There’s no fun in buyer’s remorse. Maybe it was a minor blunder like the no-return shirt that doesn’t fit. Might have been a big one like buying too much house. Or a whole stack of purchases of questionable utility that did some “new math” to your credit card balance. Sometimes it is about a product you needed, but you just ended up with a lemon. I recall a Volvo that I bought new a few years back. Let’s just say that I could find the repair department without consulting Siri. On my fourth or fifth trip in as many weeks to replace yet another mysterious greasy part, the technician attempted to calm me by pointing out that all of the work was under warranty. I lost it completely as I explained that I had a full-time job apart from my new role as Volvo repair department shuttler. So how do we avoid buyer’s remorse?
Don’t shop just to shop
The science of shopping has developed immensely. Every aspect of retail is fine-tuned to make you spend. The lights, colours, music, product placement and pricing are all there to fill your cart. Store sensors are monitoring where you move, what you buy and what you look at. Online your results are tweaked based on what else you have been searching on. Read some articles on the science of shopping. Heading to the mall with no real agenda is like swimming with sharks. Whilst wearing a Lady Gaga meat dress.
Set a cooling-off period
Marketers do everything possible to create passion for their products and drive urgency into your buying process. I know, I used to be one. If the item isn’t a non-essential luxury, give yourself a little cooling-off period to regroup. Consult with some friends to get their thoughts. Set a calendar reminder to see if the item is still important in a couple of weeks.
Do some research to avoid buyer’s remorse
Once you figure out that you really want, but also need, the thing, do your research. On home renovations, get three quotes and references. Not unusual to see a difference of 2 or 3-fold on pricing and likely the same on quality. A friend just got a quote for $34,000 to replace the boards on her 200 square foot deck. Hmm, about $1,000 in materials another $2,000 for labour and…a new car for the contractor. Shop around! For products, Amazon reviews are helpful even if you don’t buy from Amazon. Their process limits the reviews to actual purchasers and the large numbers help with accuracy. One of the all-time research bargains is ConsumerReports.org. Sign up for an online membership for $25/year. Completely unbiased reviews of everything from snow tires to sun screen, tractors and strollers. Saves you from being on a first-name basis at the repair department.
Find the best way to buy it
Or do you need to buy it? Could you rent or borrow one? Hard to have buyer’s remorse if you don’t actually buy it. What about a used one from eBay, kijiji, letgo, Tradyo or Craigslist? You can even set up alerts to get exactly the one you want. If it’s best to buy new (snow tires, beds, pillows or hockey mouth guards) do some online shopping. For car tires, as an example, you can go to 3 or 4 sites, enter your car details and have 3 quotes in 15 minutes. Try Kanetix for car, home and life insurance.
Skip the extended warranty
Think of it this way. The extended warranties are priced so that the company covers their costs for future repairs and adds a good 50% gross margin and that’s what you pay. The math says that over the long haul you are the loser. The profitability of extended warranties is always much higher than the product itself. The product may be good but the extended warranties themselves can lead to buyer’s remorse. That’s why the sales guys bite in and hang on like a mosquito until you buy one. Car warranties usually exclude all of the “wear items” like tires, shocks, maintenance type repairs and brakes. Have a look at where you spent all of your repair dollars on your last car. Hmm. Skip the extended warranties, build up a cash cushion and self-insure on your cars and electronics.
And here is a bonus point:
Maintain your new purchase
Things with moving parts have a maintenance schedule for a reason. When one part wears or breaks, it tends to screw up all of the parts around it. Making them fail and you poorer. Skipping regular maintenance is a great way to save. Like only taking birth control pills every other day. (Kidding, don’t sue me all you new moms and dads.) Do the maintenance on schedule.
What buying tips do you have? What purchases do you wish you could re-do?
