Just Buy Nothing: A fake online store to combat shopping addiction

Worked in a mall in the 90s and thought a store that let people 'shop' but not actually pay money for things might be fun/useful. Or... sort of like a membership. $10/month, come in to some luxury type store - browse, test out stuff, etc. Go through a 'checkout' step with your 'store card', just... leave the items in the store as you leave. For some folks, the leaving and driving away is the 'high', but for a lot of folks, the 'purchase' itself is the high, and it's downhill after that. I saw so many people buying things they shouldn't buy - and that was over 30 years ago(!). I know it's only become worse over the years.

FWIW - my idea was possibly sort of dumb, but I was a bit of a dumb kid at times... :)

I started buying silver, platinum, and gold coins. Itches that “get shiny” scratch, and I’ve been profitable enough to not regret collecting something. After I got started, I became a calmer, more rational investor in the digital realm. Something about the physical weight of the silver unlocked some “it’s all okay” mechanism in my brain. It felt drug like, a chemical change.

I have found that adding things to a todo (Todist) list called "want-to-buy" gives me the little endorphin boost / anxiety relief without spending any money. I periodically go through and delete stuff from this list after time has passed, and I'm always glad I didn't go through with the purchases. Rarely I will come across something I truly do still want, and will purchase it.

I resist buying many things by thinking about my kids having to (some day) deal with it when I kick the bucket.

I try to combat the shopping addiction by ensuring for every purchase, (1), that the price is really good, (2), that the quality is actually really good, too.

For example, $149 for a great monitor is a great deal. But it has to be IPS, USB-C, DP 1.4, QHD or higher, 400nits etc. Normally, these retail for $599, so, I don't buy. Many monitors retail for $99, but they're FHD 250nits VGA crap.

Slickdeals.net is a nice website where you can find some of these deals. Keep in mind that even for really good deals, some people over there would still be unhappy and would still expect higher specs or lower price, so, you have to use your own judgement whether something is good or not. Recently missed a 32in 4K UHD monitor at 159.99 because it was a VA, and people complained too much that VA sucks, but the rest of the specs were just too good, and it sold out quickly; OTOH, I can now wait for a better deal!

I'd heavily expand on the selection. Maybe even make them AI generated with beautiful designs so people can go through an endless catalogue. Dream. You may be on to something and this may be bigger than your original idea. You could help people dream about stuff that does not exist.

I think this could work if it was more than just a static site with no description page. Give it description pages with gallery, reviews etc.

So it's like nicotine patches? Gives you a similar dopamine hit without the wallet hit?

Does it track my behavior to sell it to advertisers of less whimsical storefronts?

When people buy, you should send them a postcard to close the dopamine loop.

In my experience the majority of compulsive shoppers like getting a box almost as much as whatever is in it

This is a pretty good idea but what if we simulated actual store UI such as Amazon

This is like cigarettes and coffee for ex-alcoholics.

this is brilliant