Does anyone else hate buying things these days?

Jono8 said:
I'm glad I started this thread. It's comforting to know many others go through the same turmoil! :p
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Currently doing it with a monitor. I know which one I want but I'm trying to justify it. Must have spent 3 hours figuring which one, finding the best price but not pulling the trigger as it's £30 more than it was a week ago.
 
I'm not going to spend hours researching a new plunger for the sink, I'll just take a look at the reviews, try and weed out the fake ones and make a decision from there.

I'd say anything over about £30 involves a hefty amount of research for me. I think I enjoy it. There's certainly an element of stress but there's also joy in knowing that you made the best possible decision based on your needs, and there's limited opportunity for nasty surprises down the road. Someone in this thread mentioned min-maxing - it's a similar stimulation to that achieved through min-maxing in games for sure.

Bought a Samson stand-alone microphone recently and it is an absolute delight. Had I not spent a couple of hours on YouTube I would have probably gone for a flashy red gaming HyperX one for twice the price. I ultimately found a video on YouTube with a recording comparison side-by-side, and it was a no-brainer.

Yes I could probably spend the hours learning Python, or Cantonese, and ultimately make more money than I am saving through the research.
 
Jono8 said:
I agree with you there. I think i get a little too obsessed with trying to get the best deal all of the time.
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I'm like that though, there's nothing worse than being "ripped off". I fully accept that prices of items depreciates over time - i.e. you can't expect a 3 year old flagship phone to cost the same as it did on launch day.

But for certain items where price doesn't really depreciate, it's extremely annoying to buy it and find that it's reduced in price the following day.
 
There is an Insane level of choice which could be a problem to some?


I find what I want then find a top ten review site compare it then spend hours searching for the cheapest seller.
 
Efour said:
There is an Insane level of choice which could be a problem to some?


I find what I want then find a top ten review site compare it then spend hours searching for the cheapest seller.
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The price bit is the easy part, but the hard bit is to remember finding one that you can get Quidco with or some discount code to work. I actually enjoy that part, it's like looking for hotels. I can spend all evening looking for the perfect room, location, cost, reviews, booking direct/3rd party, points etc. It can sound really daunting but when you know you've got a good deal, it feels like a win.
 
lunar said:
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.
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Another good trick, that my wife and I have used on occassion, is one person writes the list (typically the woman), and then the other (typically the man) is sent out to buy it.

I know in our case, my wife, whilst being fairly good at sticking to a list, loves to look at everything, so can take forever. Whereas if she gives me a list, it's a chore, and I just want to get it done ASAP, so grab the listed items and go.

However, I know other couples/people where it would have to be the other way round.
 
Zatoichi.uK said:
No it's easier than it has ever been. It was a total lottery pre internet other than brand loyalty.
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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.
 
I know the feeling - I still kind of enjoy it but can see how it can rapidly become a chore.

I was after a relatively cheap pair of wireless earbuds for running recently and the market is absolutely swamped with crap.

"Stick to a good brand" I hear everyone cry, except after hours of reading reviews (whereby half the time is spent figuring out if the reviewer has any idea what he's on about or is just a bored youtuber/blogger in his bedroom talking ****), unless you ***** £100+ most of the branded stuff seemed to review crap and missed out on basic features that cheaper stuff had like only being able to function with both buds active or something stupid.

In the end, I did what i've done for a lot of my 'budget electronics' recently and went with one of the cheap brands i've grown to trust, in this case Anker and their soundcore range. Other stuff I generally go with Anker, Aukey or sometimes MPOW.

Having gone through a phase of deliberately trying not to be brand loyal for the sake of it, in markets getting increasingly flooded with dross, it is getting to the point where it's easier to just trust a few brands again and accept that sometimes you might have saved £20 going to the competition or got a slightly higher quality product but you've saved yourself hours of researching your way through the crap to find the perfect product.
 
I get where you are coming from with this. I wanted a new TV and took two weeks to decide which to get. Also one of the ears in my headset has bust and I've been deliberating over what to replace them with for about a month now.

I am actually on a drive to get rid off stuff at the moment. Trying to have just the things I need and REALLY want and use in the house. Objects / things / stuff is becoming more of a drag than something pleasurable.
 
Unseul said:
Another good trick, that my wife and I have used on occassion, is one person writes the list (typically the woman), and then the other (typically the man) is sent out to buy it.

I know in our case, my wife, whilst being fairly good at sticking to a list, loves to look at everything, so can take forever. Whereas if she gives me a list, it's a chore, and I just want to get it done ASAP, so grab the listed items and go.

However, I know other couples/people where it would have to be the other way round.
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Oh yeah, those cardboard stands with new products on...I call them wife traps.
 
I spent hours, and hours researching what tent to buy. Uhmed and ahhed. Researched again. Looked at lots of options. Then ended up buying the first one that I looked at. It was a good price, it was on offer and seems to suit my needs. I got it, felt a bit remorseful, put it up and don't like it. I then spent 5 minutes looking at a replacement the other day and found the perfect one immediately. However, don't think I can now return the old one as I've put it up (albeit it was in my living room)... Would Amazon reject the return do you think? We all know that it's impossible to get the tent back in the bag in the same way it came!

