Re-Think Your Next Online Purchase

I just watched and listened to a TedTalk that motivated this post: Where do your online returns go?

You may already know that I am not an online shopper. My history goes back, from the time I was born to about five, to being a child growing up in a small town and my parents the proprietors of a general store. I sat on the counter with my mom behind the till and was cute. I'm sure I was not part of my mom's marketing plan but I did spend a lot of time with her in the store and provided some entertainment for those who came in to buy their groceries or sundries. I have always had an allegiance to independent retailers and I am now much older than my mother was when she was running the store.

The idea, or at least my parents' idea, of returning items to a store was always based on the premise that the customer was always right. In the case of online shopping and returns, this has changed. In fact Aparna Mehta who gives the TedTalk, Where do our online returns go?, reveals that her online buying habits contributed to this problem. The customer in this case is most definitely wrong.

I don't know how many people think like me, but I cannot imagine doing what she admitted to. She would buy the same item in different sizes and different colours and then return all that she would not use because, after all, the companies offered "free shipping" and "free returns". There is no such thing as a "free lunch". The free return policies of online marketers has contributed to billions of kilograms of clothing filling our landfills. But my first thoughts consider how this wasteful process escalates the cost of things and continues to exploit people because of the need for low production costs.

Tomorrow is Black Friday. Make it your Don't Buy Anything Day or at the very least, Buy Only What I Really NEED Because it is a Good Deal Day.

Have a look of some of the posts I have written in the past about related subjects:
Buy Nothing Day Re-Commitment
Buy Nothing Day - November 28, 2014
Buy Nothing Day 2015 Resolution
Sale Induced Overbuying
It Just Doesn't Stop
Buy Nothing Saturdays During December

Buy Nothing Day Re-Commitment

It is the eve of Black Friday, otherwise known as Thanksgiving in the United States, and time for me to restate my vows of choosing a day weekly when I will buy nothing. I have to restate this vow annually because like many resolutions, it is short-lived and by the third month I have forgotten that I even made the resolution.

A friend who has school age children has altered "buy nothing day" into "buy only necessities day". She claims there would be times when she had run out of milk and felt guilty about going out to buy it on her affirmed buy nothing day. I speculate that not buying the milk would create greater guilt feelings and so her "buy only necessities day" does make sense for her. 

"Buy only necessities day" could then be expanded to including clothing on my NEED list. Isn't life grand, one can accommodate just about anything if they try hard enough.

But really, I still believe in including a weekly "buy nothing day" in my life. I hope not to forget about it so easily and will attempt to make my resolution last a little longer. I am also going to propose a second "buy only necessities day" which will be restricted to food. For the next year I propose my "buy nothing day" to be Wednesday and my "buy only necessities day" to be Friday. While I'm on the bandwagon, I shall make Saturday a "buy only locally day" to support small independent store owners and all the vendors at the farmers' market. If I do not actually acknowledge those days specifically over the next year, I do know that since I first read about "buy nothing day" in Adbusters magazine, I have slowly changed my buying lifestyle, so that I do not impulse buy anymore, I think twice about where I am buying and I look at the labels to see where things have been made.

But of course, bien sûr, I will not be shopping tomorrow. 

Note: It appears my blog post is on European time while I am writing on Canadian time. Tried to change the time zone but it still reverts to Europe. Sigh. I'll figure it out eventually.

Buy Nothing Day 2015 Resolution

I re-visited the post, It Just Doesn't Stop, with the intent to re-establish my "buy nothing day" resolution for 2015. Sometime during the past year, I lost the momentum and eventually forgot all about it until the Black Friday advertisements once again began. While several fashion blogs are giving you strategies to attack your shopping today, I will join others in not buying anything. 

When I hear the media proclaim that American Thanksgiving means two things: football and Black Friday, I shudder to think that it has fallen to that. Within the same broadcast, a reporter then tells us that "two out of five Canadians have too much month at the end of the money". Our Thanksgiving holiday is long gone but we piggyback off American culture owing to our dependence upon American television. However, we, as consumers, need some stern advice and I'm ready to give it: "Just stop it!"

