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

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

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




 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
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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:
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I have the same tv and it is FANTASTIC. You got a great deal on that TV.
 
Originally posted by: wiredspider
I'm kinda of impulsive, went to bestbuy looking for a harddrive and ended up leaving with a laptop😱
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That happens to me all the time usually at CostCo, although not at that magnitude.
 
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 🙁
 
..I'll wait till HDDVD players are 59.95 at costco. I'll never pay big bucks for mass marketed technology again.
 
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).
 
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