So yea, I totally get this thread.

I also went to Sports Direct to buy some trousers, didn't really like any of them and thought they were a bit expensive. Looked on Amazon, spent a good hour looking at different ones. Decided on some I liked that were £4 cheaper than Sports Direct. They arrived, I don't like them. Sent them back, drove to Sports Direct and bought the ones I originally looked at. Sigh!
 
Kenai said:
I know the feeling - I still kind of enjoy it but can see how it can rapidly become a chore.

I was after a relatively cheap pair of wireless earbuds for running recently and the market is absolutely swamped with crap.

"Stick to a good brand" I hear everyone cry, except after hours of reading reviews (whereby half the time is spent figuring out if the reviewer has any idea what he's on about or is just a bored youtuber/blogger in his bedroom talking ****), unless you ***** £100+ most of the branded stuff seemed to review crap and missed out on basic features that cheaper stuff had like only being able to function with both buds active or something stupid.

In the end, I did what i've done for a lot of my 'budget electronics' recently and went with one of the cheap brands i've grown to trust, in this case Anker and their soundcore range. Other stuff I generally go with Anker, Aukey or sometimes MPOW.

Having gone through a phase of deliberately trying not to be brand loyal for the sake of it, in markets getting increasingly flooded with dross, it is getting to the point where it's easier to just trust a few brands again and accept that sometimes you might have saved £20 going to the competition or got a slightly higher quality product but you've saved yourself hours of researching your way through the crap to find the perfect product.
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This is a very good case for the existence of Apple. Makes shopping for new hardware sooo much easier when you can just exclude everything non-Apple due to the way Apple operates.
 
I just don't feel the need to get the latest or greatest stuff. Don't get me wrong when I intend to purchase something I do research and make sure I get the best value for money, so for instance with a phone I'll buy it outright with a discount and I usually keep it for 3-4 years. Still rocking an old plasma TV, does the job fine.

Even though I'm still young, I just don't see the need for all this smart technology like Alexa and even with Windows 10, I liked it when it was Windows 7, basic folders none of this live tile nonsense.

Anyway for me it's about the bigger picture so saving enough to have my own place, being able to start a family without having to worry about bills too much, being able to afford a nice car. I feel that this stuff that costs £100-£2000 is just delaying me achieving my goals in life for short term rewards.
 
MatsyLR said:
Faulty Goods.
Quality not good enough etc

If i buy something and it's not what I expected/advertised or the quality is rubbish my opinion, sorry but its going back regardless of the value.
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You have had your warning next stage is to lose your account for good, this includes every one in your household who has an account.

Not just Amazon and Ebay are banning serial returners, more and more and clamping down on people buying 2-10 items and kepping one or returning all.

The law says they have to return their postage to you so you are costing them money and they don't need to sell to people costing them money.
 
Buying USB cables is the absolute worst. Even the decent brand ones are just crap. I seem to go through about 5 or 6 a year
 
I've not bought anything that expensive for months now. Most I've spent this year is on a Motherboard for my nephews upgrade. The other reason is I've had to go to a private dentist to have 2 root canals at £850 each because both of my lower molars (the ones I have left) have cracked or broken. This is common for men in their mid 50's apparently but I still think said dentist is robbing me despite the fact I've had toothache both sides of my mouth at the same time in the last year.

Still with that at least there's only 2 choices - spend the money & get it done or live with the pain (Teeth, pain in the sinus & the feeling that your sinuses are blocked but you dont have a cold, sometimes headaches)
Because of Lockdown & saving for said root canals the only thing I've been buying is coffee beans (I buy when I get discounts) bottled water, milk and biccies (Shortbread and Jaffa cakes)

I'm now in the market for a new mobile phone as I change phones every 2 1/2 years roughly, last change was down to my old sony experia Z3 developed a touchscreen fault, my choice at the time to replace it was a Nokia 8 and that was a no brainer at the time in late 2017. Fast forward to now & as others have said here the Chinese have flooded the market with new models being released all the time. It's doing my head in on what to buy as the dilemma I have is:

Do I buy a cheap Mobile & keep it for a year?
Or spend a little more & hope it lasts the distance that I normally keep a phone for.

What I don't like is these phones are now so big, its like an arms race for who can make the biggest phone with the longest lasting battery & quickest charging, not important to me as I put my phone on charge before bed when I think it needs charging & when I get up in the night for the loo, job done.

Another thing is I keep my phone in my shirt pocket for work, if phones get any bigger & too heavy they wont fit in that pocket or the pocket stitching wont take the weight & phone goes clattering to the hard floor = broken. :(:mad:
 
I dont mind the options or research and rarely make impulse purchases but what I do hate is the insistence of everywhere to ask for reviews. I've only had a coaster for 5 minutes and I get asked if its good or not, waste of my time having to delete the emails lol.
 
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