Ok, so . . . if one takes the admirable position of not falling into the consumer trap, one has to replace it with something else. If you don't, you might end up like a friend of mine, who paced, watched too much TV, played too many online games and fretted that she might not have anything to eat for dinner because Friday was her usual grocery shopping day. 

Consider it a challenge. Here are two pieces of advice for overriding the "buy nothing day" feelings of remission or omission.

1) Take time. All of us lament the following, "I never have any time to . . . (fill in the blank) . . . do a craft, paint (either your nails or a masterpiece), write, take a bath, bake, make soup from scratch, clean out a closet, listen to music, dance, transplant the philodendron . . . twiddle my thumbs. Here's your opportunity to take the time to do so.

2) Put aside thoughts of guilt. "It's Friday, that means it's pizza night or Chinese food or whatever indulgence you afford yourself and your family." There's nothing wrong with shaking it up a bit and the kids will only stay annoyed for awhile. Think of another way (bake cookies) to indulge yourself or them.

Good luck and I hope you are successful in attempting a buy nothing day instead of overindulging.

Resolutions for Fitness & Fashion

NECESSARY

I like New Year's resolutions. They allow me to asses what is working in my life and what I could do well enough to dispense with. But I don't only make resolutions on New Year's Day. If you have visited this blog before you know that I have made a Buy Nothing Day resolution on what we know here as Black Friday, that post American Thanksgiving Day sale, which it seems the entire world is now adopting. That one is going well and my only transgression was buying some Salt Spring Island goat cheese for a salad I was making for a dinner party on one Saturday out of four so far. Not bad. Since New Year's often brings wishes of prosperity, I shall retain this resolution and attempt to maintain it for 2015.

Walking with my husband in France. Photo by JoyD.

Yet another resolution that many make is one to do with fitness. This one is evident by the number of gym memberships purchased the first week in January. I start out relatively well and then I move to France and lose complete control of my fitness schedule. Being in France for six months is not an excuse at all but somehow my routine there doesn't include fitness in the same way. I walk, maybe stroll is a better word; but there is no gym membership, and I certainly don't walk enough to make a difference. I now carry four extra kilos that proves my point. Of course, you know where I am going with this . . . 

A fit healthy body - that is the best fashion statement. 

- Jess C. Scott

That statement along with, "nothing tastes as good as losing 5 kilos feels" will complement my fitness goals in 2015.

It takes me a good week to think through and commit to any New Year's resolutions. I wish you well with yours and you might consider commenting, resolving, and coming back to this post to remind yourself of any you might make for this year.

Wishing you happiness, prosperity and fulfilment of your goals in 2015.

It Just Doesn't Stop . . .

Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Green Monday, Pre-Holiday Sales, Boxing Day, Boxing Week Reductions, Post-Holiday Sales . . . it just doesn't stop . . . what is the "real" price of anything?

I never really paid attention to the inundation of targeted sales propaganda but now with my Buy Nothing Day resolution I seem more aware of all these commercial entities telling me that they are offering me the best prices ever. My electronic devices deliver "buy something" messages constantly: Monday - spend $25.00, get 10% off; Tuesday - buy 4, get one free; Wednesday - buy 3 get 3 free (the lowest priced 3 that is); Thursday - if I spend any amount I get a free gift; Friday - buy 1 and get a something or buy 2 and get something bigger; Saturday and Sunday - up to 65% off but only this weekend; and if you didn't take advantage of the sales last week, you can this week with 50% off selected items in the store and so the weeks rotate with some such variety of shallow promises enticing me to buy, buy, buy.

Reclaim control of your consumer life, of your wants and needs. Buy what you need and do not be fooled into the false satisfaction that you got something for nothing. 

I have written about buying less before. Check your closets and your pantry before you buy another thing!

Buy Nothing Saturday #3

This is the third Saturday before Christmas where I promised to buy nothing and all is well. We invited friends for dinner so the day was spent preparing the table and preparing the food. When your mind is occupied with a definite goal, it is easier. As well, I decided to do without something I thought I must have for the dinner. I forgot to buy it yesterday and my husband, who was prepping the veggies and meat, offered to go and pick it up. I declined, saying it was not necessary. How many things do we go out and buy that are truly not necessary? At the very least, this Buy Nothing Day has made me stop and think, do I really need it?

