The best time of the year is here! Can you guess what we’re talking about? If you need a hint, we could give it to you at flat 50% off!
Oh yes, you guessed it right (or maybe we are bad at hints)! The End of Season Sales has finally begun, and with them has begun the plans to go on a shopping spree.
The cycle is almost the same for every individual – going to the sales to buy just a thing or two – getting over excited at the discounts – spending way over than your budget – hoping you don’t repeat the same mistake again! You don’t want to rush head first into a clearance sale and spend all your hard-earned money on last season’s trash, do you? BUT, when we see all our favourite stuff at “unbelievable prices”, we find it difficult to resist the urge to buy the products we like, run out of money and ‘conveniently’ admit that we are ‘shopaholics’.
Here are few tips, that will help you make the best use of the End of Season Sale, without crying over empty pockets!
Table of Content
1. Make a list of what you need
This is the first and the most important step that you MUST follow. You need to understand that the stores won’t give you the things away for free, you would need to spend your hard-earned money to buy – even at the lowered prices. So, just find the right time (probably when you have your mind clear of all the worries), look around and write down what you really need. There’s no point of buying one item when there is a fully functional version of the same back at home. Most of the times, people get over excited about the drop in prices, buy extra stuff that they don’t need and it ends up in the wastage of their money – also occupying extra space in the house. You do not want that, do you? So, make a list and stick to it!
2. Do your research.
Before you head out for your shopping, find the stores which are giving away items at a higher percentage of discount and compare the prices of all the stores you can. Moreover, do not neglect the e-commerce websites. Most of the times, the EOSS (End of Season Sale) of the websites offer items at a much lower price than the offline stores. For once, look up the items that you want to buy on Amazon/Flipkart/Myntra/Any other website, and then take the final decision. Who knows, you might get your favourite product at a much lower price without even fighting the scorching sun and the huge crowd. A win-win situation, right?
3. Plan your long day
You would not be the only one who would be going to shop during the sale, and you need to understand that. There is going to be a huge crowd, lots of “snatching the last piece”, unlimited hunting for that one piece and rush. You need to plan your time accordingly, as you would have to give a lot of your time to this activity. Also, you would have no energy to complete any unfinished tasks after coming back from the store (telling this from experience). So, find out a perfect day out of your schedule where you only go shopping and nothing else. It would give you the freedom to shop freely, and as they say, the best pieces are found by the most relaxed minds!
4. Shop on Weekday or Afternoon
Haven’t you heard of the saying, “The early bird catches the worm.” Yes, we’re asking you to be the early bird which has to catch the best worms, which can only be done when you visit the stores as soon as they open. You can’t come in the evening and then complain of not finding the best pieces. We all know that during EOSS the stores have limited stocks, so if you really need something, do not procrastinate and head out as early as possible.
Moreover, you would have to face the lesser crowd in the wee hours, so that gives you more time and comfort to select the best of whatever you want!
5. Sales will come again!
Do not consider this sale as the last sale of your life and spend like it. That is a wrong approach. Go through all the items, pick only what you really need. Moreover, here is a trick that works most of the time – If you find your favourite shirt at priced at 1800 INR, do not buy it. You could wait for the next sale (which will come very soon – maybe on Independence Day, Raksha Bandhan, Dussehra, Diwali and what not!). The probability of finding that very shirt at 30-50% discount is very high, so get it then! Patience is the key, people!
6. More often than not, discounts are deceptive
Do you really think shopping during a sale makes you frugal and wise just because you saved money? Think again. Let’s say there is a sale that says ‘up to 30%* discount’. Again, the figure may look good but it could be deceptive. The asterisk here usually means that the 30% discount will be given to you on a minimum purchase of Rs 6,000 or more. So, in your effort to be an economical shopper and avail the maximum ‘benefit’ of the sale, you end up spending much more than what you originally intended to. Such kind of discounts may benefit volume consumers but those originally planning to spend much less are unlikely to get any substantial benefit from this sort of discount induced shopping.
In the same way – be it buy 1 get 1 free, buy 3 get 2 free or buy 2 get 100 free, do not spend a penny more than you had planned to. You needed just one item, so pay for just one ONLY!
7. Do not fall prey
Learn to differentiate between your wants and needs; do not overshoot your budget by a mile. Do not buy an item only to be stored in your wardrobe and never to be worn, which you bought just because it looked pretty at the store! Later on, you realized it was just the lightning at the store that highlighted the dress, and it isn’t that special. You ended up spending a fortune only to regret it later, so make wise decisions.
Moreover, read the policies. If you are getting a shirt at a discounted price of Rs.400 but you can’t return it if it doesn’t fit or is torn (the details you notice at home), it’s no use!
In end…
Shopping is a fun activity and can be a huge stress buster – until it doesn’t exceed your budget. Hence the idiom, “Go for shopping, but carry your brains along!”
