[Closed] How long do you agonise over purchases?

That's rapid, couldn't do it, I like to ponder, and then have a few mind changes, and definitely go and try them on.

Months can drift into years.. I am quite shite at making decisions sometimes.

Depends. Have been thinking (rather than agonising over) one of these for months:

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Might get a large table saw instead now though....

Nah, I just usually buy stuff. OH, on the other hand, will research any purchase in minute detail, including exactly which fat balls to get for the bird feeder or something like that.

generally I know what I want and/or need, therefore it only takes as long as a google for the cheapest price, max 10 mins then 😀

I take adages then say "**** it" and buy the wrong thing!

The only time I agonise is when the wife's reaction to said purchase may be a negative one.

The dilemma is usually based on whether the purchase is worth weeks of agro!

Up to about £30 I usually just buy whatever catches my eye. Over that I force myself to wait until I know I definitely want it.

If it's something I actually have a need for like a helmet I buy more or less the first thing that fits the bill and seems an OK price.

Depends on cost. Being a crazy impetus fool I splashed out on a new headtorch from Alpkit only this morning after mulling it over for only a few weeks!
My Camper van purchase however has been in gestation for over a decade and is only really likely to happen when I take a lump of my pension in 5 years 🙁

I tend to buy big expensive things quickly (house, camper van, bikes, spa pool !) and then take forever to decide on tiny inconsequential things !

then take forever to decide on tiny inconsequential things !

I'm with you there, I've been agonising over a Topeak Ratchet Rocket for months now!

Depends what it is, but if it's a say over £40ish quid, and if it's something *I dont really need*, I do this thing whereby I wait a month, and if I still want it, I'll buy it then and there.

You'll be surprised at how many things you really fancied 30 days ago, you don't really care much about a month later.

Saved me hundreds towards my new car, which i've been after for far too many months 😥

It also enables you to justify certain purchases if it's passed the "month wait" test!

Months. I often end up buying stuff to save all the time I'm spending researching the options. I only bought a tablet to stop myself agonising over whether I needed one.

Houses, Cars, minutes.

Suspension forks for my new Ripley... weeks. Literally weeks. Wheels, well I'll get to them in due course. Then tyres...

Holiday, minutes.
Kitchen, minutes.

New digital camera... woah, now don't rush me there.

Things I don't need or need to upgrade means I would have to consider hard before parting with my money.

Days which turns into weeks which turns into months, and then sometimes years.

I hate buying stuff, as I spend so long weighing stuff up.

At work it is different, need a new bathroom built for the new nursery - get it done. Interactive projectors, go get us three.

He didn't even post a thread on a forum asking what helmet he should buy!

Did you post this on the "think you know someone" thread?

I'm glad it's not just me. I've been 'looking' at a pair of motorbike boots for about two months .......

Depends what it is and if I actually really want/need it or not! Generally if it's something in an area that I know about and really want it then I'll buy very quickly. If it's something I'm unsure about then it takes weeks of research and half the time I'll then decide that it's just too much hassle and not bother...

Depends what it is.

A Tripster frame? Been agonising over whether or not to buy one for months now.
My current roadbike and FS bike? Saw the bikes, liked them, bought them. Took a matter of minutes.

No real logic behind it, just depends on how I feel at the time.

Always buy on impulse, must be a girl thing.

Started asking myself - how long should I / would I like to spend on this purchase? It's been a great help. With the internet it's become too easy to research everything to the nth degree.

I usually think about if I can afford something until it goes out of stock, and then want it even more

I usually spend as long as I need to research and ensure that the thing I buy is the best for the price I'm willing to pay. This process can take any length of time...also, the price I'm willing to pay will incrementally increase.

I think I still have the spreadsheet I put together when I last bought a bike.

I bought a house recently...we decided to spend 100's of thousands of pounds in after viewing the house for 10 minutes. The state of the market at the time meant we didn't have the option of a second viewing.

I like the research side of it so generally spend a lot of time thinking, mulling and talking things over. Currently a new road bike is occupying a good chunk of my thinking time and in truth, I quite enjoy this part.

under £30, on impulse. If I see it & I like it, I tend to buy it.

over £30 (sometimes over £20) I'll umm and ahh over it for days. If it's still there when I go back, then maybe I'll umm and ahh a bit more

over £80 & under £200, I tend to take a couple of days and then say "sod it, let's do it". Unless it's something like a games console. I still haven't got one of those & they've been available in one form or another for over 20 years

Just now it is a house I am contemplating, a seaside house with decent rental, but I find it so hard

I spent ages looking at various washing machines before realising it was a bloody washing machine and will inevitably be fine for several years then tank just like any of them do!

