It's happened to all of us: Not long after you buy something important, along comes a newer, better version or you start second-guessing your purchase. Although buyer's remorse is common (especially with ever-evolving tech stuff), there's no reason to be laden with the guilt trip. Here's how to minimize buyer's remorse.


Planning ahead is the best prevention for that unpleasant post-purchase regret.

Set a calendar reminder for a week or month from now, when you'll allow yourself to buy. "Limited time offers," like one-day deals, and other marketing tactics can trip you up. Advertising is designed to manipulate us, after all.


For things that aren't "now or never" purchases that you would regret passing up on, make a rule to wait a week before pulling the trigger on substantial purchases (say, anything over $50 or whatever your spending comfort level). Add a reminder in your calendar for a week from now, stick the item in your Amazon Wish List (there's a handy bookmarklet for that), and if you still want that TV or laptop, go for it.

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Another alternative is to create a 30-day list for all your wanted items, with the date you add the product to the list.


Make a list of the product's pros and cons, and match them to a list of your needs. Part of your product research should be taking a look at your needs and comparing the desired item's features against your needs—right now and for the lifespan of the product. For example, when buying a laptop, you might make a list of the essential features you require (14-inch screen, under 4 pounds, SSD, etc.).

As a few commenters note below, don't forget to include the item's cons or downfalls in your analysis, so you're really aware of what you think you'll be getting.


Consult shopping webapps to know if "the price is right". To get the best deal when shopping online, take a look at the best times to buy things, check price comparison sites, and figure out if a sale really is a good deal.


Squeeze every ounce of life from the product by buying early in the lifecycle (before the halfway point). The earlier in the lifecycle you can buy a product (especially gadgets), the better. As Gizmodo advised when the iPad 2 was about to come out:

The basic rule of gadget-buying happiness is this: Don't buy anything after it's crossed the halfway point in its life-cycle. That's the sucker line.


Apple products have a predictable launch calendar, so you can gauge when the halfway point is.

Buy second- (or third-, etc.) generation models. If you're an early adopter, expect a bigger risk of regret. Buying first-generation devices has its psychological rewards, but, generally, it's better to wait for the next product version, when the bugs have been worked out and more features (often the result of user feedback) are added.


Create a spending plan and weigh the cost of your purchases on your wallet. Making sure you can afford the product is the most important tactic, but too many people regret purchases when the credit card bill arrives. A survey of homeowners who had buyer's remorse found that 22% of them were unhappy because they couldn't afford the monthly mortgage. So be sure to consider your budget—create a spending plan that'll help you avoid buyer's regret.


Using the "Stranger Test"—imagining someone offering the cash value of the item—can also help you make sure that thing is worth spending your hard-earned cash on, as one commenter notes below.


Don't buy from places with rotten return policies. You know, just in case. We've previously mentioned Consumer Reports' survey of stores with the best and worst return policies, and US News & World Report offers another comparison.


Keep your stuff in pristine condition and know how to sell them later. If you know where and how to sell your gadgets to make the most back, it'll ease your conscience when buying. You won't have to worry as much about making a wrong decision.


Don't wait too long: Use alerts to grab the best deals. Too much research, however, can sometimes make you miss a great deal. When you know really want to buy something and can afford it, use a site like CamelCamelCamel to notify you when prices drop so you can act quickly. Similarly, DealNews offers deal alerts to let you know when there's a special going on for the item you're interested in.

Create a flowchart to help you in your decision-making process. Besides helping you make fewer impulse buys, a "Should I Buy It?" flowchart can help you think through all aspects of your purchases.


Finally, when buyer's remorse hits, remind yourself of all the pre-shopping work you did. Buyer's remorse may be inevitable, but if you did your due diligence, in all likelihood, what you bought still meets your needs and you paid the best price you could at the time. Remind yourself that you did your research, and take another look at how the product matched what you were looking for.


As an example, not long after the much-hyped Droid Bionic came out, Motorola announced the Droid Razr, "World's Thinnest LTE smartphone." Some of the Droid Razr's new features, while attractive, probably don't warrant returning the Droid Bionic if you bought it, or lamenting its purchase: Do you really need Kevlar coating? How much of a difference will those few millimeters of thickness make?

Rest assured, there will be newer, better products to drool over and consider buying when you're done enjoying what you bought now.


Got any tips for avoiding or minimizing buyer's remorse? Let's hear them in the comments.

Photo remixed from an original by Supri Suharjoto / Shutterstock.