While part of the problem is caused by your own attitude around shopping, some of the blame lies with advertisers, who can feed your purchasing habits with manipulative marketing. Here are five of the most common advertising tricks used to trigger impulse buying—know them and keep your spending under control.
Time Limit Tips:
Anytime you feel pressured by a time limit to buy, slow down. Reflect on whether you really want or need it and whether you already have one at home. Finally, don’t buy something unless you can return it if you change your mind.
“Must-Have” Tips
Ask yourself if you really need this item, whether something you already own will suffice, or whether you would like to consider other options. Don’t just blindly slap down your plastic because someone says you must. Let’s say the deal is on shirts for $30 each. You buy one like you originally planned, you spend $30. If you buy one and get one half-off, you think you’ve saved $15, but you’ve actually spent $45 ($15 more than you planned). And if you need to buy two to get the third free, you’ve actually spent $60. Did you really want three similar shirts anyway? Chances are, you have plenty of shirts already and needed one more at the most. You could have gotten a better discount waiting until they went on sale for 50% off, and then you wouldn’t have to buy more than you need. Of course, by the time they go on sale, they may no longer look quite so enticing, but if you went for a discount on multiples, you might still have one or two hanging in the closet with the tags on. And if you return them, you forfeit the discount. Not such a good deal after all.
Multi-Purchase Discount Tips
Decide how many you really need, and when you need them. Will you have to store the excess in the meantime? Is there a chance the spares could spoil, deteriorate, or go out of style over time? Also, make sure the discounted price isn’t a minuscule saving compared to the hassle of buying multiples. To collect your rebate, you often have to complete a complicated online or mail-in process. You may find that some minute detail—the date of purchase, your age, your location, etc.—invalidates the rebate in your particular case. Collecting the rebate may be time-consuming, demand personal information you would rather not disclose, and it may require you to spend even more money before you collect your discount. A lot of time and effort, and you may not have even wanted the original purchase if you were simply chasing the rebate.
Rebate Tips
Don’t buy anything with a rebate unless you wanted that exact item anyway and were willing to pay full price for it—which you probably will anyway. And never be fooled by an unexpected phone call offering you a rebate or refund—these are a well-known scam to get private information like credit card numbers.
Love and Sex Imagery Tips
Try to imagine the product without the adoring couple, blissful family, or semi-clad models. If it has little to no substance without the imagery—perfume is a good example here—it probably isn’t worth the money.
