Buying a product without much information is always risky: whether it is food, a gadget, an appliance, or a car. Or, in this case, a video game. It is easy to let your personal excitement over a product or franchise or advertisement cloud your judgment and let you convince yourself that you are making a sound decision. But shouldn’t folks who spend loads of time analyzing and reviewing and writing about technology and video games and so on do a bit better at blocking themselves from making those impulse buys? Read on and see!

I was wondering about how the Gear Diary staff did making purchases making purchases that would lead to ‘Buyers Remorse’, so I asked and the answer are below. The reason I did this is that last week I more or less flushed $30 down the toilet … and I was just so upset with myself! The offense: buying a digital download version of the just-released Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes without proper research.

Some background: I have been a pretty big Star Wars fan since seeing the original about a dozen times back in ‘77, and then rediscovering the series with my own kids as the prequels started getting released. I have been a huge fan of the video games since playing the arcade game in the early 80’s and Dark Forces on the PC back in 1995.

I have bought and played many games from the franchise in the past 15 years, but have also skipped quite a few. Why? Because for every great games there are a couple of average games and more than a couple of turkeys! For every Jedi Knight there is also Republic Commando and a Gungan Frontier, and so on.

The Clone Wars is an animated series developed by LucasFilms and Cartoon Network, and has had decent success in its first season, with soem quality scripting and stories. The first game, a DS & PSP game called ‘Jedi Alliance’, was very average, so I should have known to be wary of the next one. However, LucasArts has made a number of overtures towards regaining a positive image in the PC gaming market, so I decided to give them the benefit of the doubt and when I heard the game was available I simply bought it.

There are a few issues: first, the game is clearly developed for consoles and handhelds and ported to the PC as an afterthought. Since I have an XBOX360 controller for Windows, that isn’t an issue and I can play games like this pretty easily. However, it means the gameplay if very different than classic Jedi-centric games. But the biggest issue is that buying a digital version of a game means ‘no returns, no used sales, no trades’. Since I usually assuage my buyer’s remorse by trading stuff away on Goozex, this permanent purchase stings all the more!

So what did the rest of the Gear Diary staff have to say?

Wayne Schulz
Slacker G2 music player – it connects up to Slacker to download music but was WAY too expensive, had regular trouble connecting to my Wi-Fi, was the recipient of firmware updates that tended to lock the device up during installation. Oh and the build quality was questionable for a $200+ MP3 player.

Adrian Leibas
I would have to say my Wii. Even though my wife bought it for me as a gift, it still came out of my account. I don’t use it but once every month or so, even then it is only for Mario Kart. Maybe my son will play it when he gets a little older.

Clinton Fitch
I frankly can’t remember the last impulse buy that I regretted. I don’t impulse buy though is the thing. I’m anal about making sure I check it out before hand. Good habit or bad is debatable at the moment.

Travis Ehrlich
I’m with you Clinton. I have not had the opportunity for many impulse buys since my 2 sons have come along so that would be 5 years in two weeks! I’m sure I would have made plenty if the wife would have allowed it!

Carly Zektzer
If we are going all-time, my camcorder (some entry level panasonic brand). Too big, video quality is poor, and i dont use it for what i bought it for (videotaping rugby games).
Now it just collects dust.

My recent ones…i keep buying cases for my phones even though i inevitably lose interest within a few days/weeks. Its like i forget my ongoing case hatred and think “this case will be different”…and they never are

Jessica Fritsche
I don’t impulse buy gadgets…I just don’t have the budget for it. Clothes and shoes on the other hand…lol

Judie Lipsett
I think that my impulse buys are legend: first MacBook Air, MacBook 17″, three Vertus (albeit I got really good deals from Drew!), half of the PDAs and PDA Phones I’ve owned, my Alfa, my latest bag, and it just goes on and on and on.

I don’t regret any of the purchases, because if a day ever comes that I don’t want the item anymore, I can always find someone else who does. Also, I have a huge obsession with Calleen Cordero and Robert Clergerie shoes…and when I see a bargain I can’t help myself.

Generally the only impulse buy I regret are clothing items or shoes I see on eBay that look fantastic on the mannequin, but not on me. And since I can’t return them, I wind up donating them to Goodwill.

Jeff Frantz
I’m not a stranger to impulse buys, but I’ve found that even if I go through a period of buyer’s remorse, with many items I later come to be glad that I have them. Or maybe I just re-purpose them as a means to minimize my guilt. Something like that.

Joel Mclaughlin
I don’t impulse buy many gadgets. I research them to DEATH! However, FOOD is my biggest one I impulse buy. Sometimes I find GREAT things. I recently found Yogen Fruz. They do frozen yogurt and blend it with different things. I tried blending my vanilla yogurt with Matcha Green Tea and put Mochi on the top. That was one of the best things I tried!

I have to say I am pleased that in general the Gear Diary staff is pretty smart with decisions … and I have been told that my hand-wringing over a $30 purchase indicates that the scope of my lousy impulse purchases is fairly small.

How about you? What is your biggest case of Buyer’s Remorse?

No related posts.