I have this unofficial policy of buying used for frivolous purchases. The extra effort of browsing classifieds and arranging the purchase means that I must really want something before I get it. It also means that nothing gets extracted from nature and shipped around the world to satisfy a weak desire.
I've also been much more selective about which objects I allow into my home. I'm older now and I realise how long these objects stay in my life, so they might as well spark joy every time. Again, the long process of acquiring something means I avoid a lot of impulse purchases, and end up with fewer, better objects.
mgkimsal · 5h ago
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... :)
mockingloris · 4h ago
There are utilities to your idea and by that virtue, Just Buy Nothing.
With a bit of contributed enhancements this could actually solve a niche problem.
I'm already imagining a situation where you can opt in for a discovery/assessment after checkout; each item is assessed for utility of need vs want and whether a smaller or less expensive replacement could meet the same needs.
At the end of this, a user could come off with a smaller basket that they could then take to a real shopping site and or be charged for the session.
Privacy has to be nailed quickly though.
Closing remarks:
AI could help in the aspect of scaling the discovery/analysis with users.
This was about 15 minutes of thought. There's something here for sure.
steanne · 4h ago
you can even put some empty boxes in bags for them to carry out
moritzwarhier · 4h ago
Just replace "leave the items at the store" with debt, buy-now-pay-later or "30 days return" guarantees and you have a business idea! Car culture and oversized suburban homes even absolve you from the pain of carrying things you don't need, and finding storage space for them.
It is a win for the economy!
And if you need to free up storage space, dispose for free, it's societies responsibility!
redhale · 5h ago
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.
Cerium · 4h ago
Similarly, I have a "no same day buy" rule. Usually I wait at least a few days and most of the time by then I don't need the item anymore.
deadbabe · 3h ago
One thing I would always buy right away is book recommendations. If someone recommends a book and it sounds interesting I just buy it right away even if I’m not sure that I want to commit to reading it or not. This helps keep my bookshelf filled with interesting stuff that I could still potentially read someday.
Shadowmist · 50m ago
You'd probably enjoy "Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking", which has beautiful photography and possibly goes deeper into cooking than any other book. The main author was CTO at Microsoft back in the day, and another author founded a company that makes a thermometer with some pretty neat tech.
woutr_be · 2h ago
I've been thinking about setting up a small website that lets you input what you wanted to buy, and after 24 hours sends you an email asking if you really wanted to buy/needed this.
bravesoul2 · 2h ago
Also see if you can make do. So many things when really thought about are unnecessary.
mikepurvis · 5h ago
I do this as well, it’s especially good for media purchases like blurays and video games. Eventually there’s a sale or I just realize I don’t actually care or want to see/watch it any more.
patrickscoleman · 5h ago
I do this with just an ever expanding notes file. Works!
mgraczyk · 1h ago
I have spent my whole life mostly buying nothing and I realized recently that I am probably pretty far from optimal on that tradeoff. Outside of food, rent, and travel I've been spending around 5k/year my entire life (mostly laptops and phones)
Recently I realized I'd probably get old with money better spent while I'm young, so I started spending a lot more. It's felt great overall, for example I bought a sleep tracker, new bedding (had been using the same pillows for 12 years), humidifiers, air filters, CO2 monitor, and a few other things to sleep better. It made a noticable difference on my sleep.
Probably many people reading this site actually buy too little.
integralid · 1h ago
Did it make your sleep actually better? I always considered these a needles luxury (other than maybe humidifier, but I don't think it's useful in my climate).
I'm not trying to downplay you, I'm actually probably underspending and you seem to come from the same background as I do. I'm certain that interesting in one's sleep is worth it.
mgraczyk · 1h ago
Yes I've been measuring it and I sleep more as a fraction of the time I spend in bed. Part of this is paying more attention to things like how late I work out and drink water, but without the tracker it would be hard to pay close enough attention
re · 1h ago
> The dopamine-free shopping experience.
This doesn't seem like an accurate description, since it's designed to trigger the same dopamine release as shopping, just without the real-world consequences.
I'm confused by the NoBucks Rewards ("Need $xx.xx more NoBucks; Complete anti-consumption tasks to earn more"; <https://justbuynothing.com/rewards>). Obviously no real products are getting shipped. I'm not going to make an account on this site but can NoBucks actually be earned? What happens when you've earned enough to actually "checkout"?
hilsdev · 4h ago
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.
gorbyhead · 4h ago
Now go try to sell it. Hint: there’s no limits on fees they can charge, and it is super shady unless you have sealed ingots with holograms for provenance. That’s why every gold store is some sketchy mall shop. Buying is easy. Selling is hard.
tristor · 2h ago
Or just sell it to Kitco, and only buy bullion coins of high quality provenance, probably also from Kitco. No real issues other than the logistics costs associated with shipping via registered mail.
1945 · 2h ago
r/pmsforsale
jl6 · 31m ago
Seems unrelated to the original Buy Nothing Day campaign from AdBusters?