I believe I can manage to maintain this and carry it over to the new year. However in France, I may have to change the day since Saturday is the weekly Ste. Foy La Grande market and much of our grocery shopping takes place there. I suppose I can make food exempt from my Buy Nothing Day because there are many things that tempt a person at the market and that would be a good exercise in self-control, so perhaps my resolution will be to Buy Only Food at the Saturday Market (when I am in France later in 2015). Yes, in fact, that would test my self-control when it comes to buying frivolously.

Those in France who are thinking of a Buy Nothing Day should not include Monday since most independently owned commercial enterprises are closed Monday anyway. Those kind of days do not exist in North America where some stores and malls are open 24/7. Amazing . . . that there are enough people buying to warrant being open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Incroyable!

Are you prepared to include a Buy Nothing Day commitment as part of your New Year's resolutions? Where in the world are you? Let me know.

Buy Nothing Saturday #2

Accomplished without incident!

However what was a restriction in one part of my life became an over-indulgence in another. We were invited out for both lunch and dinner on Saturday, the 13th. The family gathering at lunch had me exerting more control than I have in a good while when it came to food. Then there was dinner where again I had to temper my appetite - I repeated the mantra - Nothing tastes as good as losing 10 pounds feels. You see I gained 8 pounds in 6 months while in France.

Psychologically I am setting myself up for failure. Apparently if one imposes too many restrictions upon oneself, it is easier to lapse into old habits. Buy Nothing Saturday is working for me now but I can see myself changing it to another day when I take on another teaching contract. My Black Friday resolution to have a weekly Buy Nothing Day will be easy to maintain I am sure!

My second resolution was to be more analytical with the contents of my closet and donate clothing whenever I want to buy something new. I can see this as being more difficult. In fact I was looking to buy something and changed my mind because I realized that I had not perused my closet nor did I make a decision of what I would put in the donation bin. As well the articles I was looking at did not comply with my third resolution. 

The third resolution was to not buy anything "Made in China" or other countries with questionable labour practices. This may be the most difficult! I need to look at this with a more analytical eye and take a survey of what percentage of the clothing that I look at is actually made offshore. Almost all I would bet! But that's another post.

Buy Nothing Saturdays During December

For those who might accuse me of being a "Scrooge" during the holiday season because of my Buy Nothing Saturdays proposal, in fact, I think I will be better prepared for the holiday season with Saturdays off from shopping.

December 6, 2014 was my first Buy Nothing Saturday in the month of December. What did I do, what was or was not accomplished and will I be able to maintain this through the month?

What did I do?

1. I had a long and leisurely breakfast. After all I had nowhere that I had to go or anyplace that I had to be.

2. I had gone grocery shopping on Friday and planned to make chicken soup from scratch. After breakfast I prepped the chicken and ingredients for the broth and let time and a slow simmer do its magic. By noon I had a delicious chicken vegetable soup that was not only healthy but also low fat.

3. I read.

4. I watched tv.

5. I read.

What was not accomplished?

I wanted to organize my winter closet. My plan was to take out items that needed mending, cleaning and put them in respective bins. I also wanted to pull out all clothing that might qualify for "holiday" dressing.

What were the consequences?

I revelled in the luxury of not having to be anywhere at any particular time. Surprisingly, I did not feel any pressure or sense of remorse that I did not get to "save" any money on the "only today" sales. With a more relaxed day, I now feel more organized for any holiday buying I need to do during the next couple of weeks.

A Weekly Buy Nothing Day

To commemorate my November 2014 "Black Friday" alternative to shopping, I decided to make non-buying resolutions. I need to add some detail to my promises. The first resolution I made was to . . . have a weekly Buy Nothing Day. But what day should that day be? When a person works, Friday, Saturday and Sunday tend to be the "shopping" days and therefore the most difficult days to assign as Buy Nothing Days. Insofar as Monday to Thursday, if you assign a Buy Nothing Day to a day that you usually buy nothing anyway, what's the point? 

