Impulse Shopper Alert!

[bea]

no!!!! not the deodorant!!!

i'm one of those people who sees an item of clothing and thinks... ohhh! that's really nice... i'll a)try it on...b) take it home and try it on and bring it back if it's not right!!!

then i buy it and then ... surprise surprise... never wear it because

a) it really doesn't fit but i think i might 'grow' into it!

b) keep forgetting to take it back

and then all of a sudden a year or two have gone by and it's still in my wardrobe, unworn, with tags still on!!!

fortunately/unfortuantely they mostly come form marks and sparks.. so my question is!?

please tell me i'm not the only daft one in the worls who does this...

can i take them back? (receipts long gone and forgotten by now!!!) how long can you keep something for? a month or two... a year?

i'm petrified of taking them back and then getting eyed up as a potential shoplifter!!! argh!!

thanks!!

and please cure me of my impulse buying!!

[MandyD]

Hmm, I'd be very surprised if they exchanged/refunded anything that was not current season stock. You could try ringing M&S head office (Baker Street, London W1) and speaking to customer services. Would be interested to hear what they say.

Cures for impulse buying. Well, you could try only going shopping with a friend who could shout "No" every time you looked like you were about to buy something. Or only taking a limited amount of cash with you, no cheque book or cards. Then if you saw something you really wanted you'd have to go back next day or whatever (a cooling-off period!)

And no, you're not the only person in the world who impulse buys!!!

Is there a dress exchange shop near you? They take your unwanted stuff and pay you a percentage of what they sell it for. You could then indulge yourself in there, just using your "profits".

[Tinker]

Don't know if you work bea, but you could try working out how many hours you'd need to work to afford something ie £10 per hour, top £50. Is it worth working 5 hours for? Or, do REALISTIC assessment of how often you think you'd wear it. Say 5 times. Would you pay £10 each time you wore it?

[jinna]

i have found m&s to be fairly good at returning items, without a receipt, even when it has been over a month or two - but they will only give you credit vouchers. I would give it a try.
Good luck

[mollipops]

No Bea you are definitely not alone, I am a great believer in retail therapy. But it's rarely ever something for me, but for dd or ds! Am I the only one who always heads straight to the children's section nowadays??? I couldn't tell you how many times I have gone to get myself something specific and come out of the shop with half a dozen things for everyone EXCEPT me!

Great idea Tinker, I think that could really work...but as I'm a SAHM at the moment I don't think I could handle the guilt of working out long dh had to work to pay for my new dress!

[angharad]

I'm guilty of children's clothes shopping as retail therapy. Somehow getting a whole outfit for £20 thanks to Gap/Gymboree sales seems very reasonable compared to spending £50-60 on a pair of trousers for myself. Only problem is that the kids' wardrobe is bursting and I'm forever short (but hatred of ironong may contribute to that)

[tigermoth]

Bea, one way to contain your impulse buying would be to visit a boot sale on a grey, rainy moring. Here you will see plenty of evidence of other people's impulse-buy mistakes arranged on trestle tables and hanging from car doors. With mud underfoot, the sickly smell of badly grilled burgers in the air and drops of gritty rain decorating everthing, boot sale stock looks strangely unattractive and reminds you of the futility of shopping.

However, if this does not work, go to the boot sale on a sunny day. Now you will see bargains aplenty. Impulse buy to your hearts content, knowing you can fill up all the plastic bags you can carry, while spending a tiny proportion of the amount you spend in the shops. And you'll be making some bootsellers very happy!