I resist buying many things by thinking about my kids having to (some day) deal with it when I kick the bucket.
rs186 · 4h ago
I know people who live in an apartment resist purchases by thinking "it's going to be a liability for my next move" which works quite well.
steanne · 4h ago
especially with art, "how hard is this going to be to clean?" helps too
whilenot-dev · 1h ago
Maintainance in general, excludes all IoT electronics right off the bat for me.
Retr0id · 1h ago
Maybe I'm thinking about it too hard, but this seems to imply that the "fun" part of online shopping is somewhere in adding things to your cart, or maybe even the act of spending money.
But for me the dopamine hit comes from receiving and opening a physical package. Ship me a box of air instead!
cnst · 5h ago
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!
cheschire · 3h ago
I set aside some money for a monitor and it was years before I got a good one. one day at Costco I was walking by this monitor I had been eyeing for about six months. It was on sale. Last one. Floor model. No box, no book, just the monitor and the power cable. Saved $150. Cost about $350 after the mark down. It’s been great for over a year without any issues.
Your deal will come! Just keep your eyes open and your budget prepped.
abhinai · 5h ago
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.
netsharc · 4h ago
Hah, an AI-generated page of specs would give me a mental boner.. "This floorp Deluxe comes with 512 zroom fleex cores, plus 768 of the latest-gen 4nm-process QPU...".
Pretty sure they already are--just ahead of time, not on-the-fly.
karim79 · 4h ago
Amazing store, but I think the elite soccer ball is a tad bit too expensive at $21. I'll wait until black Friday I think then get that for my least favourite nephew.
Great work!
mysterydip · 3h ago
Saw a frisbee for sale for $170, but there was free shipping...
bravesoul2 · 2h ago
In theory it is self-shipping if there is enough skill.
Interesting. So much fun clicking around on the website. Not that I'm addicted to online shopping tho but still a pretty fun site to play around with.
Null-Set · 5h ago
Does it track my behavior to sell it to advertisers of less whimsical storefronts?
dmoy · 5h ago
So it's like nicotine patches? Gives you a similar dopamine hit without the wallet hit?
coffeecoders · 5h ago
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.
re · 1h ago
Unless it's changed in the few hours since you've commented, there already are detail pages and reviews. You have to scroll down below "Limited Time Offers" to the complete category list/gallery, and those products are clickable. e.g. https://justbuynothing.com/product/6086
Waterluvian · 4h ago
You are never too old to play store.
AndrewKemendo · 5h ago
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
thatxliner · 5h ago
This is a pretty good idea but what if we simulated actual store UI such as Amazon
ronsor · 5h ago
>what if we simulated actual store UI such as Amazon
A phone call from Amazon lawyers.
FollowingTheDao · 5h ago
This is like cigarettes and coffee for ex-alcoholics.
I have this unofficial policy of buying used for frivolous purchases. The extra effort of browsing classifieds and arranging the purchase means that I must really want something before I get it. It also means that nothing gets extracted from nature and shipped around the world to satisfy a weak desire.
I've also been much more selective about which objects I allow into my home. I'm older now and I realise how long these objects stay in my life, so they might as well spark joy every time. Again, the long process of acquiring something means I avoid a lot of impulse purchases, and end up with fewer, better objects.
FWIW - my idea was possibly sort of dumb, but I was a bit of a dumb kid at times... :)
I'm already imagining a situation where you can opt in for a discovery/assessment after checkout; each item is assessed for utility of need vs want and whether a smaller or less expensive replacement could meet the same needs.
At the end of this, a user could come off with a smaller basket that they could then take to a real shopping site and or be charged for the session. Privacy has to be nailed quickly though.
Closing remarks:
AI could help in the aspect of scaling the discovery/analysis with users.
This was about 15 minutes of thought. There's something here for sure.
It is a win for the economy!
And if you need to free up storage space, dispose for free, it's societies responsibility!
Recently I realized I'd probably get old with money better spent while I'm young, so I started spending a lot more. It's felt great overall, for example I bought a sleep tracker, new bedding (had been using the same pillows for 12 years), humidifiers, air filters, CO2 monitor, and a few other things to sleep better. It made a noticable difference on my sleep.
Probably many people reading this site actually buy too little.
I'm not trying to downplay you, I'm actually probably underspending and you seem to come from the same background as I do. I'm certain that interesting in one's sleep is worth it.
This doesn't seem like an accurate description, since it's designed to trigger the same dopamine release as shopping, just without the real-world consequences.
I'm confused by the NoBucks Rewards ("Need $xx.xx more NoBucks; Complete anti-consumption tasks to earn more"; <https://justbuynothing.com/rewards>). Obviously no real products are getting shipped. I'm not going to make an account on this site but can NoBucks actually be earned? What happens when you've earned enough to actually "checkout"?
https://www.adbusters.org/buy-nothing-day
But for me the dopamine hit comes from receiving and opening a physical package. Ship me a box of air instead!
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!
Your deal will come! Just keep your eyes open and your budget prepped.
Pretty sure they already are--just ahead of time, not on-the-fly.
Great work!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverend_Billy_and_the_Church_...
In my experience the majority of compulsive shoppers like getting a box almost as much as whatever is in it
A phone call from Amazon lawyers.