Now the question arises, does food count? After all it is a necessity. But then if you say food is exempt, then it may be easier to rationalize restaurant meals. OK food is exempt from Buy Nothing Days but then how would restaurant meals be defined? As a luxury or as a necessity . . . you see, it does get difficult to determine what is necessity and what is not. If we define Buy Nothing, it means "buy nothing". So what part of "buy nothing" is there not to understand?

I guess Friday can't be my assigned day since we arrived back in Canada last night and have to replenish the fridge and food cupboards today and today happens to be Friday.

I am thinking that I should make Saturday my Buy Nothing Day. It would be difficult but it would also force me to do other things, like downsize my closets. OK, Saturday it is - at least for this week.

As soon as I finished writing that last paragraph, an email came in from a vendor telling me about a further 20% off all purchases (sales items included) tomorrow only. Sigh. I have a feeling this is going to be more difficult than I thought . . . I'll keep you posted!

"Sale" Induced Over-Buying

There's something about hotel rooms that make me want to write. And so as I waited for a reasonable hour to go to sleep while at the Merignac/Bordeaux airport enroute to Canada, I began thinking about spending money on things I don't need - in this case clothing in particular.

With my "Buy Nothing Day" resolutions, my own unfortunate "sale" experiences, and while contemplating the "Black Friday" mentality, I came up with the notion of "sale induced over-buying". With discount retailers inundating the market, you would think that this would not be a problem. After all, on any day of the year, you are likely to find a "deal" albeit requiring some "shopping around". Perhaps the difference lies in the fact that on "Black Friday" the consumer believes that the best possible price is given no matter where one ends up shopping. Or is it the idea of "lost leaders", those items possibly marked below cost of production minimums that bring you to the store or website but once you are in, you end up buying many other items besides the lost leader? After all, the shopper can rationalize that since the lost leader cost almost nothing, he or she can afford to buy more. And that is how my thinking progressed and my idea of "sale-induced over-buying" began.

I then researched a smattering of both economic and psychological literature, where the following topics recurred: "buyers' remorse", the "paradox of choice", "addictive/compulsive buying behaviour" aka shopaholic along with some Marketing 101 terminology. I think there's a post in each of these.

My belief is that at the "over 50%" discount, consumers begin thinking, "at this price I should buy two or three or twenty", whether it be toilet paper or cashmere sweaters. A University of Southern California paper tells us that for regular mark-downs, "a large segment of the population . . . respond(s) to negligible discounts (as little as half of 1%)" and that the words "everyday low price" increases sales of the product exhibiting that sign. It may be the standard price for that particular store and it doesn't mean it has been marked down. So if consumers respond that significantly to insignificant reductions or no reduction at all, at what percentage will they overbuy? 

The way we think about retail pricing determines what we might overbuy at sale prices. If I am introduced to a product at a low price, it will be difficult for me to pay a higher price whereas if I only know a product at a high price, I won't mind paying it and anything lower will lead me to believe that I am getting a deal. This is what Introductory Marketing calls "internal reference prices" or the prices a consumer is willing to pay based on experience. Then comes the discount, which I suspect would have to be significant and range between 60% and 80% off before a rational person becomes irrational about the number of items he or she buys. As I write those numbers I have to remember that consumers also respond to negligible discounts of less than 1%. So the question still remains, what discount percentages provoke overbuying?

What should you do so that you do not become a victim of sale-induced over-buying?

Buy what you can use and not more . . .

1. Lost Leaders. Only buy the lost leader and only buy as many as you can use. If you want to give them as gifts, this is of course a good time to buy.

2. Never say, "this is such a good deal, I'm going to buy three (or however many) more". Buy what you can use. If you buy with storage in mind, consider the hoarding mentality, and ask yourself if it is really necessary.

3. Go to the storefront, auctions or online with a plan and stick to it. I have heard of those who go to auctions and get so caught up in the excitement of the moment that they come home with way more than what they originally set out to buy.

