LIFESTYLE NEWS - With the festive season and Black Friday bargain shopping upon us, this may be the time to consider quality above quantity before embarking on binge bargain buying sprees that may have serious financial consequences.
Money’s too tight to mention
Many ordinary, hardworking people, have had to tighten their belts considerably. Coupled with that, we are increasingly surrounded by an abundance of cheap, low quality goods that contributes to the temptation to spend money we don’t have on inferior items. It appears that a perceived shortage of money somehow feeds into this impulse.
Avoid the trap of compulsive buying
People develop shopping addictions because they get hooked on how they feel while shopping. As they shop, endorphins and dopamine are released and over time these feelings become addictive.
Shopping addiction is defined as a deficiency of impulse control which manifests as the desire to constantly buy unnecessary or superfluous things.
Whereas ordinary consumers state value and usefulness as their primary motives for shopping, compulsive buyers make purchases in order to improve their mood, cope with stress, gain social approval or recognition, and to improve their self-image.
You get what you pay for
In Afrikaans there’s a saying ‘goedkoop koop is duur koop’ which roughly translates to buying cheap inferior quality goods, costs you more in the long run than the price of expensive high quality items. An English version of this saying is ‘buy quality and cry once, buy cheap and cry forever’.
The proverb suggests that it’s better to buy expensive, good-quality items from the outset rather than cheaper, low-quality items that don’t do the job as well and that don’t last.
Avoid buyer’s remorse
Buyer’s remorse is a surge of regret that a shopper experiences after buying something and then questioning the quality, quantity, price or functionality of the purchase.
How often have you bought something and then realized soon after that you don’t need it and that you have wasted money?
There are not that many things that we really need. Buying better quality stuff less frequently may break the chain of compulsive buying.
Think carefully about what you need and plan your purchases
Shopping for bargains and purchasing items we don’t need just because they are on sale is a form of shopping addiction.
Before you embark on a bargain buying binge, think about what you need and plan your purchases. There are many reasons why buying quantity over quality is going to let you down in the long run.
Why quality always wins
- You won’t need to replace items so frequently
- You’ll take better care of what you have
- It’s less wasteful
- It’s usually more ethical and less harmful to the environment
- You’ll shop less often – avoid temptation and break that shopping habit
- You’ll save time – less traffic, less parking hassles, less queues, less stress
- You’ll save space – less is more
