Does anyone else hate buying things these days?

[Ayahuasca]

Dwelling on purchases is better than being an impulse buyer but I think the balance is somewhere in-between, closer to the former.

I've got friends and family who'll walk into a store like Curry's and just choose a TV based on what it looks like. Then they'll complain it has issues which turn out to be things like ghosting, motion problems and grey blacks etc.

 

[builder22]

I go the other way, to the point where it almost removes any joy of actually buying [thing].

I know what you mean...when you've read so much about somehting there's NO surprises when you get it - unlike if you just bought it because you liked the look of it...then you'd more likely discover it's features etc as you go just by using it

 

[Raymond Lin]

Dwelling on purchases is better than being an impulse buyer but I think the balance is somewhere in-between, closer to the former.

I've got friends and family who'll walk into a store like Curry's and just choose a TV based on what it looks like. Then they'll complain it has issues which turn out to be things like ghosting, motion problems and grey blacks etc.

My purchase decisions goes something like this.

Step 1 - Want something
Step 2 - Then ask the question is it something I want or is it something I actually need.
Step 3 - If it's something I want then I wait a week, see if the feeling of GAS is there, or even a month. Most of the time if I can get over that initial WANT phase, l will forget and don't miss not getting it, and no regret either. I started doing that last few years and it has probably saved me loads of money. If I find myself 6 months or something later still thinking about it then I will get it. It has passed my test of time.
Step 4 - If it's something I need then I move to the next step
Step 5 - Research, depending on the item. Sometimes a trip to TK Maxx will do, water bottle, chopping board or even a saucepan. I kinda already know what I want and the kind of quality I am looking for.

If it's something I have no idea in, like say getting a new Microphone then I watch an evening of YouTube video, at the end of it I will get an idea of the market. It also means I seldom end up with something off Aliexpress or cheap Amazon seller because the reviews and videos will give me a shortlist of items and I would be looking for named items, not generic item names.

5 Steps, don't really return anything, a few YouTube videos save me lots of returning time and effort.

 

[Hades]

I have quite a large amazon/ebay return rate, to a point where both have "warned" me about it. Same with clothing sites like Asos, sizing specifically length on tops is just so hit and miss.
Its not my fault most items are just crap.

I have the same problem with clothes. For example I'm a 38" chest and often just on the cusp of a small or medium. It doesn't help that a lot of times the size guide will say Small = 36-38 and Medium = 38-40. So which to choose? Or some shops advertising something as a 38" completely lie and it's way too big when it arrives. Trousers are just as hard to buy due to vanity sizing where a 32" is either massively too baggy or skin tight. I simply have to avoid buying from places without free returns now.

 

[LiE]

What it comes down to is accepting that you don't have to buy the perfect product at the perfect price. Sometimes you won't be able to win the meta of min/maxing life, and that's OK, because the price you pay for trying to do so is shortened lifespan through stress and wasting hours of your life you can't ever justify through the additional X% enjoyment of the product or money left in your wallet.

I need to be more like this. At times analysis paralysis is real for me.

 

[MatsyLR]

I have the same problem with clothes. For example I'm a 38" chest and often just on the cusp of a small or medium. It doesn't help that a lot of times the size guide will say Small = 36-38 and Medium = 38-40. So which to choose? Or some shops advertising something as a 38" completely lie and it's way too big when it arrives. Trousers are just as hard to buy due to vanity sizing where a 32" is either massively too baggy or skin tight. I simply have to avoid buying from places without free returns now.

Just had an Asos delivery of 5 hoodies in XS.
I am an XS or S in tshirts. All of them are different lengths and then all may as-well be a L on the chest.
Its just stupid.

 

[LeeUK]

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.

 

[Ayahuasca]

Just had an Asos delivery of 5 hoodies in XS.
I am an XS or S in tshirts. All of them are different lengths and then all may as-well be a L on the chest.
Its just stupid.

Have you got odd proportions or something? I've ordered plenty of things off there, from loads of different brands and not had to send much back.

