound up over such a mundane thing.

You seem to be getting pretty wound up about me getting wound up over a mundane thing :p

Think you missed the point of the thread anyway, as I'm saying it is getting harder and harder to do what you suggest "So read some (legit) reviews, find the best price, buy?"
 
Yep it can become a right chore. If you wanted some ear buds you'd go into a shop, see the display, choose some and 9 times out of 10 you'll have many years trouble free use from them.

These days, you get your head done in when you browse Amazon as every product has mixed reviews.

Yup. I just kind of look at the search results now for most things and sigh. I'm like: "well, where do ****** start!"
 
I do exactly the same as op, research till in blue in the face, shop around for the best deal, look at the price history, wonder why it's 25% more expensive than it was a week ago and then put my wallet away.

yeah as someone that likes to research before they buy i struggle
so much to choose from i end up buying nothing at times!

I'm glad I started this thread. It's comforting to know many others go through the same turmoil! :p
 
No it's easier than it has ever been. It was a total lottery pre internet other than brand loyalty.

I guess the phrase "ignorance is bliss" comes into it here. Pre Internet , you just bought what was at your local store. Job done. You never knew if it was a good price or good product in relation to everything else available country or worldwide.

Also, there is definitely far more choice in almost everything these days.
 
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