An awful experience after making a purchase and you feeling regret for the purchase is called Buyer’s Remorse. This can happen when you have purchased the product or when you are using the product.
The psychological factor is the experience that you feel when it does not match your expectations. Some people may experience high regret and some may experience low regret.
You should have felt awful after making purchase decisions, this can be heavy when the expense spent on the product is more and the satisfaction you derive is lesser. Spending on the brands will not always give you satisfaction. Having said this, buyer’s remorse can happen even when you spend your money on branded products if the product does not meet your expectations.
What does buyer’s remorse feel like?
A feeling of regret or guilt or disappointment for the purchase can be an emotion of the buyer. Buyer will have a lot of expectations when they enter the stores. They will experience great happiness when they get an expected product with high quality. But when the product fails to meet the expectations after coming back home then the buyer’s remorse will set in.
The feeling of goodness when you’re using the product if it’s great then there is no buyer remorse. If the emotion of the buyer is unhappy and disappointed then buyer’s remorse exists.
How long does this last?
Buyer’s remorse can happen the moment you make the payment or sometimes it may happen slowly over a period of time or sometimes it may happen when you start comparing with other similar products. There is no set time frame; it depends on the situation and also depends on the user.
Let us assume that you purchased an expensive music system because you liked it. After starting to use the system you realized that there are many features you would like to have on the system. You will start feeling regret over a period of time for using the system and want to have new features on your system. When you purchase the system which fulfills your requirements then the buyer’s remorse will disappear.
How to Avoid Buyer’s Remorse?
The law of buyer’s beware is a principle that will remind people to be smart and act smart with money. This will help you to know what you are getting before you are buying. This idea is not just for big-ticket purchases like a home or a vehicle. This idea is even applicable to smaller purchases.
When you are purchasing a product and you have an intention of avoiding buyer’s remorse then it is difficult to do so because in the market you have many products available but we provide you with some tips to overcome this challenge.
The following are the ways in which you can avoid buyer’s remorse.
- Budgeting
- Listing
- Be happy
- Money has different means
- Spend some time
1. Budgeting
Budgeting is the art of allocating a certain amount of money for the expense. If you are using money in the right way then you can make the right choice of buying the product within the set limit of the budget.
A budget is the most important aspect of financial planning. When you create a budget you are allocating money and giving direction to money to work in that way for you. You are reducing the risk of buyer’s remorse when you are creating a budget. Every single dirham is accounted for when you allocate funds to the line items.
Click here for Steps to budget with irregular income
2. Listing
Prepare a list of products that you want to purchase from the budget. This is possible to allocate for the general grocery items and daily products at home. When you are doing this you are able to keep track of purchases and stay on line with the budget. A list of line items will help you to do shopping when you need them. Categorization of each listed item will make it easier to spend and not exceed the budgeted amount.
3. Be happy
If you want to feel satisfied with the product then you should stop comparing the product with other products. You should feel happy with the product and enjoy the benefits that the product offers to you. When you are satisfied with the product and grateful for what you have you will not feel the burden of buyer’s remorse.
4. Money has different means
Everyone handles money differently and this is the reason that everyone in society is not equal. There are two different people with the same earnings because of different perspectives towards money. Their lifestyle is different and buyer’s remorse is different. Money has different possibilities when it comes to avoiding buyer’s remorse. When you use money in the right way you can avoid buyer’s remorse.
Click here for 10 tips to stop money spending addiction
5. Spend some time
Spend some time with the product, give time before you go ahead and buy another product. If it’s a big ticket purchase, spend a month or more before you decide on getting regrets. The best way is to imagine yourself with the item. If you start doing this then you will feel the need for the item. You will find a space for the item and you will not get buyer’s remorse before you make a purchase.
Take away
Buyer’s remorse is more or less a psychological factor that will come when you are using the product. There is no time limit specified nor is there any chance that it will remain consistent for everyone at all times. Spending money is not great but when you spend money wisely, you will get the right results. Buyer’s remorse cannot be avoided and it is not guaranteed that it will not arise. It is a psychological factor and depending on the personal spending behavior it is also different from person to person.
About the author
Vinay Kumar Goguru is a finance professional with more than 8 years of diverse experience as a researcher, instructor and Industry work experience with both public and private entities. Prior to MyMoneySouq, he spent 6 years in Berkadia, It's a commercial mortgage banking company. He has a "Doctoral Degree in Commerce" and two master's degrees with a specialization in Finance, one as Master of Commerce and other as Master of Business Administration. He has written several articles on personal finance, published by different International journals. He loves traveling, reading and writing is his passion. He has a dream of writing a book on his favorite finance topics.
