Buyer’s remorse: How to avoid sales regret
Almost half of us have seen a brand new purchase cheaper soon after buying.
It sucks - you buy something and then the very next day you see it on sale.
I'm still smarting over paying too much for a shiny new set of luggage earlier this year.
But I'm far from alone.
A whopping 43% of Australians have bought something that subsequently went on sale, Finder research shows.
That's 8.7 million of us paying more than we had to every single year.
Do we do anything about it? Mostly, no.
Just 7% of us have tried to contact the store or take some other action when we've paid over the odds.
Bearing in mind that something being cheaper elsewhere isn't in itself grounds for a refund, that's not totally surprising.
Nonetheless, there are steps which you can take to minimise this kind of regret.
These are the key tactics I've been reminding myself of anew since the luggage debacle.
- Shop around and compare. This is both obvious and easy - whether you're shopping online or in a store, check to see if there's a cheaper deal elsewhere. Having said it's obvious, our Finder research shows that just 25% of us say we always do this. Note to self: do better.
- Negotiate if you can. Many stores will price match if the same deal is available elsewhere. It never hurts to ask!
- Know what the refund policy is. Under Australian consumer law, you can't get a refund just because you've changed your mind. However, many retailers do have friendlier no-questions-asked refund policies. Just make sure you understand what's involved - if you've ordered online but have to pay for return postage, you'll still end up out of pocket.
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