Have a friend who's always sending things back as he's got really narrow shoulders and wide hips for a man (brutal). So not much fits him properly off the shelf.

 

[Wizzfizz]

The XS stuff from ASOS is like baby clothing

 

[Terminal_Boy]

I only buy what I need these days. Will buy online if I can find exactly what I need in the correct size. Otherwise, I’ll check out what the shops have in stock so I can confirm it’s what I need.

 

[MatsyLR]

Have you got odd proportions or something? I've ordered plenty of things off there, from loads of different brands and not had to send much back.

Have a friend who's always sending things back as he's got really narrow shoulders and wide hips for a man (brutal). So not much fits him properly off the shelf.

Broad shoulders, 5.7 thinish waist, I'm 8 stone 10 pounds (male).
I've ordered some things from Asos and they have been fine but I do find the sizes fluctuate so much.

 

[CircleFaust]

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

 

[bloodiedathame]

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.

 

[dirtychinchilla]

@Jono8 completely agree with you. We're on a constrained budget at the moment so I've been trying to avoid buying stuff. I cut down my wardrobe massively, buying a few things that are good and nice and leaving it at that. If I need new t-shirts, for example, I'll probably just buy the same ones again. I do buy little bits from eBay, but nothing expensive. I feel like, given the budget, my wife would buy everything all the time. Fortunately she's got on board with the budgeting.

I have quite a large amazon/ebay return rate, to a point where both have "warned" me about it. Same with clothing sites like Asos, sizing specifically length on tops is just so hit and miss.
Its not my fault most items are just crap.

I think my wife's return rate is 100%.

 

[wesimmo]

I completely agree with everything you've said, however I'm getting better. More than ever, my time is worth more than the monetary benefit I may gain from saving/getting the exact right product for the best possible price, a fact that is brought in to sharper focus every day. Every product I buy without poring over for hours is an exhilarating act of liberation, as it's something I simply did not do in years past.

What it comes down to is accepting that you don't have to buy the perfect product at the perfect price. Sometimes you won't be able to win the meta of min/maxing life, and that's OK, because the price you pay for trying to do so is shortened lifespan through stress and wasting hours of your life you can't ever justify through the additional X% enjoyment of the product or money left in your wallet.

Exactly this.

If something makes you happy or satisfies the need, does it matter what other people say about your choice or that they have 'better'?

I've got a 37" HD TV, LG, can't tell you what model, but I don't watch films, I tend to comedy or factumentaries or sport. It works for me.

I also know people who go to irrational lengths to save money.

I've been in the car when my brother drove across town and back to save a couple of pence per litre.

Or a friend of mine who will post a list of steps he's taken to get an Xbox for £200 off retail by using this deal here, then trading it here, adding to this with profits from a deal with something he bought off gumtree.

He may as well have done overtime.

 

[wesimmo]

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.

I've been doing that today for the missus.

At the end of the day though she uses the wired ones that came with the phone or a Bose Bluetooth speaker in mono.

So I bought a pair of Skull Candys off Amazon as they got a decent review on What HiFi and could deliver by tomorrow.

TBH I didn't understand a lot of the cons on the expensive stuff.

 

[Jean-F]

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.

If too much choice is your bête-noire, I recommend that you stay out of large U.S. supermarkets, like Publix, Winn-Dixie, or Kroger, my wife sent me out in Savannah GA, with a list which included jam.
I must have checked out around 17 different makes, before I settled on Smuckers, (the power of TV advertising!)

 

[Jono8]

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!"

 

[Jono8]

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!

 

[lunar]

I recall a story about impulse buying.
A research group were doing a survey regarding impulse buying. They waited outside a Superstore and asked customers if they bought only the items what they wanted or if they purchased items on impulse.
Everyone ststed that they did buy items which were not their intended item. Except one person, who only purchased what he wanted. The surveyor was interested to know why. The customer said, "I enter the store with a list and stick to it." They asked the customer what he did for a living. He was a managing director of a major store.