Or is it personality type that factors into overbuying? . . . a discounted price, a perceived need, a spendthrift mentality and there arises the circumstance to buy more than one really needs. I have never seen this idea clinically analyzed but maybe someone somewhere has already done this. Let me know if you have seen this literature or have done research of this kind. 

In the meantime, be careful about how many cashmere sweaters you buy!

Resources:

Scherhorn, Gerhard. The addictive trait in buying behaviour. Journal of Consumer Policy, 1990. Retrieved November, 30, 2014 from  http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00411868#page-2

Bigne, Enrique, Ruiz, Carla, and Sanz, Silvia. The impact of internet user shopping patterns and demographics on consumer mobile buying behaviour. Journal of Electronic Commerce Research, 2005. Retrieved on November 30, 2014 from http://www.csulb.edu/journals/jecr/issues/20053/paper3.pdf

Lars Perner, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Clinical Marketing. Department of Marketing, Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California. Introduction to Marketing: Pricing. Retrieved on November 30, 2014 from http://www.consumerpsychologist.com/intro_Pricing.html

Buy Nothing Day - November 28, 2014

NECESSARY

Buy Nothing Day is a Canadian-born day of protest and occurs the Friday following the US Thanksgiving holiday. Internationally it is acknowledged either on that day or on the Saturday following. It has been promoted by Adbusters magazine and I am happy to be observing the sentiment while in France. 

My tradition is to make economic resolutions in my spending life. My "Buy Nothing Day" resolutions for this year are:

1. To have a weekly "Buy Nothing Day".

2. To be more analytical with the contents of my closet and donate clothing whenever I want to buy something new.

3. To not buy anything "Made in China" or other countries with questionable labour practices.

I'll let you know how I've managed . . . 

and if you are interested, I have attempted to do this before (albeit less so) . . . 

Impulse or Overload Buying

Avoid the Fashion Financial Hangover

I think I'm slightly impulsive, sometimes organized and always in search of a bargain!

- Lisa Snowdon

On the topic of buying, online or otherwise, a friend in Manitoba who volunteers for the Church of Christ clothing depot, tells me that many items come with price tags attached and appear never to have been worn. At least they are now donated and given to those who need them . . . for free - and that is a redeeming quality, at least for the receiver.

NO THANKS . . . to impulse buying or at the very least impulse buying without the cash to cover the total. With the world at our fingertips and easy credit, it is easier than ever to buy. To buy responsibly is a virtue. To have the cash to buy something is important so put it on your credit card for the points, but put the cash for it into your credit card account immediately or at the very least, make sure you can pay it off before your payment date so that you do not accrue any interest. Consumer debt because of impulse buying is the worst.

Too many people spend money they haven't earned to buy things they don't want, to impress people they don't like. 

- Will Smith

NICE: Consider cost per wear. If you buy an inexpensive item but it sits in the closet or it loses its shape after the first wash, you have wasted your money, irrespective of how much it was. Spend more and buy quality especially on the closet basics. If you can't afford to buy designer at retail; consider consignment, particularly if you live in large cities. There, a greater percentage of the "well-to-do" population is buying designer and because of their positions in "city society" tend to send their two or three times worn items to a consignment store. If the clothes are older they may end up in the "donation" stores or charity bins but if they are close to "new", even the rich want to get a few dollars back on what they have worn. Or they might be the "not so rich" who buy designer and can't afford it so they have to get something back on it. Or they just are not wasteful, no matter how much money they have. 

NOTE-WORTHY: Some of the most trendy shops with good prices and discount online vendors are the worse for impulse buying. When the clothing is cheap enough so that you can rationalize the purchase or it looks good on the size 0 model on the screen, it's easy to buy. If you check how the item is made, very often the quality is not there or the way it sits on a rounder body may be disappointing.

Two American Presidents have been recorded as saying it, many others have as well, but still "we" do not listen to their advice. So with more profound words than I can muster at the moment and for your own sanity: 

Never spend your money before you have earned it. 

- Thomas Jefferson

If you know how to spend less than you get, you have the philosopher's stone.

- Benjamin Franklin