When shopping on physical stores my wife always has this dilemma: to buy immediately an item she "needs" and likes or browse a few more stores to see if she likes something better or with a better price. This is tiring of course and sometimes when we return to that store the original item is no longer there. So, how do you do it? Do you buy it immediately or do you browse some more looking for a bargain?
For me a lot depends on the item that I am buying to be honest and why. If I am shopping for items that I need rather than what I want, I'll often just buy the first item that I see that fits what I need. On the other hand if I am treating myself to something then I do like to shop around and try and find a bargain, not only to save money but when you are buying something that you ant rather than hat you need, it is a lot more fun and enjoyable to shop around a bit just to see what's on offer.
I use to act like that, I would go from one store to another to compare prices before buying from a particular store. These days I tend to have a better idea of the supposed prices of the various items I need especially food stuff. When I get to a grocery store I can tell if their price is moderate or not, and if I think it's a fair price and the item is good I'd buy it straight away.
That surveying of the stores for a particular item is called window shopping. I never do that because I always have a shopping plan which I execute with accuracy to save time and effort. But my wife is like an ordinary wife who loves to look around and then come back to the previous store for an item that she had chosen. She sometimes goes on a runaround so I just find a place to sit when we are in the mall and wait for her when she is done with her shopping. No use in expending my energy for her window shopping.
If the item is less than 30 dollars, I buy it immediately if it seems reasonable. If it's more than 30 dollars, then I head out to one or two different stores to compare prices quickly and buy the cheapest. I do go to many stores and online shops for items worth more than 200 dollars though. There usually is a 50-dollar difference between those items. It does get annoying going around comparing them though.
Hmm... It's very difficult to answer. I've been in that situation before and sometimes you really have to bear with your girl when she go on shopping. Girls have better tolerance walking for several hours to look for the best reasonable item. I don't normally talk when she look for stuff unless she ask my opinion. The good thing though is that she apologizes because she knows that I am already tired and her doing so energizes me, that's how you call love I guess or I might be just a victim, I cannot say for sure.
I am just like your wife I must always go to a couple of stores to compare prices before I purchase, it's just something I'm used to doing. I always like to find bargains so when I find the same item at a lesser price I feel accomplished and I feel good buying the item. If I find out I paid more than I had to I start feeling guilty for spending more than I had to.
My wife is an impulsive buyer. She used to buy items which are not included in her list in place of the unavailable items she needed at home. I have to reprimand her for that but I never do it. I want her to be happy. And she later regrets of spending the money to some trivial things.
Being an impulsive buyer is only at the reach of those who can afford it , so I am guessing she doesn't browse stores to see a better price right? I want happiness too and sometimes who should be able to afford something to ourselves, but most of the times I always look for ways to save.
Depends on the product I'm interested in. if it is a low value item I won't mind buying at once, but yes I'm prone to make several cross-examines before going for a costly product. These days you don't need to hop around the stores to get an idea on price. I do all my homework through websites. This saves both time and energy.
That's something to consider too of course, the price. If it's something cheap that we are needing we can always buy it and it's done. As for me, I always buy immediately what I need as if I need it and I see it I don't lose more time browsing furthers. Women's fashion is far more complex than this I am afraid.
I shop around. It's not necessarily about finding a better bargain but finding something that is exactly what you want, or as close as possible.
Yep, that's how I see it too @SammyGregory. If I know exactly what I want, I go directly to that store and buy it, but before I looked around to see if there is something better. Many times I go straight to where I know that I find what I need and that's it, I don't even waste time shopping.
These days I'm not sure how much money we can actually save by shopping around, and in particular on the high street because all the stores are competing with each other so charge more or less the same. I have found a few bargains from going round from shop to shop, but that of course takes longer so if you have the time it's fine, but then again is it worth wasting sometimes hours of your day just to get what turns out to be only a small saving?
That's something I always consider @pwarbi, the time I lose shopping vs the time I same by browsing and looking online. Let's suppose we do save some money by buying in the physical stores, but how much money have we spent on gas or tickets for public transportation. At the same time, some people like my wife love shopping haha and I need to go along...
I do not stick to one particular brand. The moment I like a product, I note down its price and look for similar products which are available for lesser prices in the same store. Before I go to the supermarket, I make a list of the items I would like to buy. Then, I do a little online research as to what brands are offering my choice of items and at what price. This makes my decisions easier and if I find the one I need, I pick it up straight away. For the ones which I do not know, I make sure to search for similar products in the same store or in the stores nearby before finalizing on which one to buy. It not only helps you know things better but also saves some bucks which can be spent on more useful items.
Hahaha I'm sorry to hear that but I do the same as well. My hubby keeps on complaining with this every time we go shopping. If I wanted to buy something, I would check store per store and check their prices and designs, (for instance shoes, bags or clothes) then if I didn't find anything that I like, I would jump to the next store. Well even if I did, I would still check on other stores to compare prices. Most of the time, we would go back to the first store we've been and buy the item there, which will make my hubby more pissed hahaha I just tell him that I would just want the best item for our money and he'd simply smirk
A few years ago I actually worked out ho much gas I used because I got into the habit of driving round to different stores when I was buying my groceries. I was going to different stores to get the cheapest prices which seemed like a good idea at the time, the trouble was though that once I'd calculated how much gas I'd used, it was actually working out more expensive than buying from just the one shop. It's alright driving 10 miles to get a 50% discount on fruit and vegetables, but if it's costing more in gas then the saving is negligible and add to that the stress of driving there and back, it's simply not worth it a lot of the time.
LOL, women right @Jasmin Cottontail ? So my case seems a replica of what's happening around the world, it's a global phenomenon and I guess husbands just have to be patient... My wife sort of gave up on me though, as she knows that after a couple of hours in the mall I collapse.
Hahaha Exactly. Sometimes even though I would still like to window shop, I'll just go straight to that particular store to buy what I need since my hubby complaints a lot whenever we roam around the mall for hours haha I don't know why is that but my mom is like that, even my aunts and my girl friends. So I guess it's in our hormones