My wife eventually broke when I was looking at new TV's (had been over several years, I'd just decided when stood looking at a unit in JL when it spontaneously switched off, that threw it all out of whack and had to go to option 2) in the end she just stood there and went "... will you just bloody well buy the thing!" I've been very happy with the Panasonic purchase by the way 🙂

Current agonsing purchases; a new commuter (Arkose 2 or similar?) and a new lawn mower, moving to petrol as cutting out the front is a pain in the butt with a lead and I lunched the old one when it sucked up a water isolation valve cover and got jammed in. I know NOTHING about petrol mowers!

I can be bad and buy on impulse, or in other cases take weeks.

I can take weeks about whether to buy something for £20, but then buy something else for £150 on a whim!

Worst I've done was a few years ago after a bad day in the office on a Friday, headed home at lunchtime which was finish time, drove past the BMW dealer, stopped, traded in the family car for a Z4 Coupe all without really thinking about it or mentioning it to the missus. Then had to trade in her car for something slightly bigger a week later. LOL

I tend to agonise over whether a purchase is actually better than what i have or am i just falling for marketing spiel. My current wheels are the basic heavy shimano ones which came with my cheap bike so have agonised for months whether to buy a lighter set but i keep thinking will i even notice half a kg and am i even good enough to feel any difference,suffice to say the heavy wheels are still on there.

I used to impulse buy stuff all the time, not so bad now.

last one was a Hope Chainset pre-order. unfortunately Hope took so long to get it ready to ship, the impulse wore off and I cancelled.

If I fancy a computer game, I'll just buy it, but anything else I'll consider it for a week or so.

Depends on how much spare cash I have. If I'm flush, I literally almost cannot pull the trigger on things. i procrastinate for ages.

Depends if its need or want...if its a need purchase, then not long, if its something I just want...could be months.

I usually find that by the time I decide to buy something it's been out of production for at least 5 years. It saves me a fortune.

Ha! In the last couple of weeks I've bought a new helmet (after deciding I needed one [i]and[/i] which one I was probably going to get about 4 months ago) and just the other day a half price Rab jacket to replace a 15 year old Gore-tex (probably about 6 months after I seriously started thinking I could do with a new one).
Usually the research doesn't take me long, it's just pulling the trigger!

I don't really do impulse buys above £20 or so.

http://www.erarayong.com/en/object/obj20417_1379508002

This is one of the places I am staring at day in day out.

I can get an ok mortgage on it. It ticks all the boxes, and can be picked up freehold easyily enough, but do I need a pool when it is near the beach.

So then I look at this.

http://www.erarayong.com/en/object/obj20417_1375519305

Which I can get freehold without any issues, for a lot cheaper, but the neighbours were a bit mad, and selling the place.

Which takes me back to this place.

http://www.erarayong.com/en/object/obj20417_1377943693

We have already stayed here and it is lovely and safe, but what happens if in 10 years like a lot of things here it is falling apart.

So I go back to the one with the pool.

Sometime in 2030 I may have bought one by which time our daughter, who the house will ultimately be for be old enough to own it anyway.

And don't even get me started on the 50+ bookmarks on chinese carbon wheels, or the child car seat bookmarks with reviews for each one.

The one with the pool!!!!

Actually price does have an impact. Under a tenner and I'll just buy it. 10 - 150 and I'll research for ages. 150+ (very rare!) and I'll usually just buy it!

My meither in law can take literally years over things like sofas, curtains etc. It took them 18 months to buy a new telly once, and for 1 new carpet there were about 15 sample books there for weeks.

It winds Mrs Tthew up no end as she has to hear in minute detail about all the options, choices, differences etc. the whole time, and because of this she's exactly the opposite. She chose all the curtains and carpets for a new house once in 10 minutes.

Choose my car in about 90 seconds, although we had weeks in work of working out budget etc - I almost ended up with a Nissan Leaf!!! Sod that.

Bike stuff, weeks, months even years - I know my next bike will be a Capra - but I don't I'll see it this year. Saying that I KNEW my current bike would be a Evil Uprising, but it's a Cove G-Spot, which is also linked to why my Car is a big family car and not a little electric one - funny old game life, it does like to laugh at my plans.

Can it be justified? If so it will take a long time before I buy after plenty of research. if it's not justifiable than I will probably buy it on the spot.
Bike, watch and photography kit takes me an age, I have been considering an Orange 5 since it was a choice between the 5 and a Mr XC, I have gone to buy several times and ended up with other bikes, and bought several others used, I have test ridden several and one day will get one, but not sure when.

Been thinking about buying a proper downhill bike for the best part of a decade. Might be taking a trip to Koblenz next week.....

I extensively research nearly every purchase, not a problem over £50 but I can waste hours on low value purchases or trying to save 2 quid. For some reason I can't seem to put the same effort in to actually earning or investing money.

Saw a jump bike on ebay at about 10 last night... Now in bits in my workshop and have no idea where it will fit when back together.