Do you impulse buy sometimes or is it always a long thought out process?

[Geekbabe]

I keep a running list of needs/wants and regularly visit the various deal hunting forums.I stockpile gc's from amazon and other online stores for use when the right deal comes along.

 

[Koing]

Never impulse, only after thinking it through properly...

Koing

 

[DrPizza]

I do a lot of impulse buys - but only in situations where I recognize that it's a smoking hot deal that I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time for. (And that I can use the item.) That occurs somewhat frequently at auctions - there will be something that I wasn't necessarily that interested in, but I recognized it to have a value of, say, $100. When no one has made a starting bid, and they're down around $5 or $10, it's hard to resist.

I picked up two 500 foot sections of aqua pex water line about 2 years ago at auction for $30 apiece. I had no intention of purchasing it, but it went so cheap; I'd have gone up to about $50 for a roll then let the other bidder have it at that price. I think he expected me to get one for $30 and for him as the back bidder to get the other for $30. I didn't know the exact price, but it turns out that a 500 foot roll is around $300 for 3/4 inch. price check I'll use it eventually to run a water line to my barn, plus lines inside the barn, as well as a water line and lines for a 2nd barn that we'll probably build eventually.

I've made many similar purchases where I ended up getting an item for 75 to 90% off. Sometimes, I'll clear a store out of some sort of clearance item if it's cheap enough.

 

[jinduy]

if it's under about $100, i do impulse buys, but anything over i do a lot of research.

 

[Engineer]

I usually do research. There are times that I get the "Hot Deals" impulese and then wonder why or do I need them.

 

[Squisher]

My emotional fixation during bouts of "buyer's remorse," are at such a high level that I learned that I can avoid it if I expend excessive time and consternation over the future purchases.

As my wife says sarcasticly to me, "this is going to require graph paper, isn't it?"

 

[SKORPI0]

Very nice question.

I do my research on what I need to get the job done. Read the reviews from various places. Look for the cheapest price or a hot deal. If it comes up at a good price, I grab it.

Examples.

Dell Inspiron M170, saved $750 from Dell Outlet.
Canon Rebel XTi - $650 - saved $250.
eVGA 8800GTS 640mb - $360 - with $30 MIR
Intel Q6600 G0 - $292 - prices still going down. :frown:

 

[imported_Imp]

All the time, but never on "large" purposes. Large purposes I would define by things over $100 or just "more" expensive than usual like a $50 flashlight. However, I have splurged on a bunch of $1-$90 items, that I already knew I wouldn't use by the time I left the store. Recently, I bought $5 "flashers" and $5 reflective tape for my bike. After walking 2 blocks from the store, I went "WTF, I don't even ride at night....". Well, I mounted the flashers which now flap/rattle at low speed and the reflective tape is sitting in it's package unopened; too lazy to return $5 items. Then there are the bargain bin games, which got my attention cause they're sub-$20, but I have to bite the bullet to finish them so I can toss them in a corner. So on and so on... those "small" items rack up.

 

[Eli]

It depends.

I'm terrible at impulse buying small things, like food and items >100$... usually utilitarian type things, "Oh.. I could use that.".

I'm also a voracious researcher when it comes to any thing with "specifications", though.. or anything of significant cost. I want to know I'm getting the best for my money.

 

[ponyo]

I go through spurts. It's the addiction/withdrawal cycle. I've been very good lately as I've been busy with work and avoided FatWallet forum but I can already feel the urge building up. I stopped reading Corvetteforum because I was getting massive urge to purchase Z06 due to the current discounts.

 

[zoiks]

I tend to do a lot of research before I buy. Right now, I'm looking for a double din car navigation system for my 2005 Mazda6 that is my daily driver. I researched the AVIC-D3, AVIC-Z2, IVA-W205, DNX-7100, AVIC-N3 and am settling on the Kenwood DNX-7100. To me, spending $1000 on a car stereo unit is too much but this is something I wanted to get for a long time.

 

[pmoa]

Originally posted by: RossMAN

Originally posted by: iamwiz82
Not much of an impulse buyer. It took me 3 or 4 visits to Costco looking at the selection before I finally settled on a GPS. I prefer to research the snot out of things first.

I'm exactly the same.

I researched the Sharp 42" AQUOS® LC-42D64U for at least 5 hours before pulling the trigger at $1,000 with free shipping :thumbsup:

I have the same tv and it is FANTASTIC. You got a great deal on that TV.

 

[FP]

Originally posted by: Jeff7
What would a thread be without an xkcd link?

Beat me to it! :beer:

 

[Martin]

This is a good way to try and live:
http://www.paulgraham.com/stuff.html

 

[TallBill]

I get physically sick if I impulse buy a $5 magazine.

 

[wiredspider]

I'm kinda of impulsive, went to bestbuy looking for a harddrive and ended up leaving with a laptop

 

[JEDIYoda]

never impulse buy...ever

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: wiredspider
I'm kinda of impulsive, went to bestbuy looking for a harddrive and ended up leaving with a laptop

That happens to me all the time usually at CostCo, although not at that magnitude.

 

[moshquerade]

Originally posted by: TallBill
I get physically sick if I impulse buy a $5 magazine.

I'll bet you don't like gambling either.

 

[Feneant2]

Just this week I impulsed bought :
Digital Camera - It was on sale!
Halo 3 - It came with a free shitty game!

So I then impulsed bought a camera case and have to impulse buy some memory for itl.

I had been doing really good on finances until I bought that stuff and went to play some Blackjack... spent 500$ I could have used to pay debts instead

 

[IGBT]

..I'll wait till HDDVD players are 59.95 at costco. I'll never pay big bucks for mass marketed technology again.

 

[LiquidImpulse]

don't do it too frequently, last impulse buy was a Philips 6GB MP3 Player. too bad it sucked and costs me $120 (which was considered cheap at the time).

 

[Journer]

under $10, impulse
10-50, short thought
50+ think it out
150+ long process

 

[lokiju]

Originally posted by: nwfsnake
cheap = impulse
expensive = analyze the crap out of it

Same.

 

[MisterJackson]

Do hookers count? My therapist says my sexual addiction is an impulsive behavior, so that HAS to be an impulsive purchase.