Calling huntresses: How long do you wait before you pounce? - YouLookFab Forum

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Calling huntresses: How long do you wait before you pounce?

catgirl

Veteran

Claire's handbag post got me thinking about how I am now much more willing to postpone gratification for just the right item. I'm also more willing to wait and see if I still love something a week or so from when I first spy it. But I have to balance that against the possibilty that it might not be available by the time I decide, depending on where and what it is. I've learned that if I buy something out of shortage panic, I at least need to wait to rip off the tags. This is how all my NAS items ended up getting returned.

How long do you wait if you spy the perfect item? Does it depend on whether it's something you've been hunting or something that unexpectedly attracted you?

(Relationship analogies abound!)

Shopping

23 replies

Latest reply was from jayne

Anonymous

(I am writing exam questions about hunter-gatherers at the moment, FYI, and it has permeated my brain).

I have different strategies depending on the desiredness of my prey.

A mammoth, for example, may only come by once a generation, and that hunt will be talked about around the fire for years afterwards. Mammoth hunts are always seized upon immediately.

Second-tier prey are generally available in different iterations that are all roughly the same. So one day it might be a caribou, and the next an elk, but they pretty much are the same. If it gets away, one might be sad but one knows there is another around the corner with pretty spots or nice horns if one is patient.

In fact, if after snaring a nice fat salmon on my line, and I suddenly spot a lovely calf moose (and don't feel like eating fish tonight), I might just let the salmon go and start a new hunt.

But after all that, sometimes you just want a nice handful of berries or some cattail roots. You know where they are, and when they are ripe, and you just have to go get some for the pot!

And to abandon this tortured metaphor:

Some things I am always on the look for, and I will jump if they seem to be interesting or right, even if not on sale. But I have no qualms about returning something if it isn't right. I also have my head turned by things I didn't know I was looking for, but those I would say I try and at least wait overnight to think on it before going for it.

Other things I just buy when I have money or need to replace something. I might change things up a bit, but those are the long chances, so I feel complacent to wait until they are on super sale, or the perfect colour etc.

Transcona Shannon

Veteran

I will sometimes stalk an item for a while that is out of my budget at full price to see if it will get marked down. If I'm lucky enough that a price reduction takes place, that's usually when I pounce. I always figure once the price is slashed, my size in items tend to go quickly and I really don't have the luxury of waiting any longer.

Other items that truly make my heart flutter and I know will totally suit my style and are in my budget I don't usually hesitate over.

Anonymous

I wait until I am sure I want the item. For the pricier items, I do wait until I either see a sale or I cannot longer run the risk of the item being sold out. In the case of that KS bag, I just knew I had to have it.

For less expensive items, I happen to be very quick in buying. I can always think about it, if I have it home.

I've had so many dissapointments with waiting too long, to find the item is sold out, that I no longer do it.

Mo

(website)

Veteran

I always wait - for a sale, to find it on eBay, etc. The one time I pounced immediately was the Willow & Clay jacket on eBay. I'd tried it on in store in a size too small and knew I needed to find my size and grab it. I paid close to full retail even though it was an eBay item (NWT at least).
The blush MuuBaa moto I'd passed on at 50% off on the MuuBaa site seasons back and regretted it. When it popped back up on a different site at pretty much that same cost, I grabbed it asap.
I guess if it is in my range, I go for it. But to be fair, my range is pretty much never full retail. Ever.

Chippy Mia

If the item can be returned, then I would pounce especially if they are shoes. I have missed out on too many wonderful items because I wanted to sleep on it only to find that my size is gone the next day. I shop but I only keep things that I love and will wear. It also depends if the item is a classic or trendy.

Scarlet

Veteran

I'm pretty decisive, actually. If I am out with the purpose of shopping, I pounce. If on the other hand I am caught unawares and unexpectedly fall in love with something, I will usually wait a couple weeks to see if I can't get it out of my mind. If I don't have the budget though for whatever it is, I happily admire and visit from afar.

Anonymous

In my case about 5 minutes. Most of my shopping is done at thrift stores and Goodwill and I know if I love something I need to get it NOW because it won't be there next time. Yesterday I spied a pair of shoes in the style I'd been looking for (in the ever popular size 8), and a bag in a color I wanted. So I snatched them up - the store was full of fashionable women and I couldn't take the chance - so they went home with me!!

ironkurtin

Veteran

If it's perfect, immediately. But almost everything I own I buy used, so. . .

rachylou

Veteran

I think it's a factor of how amazing the item is, how different it is, if there's a functional gap it will fill, and how well it fits in with my vision. If it's a check on all four, I will probably persuade myself not to wait or to go back.

Oh, and price. And if I've got the time to shop in the first place.

I am better on holding off when it comes to computer stuff than to clothes. I did finally get an iPad this week, after waiting through last X-mas to the release of the 3rd generation. I got 32 GB of storage and am freaking out that it won't be enough. I swear to god everyone else got 64 GB.

But I digress.

Kate

Veteran

It depends on the item. If it is a pricey item, like a leather jacket or winter coat, or a pair of shoes/boots in a particular color or style, I can stalk for up to a year. Seasonal things, no. If I need it, I buy it, although I will hunt for the best price. I try always to give myself at least a bit of a cooling off period of a few days or a week on something that I see and decide I'd like to have, since often that's all it takes for me to realize it's an item I really don't need. That's been a good way for me to separate the wants from the needs.

Classically Casual

Veteran

Love Ceit's response.

I think the retailers have trained us to never pay full price. So, then it becomes a matter of deciding how much of a reduction one is willing to gamble on getting.

Thistle

Veteran

I tend to stalk items, mull them over and make sure I really want them. Living in the northern part of the US, this is especially true for spring/summer items as spring items tend to be on sale by the time spring gets here. Summer comes very late, too (hate seeing bikinis in the store when it is still 20 below here!)

Beautiful sweaters I can wear three seasons, though, those I move on more quickly. But then I shop from stores with good return policies so if I don't like it when I get it home, I have no trouble taking it back.

Sylvie

Veteran

I pretty much always wait for some sort of sale/first cut. With Gap, I'll wait for a 30% sale, with Nordstrom I'll wait for the 33% cut, with Endless I'll wait for a 20% sale. This assumes that the garment is exactly what I want and in budget.

For a big ticket purchase, I may stalk the item for months waiting for it to go on sale. Unfortunately, this means I sometimes miss out on it. C'est la vie.

I find that there are always new and exciting items to stalk. The waiting period lets me release my prey without going to the effort of catching it. I also try to go check out my prey in the store as early as possible. Sometimes just viewing it in person will show me I don't want it.

I too wait to rip off the tags until I'm ready to wear said item. This strategy has really saved me money over time.

Diana

Veteran

I usually stalk for a good long time. Look at it, maybe go try it on, stick in online shopping cart, and wait for a good sale or a coupon code. Part of this is that I love a good bargain, but another large part is that I am not excited by pre-season shopping. Since all the fall stuff is out *now* and I won't be wearing it for another 2 months, I'm generally happy to wait on things until I can actually wear them. Usually by then it's on sale!

Anonymous

I used to stalk even my thrifted items till they were 50% off or even a dollar, but I missed to many of them. If the item is really really nice, I will just buy it on the spot for full price these days, knowing I can always return it.

For the two big retail purchases I made this past year, I waited to get a 20% off coupon for one and I bought the other (my moto) pretty impulsively. It was getting close to Christmas, and I wanted it for my present. I stalked the website every day for two weeks afterwards to see if they would reduce the price so I could get an adjustment, but no luck. I checked on the same jacket recently out of curiosity, to see if it finally went on sale, and the price has actually gone up!

ETA: ROTFL at Ceit's analogy! Too funny. And so accurate! Now I'm hunting my mammoth.

DonnaF

Veteran

I am trying to remember that the *perfect* item may end up not being perfect IRL when being put through its paces, and that almost always something just as good will come along in the future.

If something is on sale at Nordstroms, I am starting to pounce first and think later since I have lost out on so many things even before check-out and returns are so easy. I don't remove tags until the first time I wear something, however, and sometimes an item hanging a long time without being worn is a signal to return. I return so much it is starting to get embarrassing, but I can deal with that. I can't afford NOT to return stuff I don't want/need!

I could use (or is it really a want?) a new cross-body or shoulder bag. In a color. I will probably stalk this for awhile. My beautiful blue Hobo has started to lose color after way less than a year, and I don't want this to happen again. I also need to figure out what I *really* want. If I find something inexpensive in a style I love, I may pounce.

In the last ten or eleven months, I replaced nearly all my wardrobe including shoes. No big weight loss, just very few purchases in the prior two decades so the time was ripe. Now, I have college payments to make so every single purchase needs to be well thought out, I keep reminding myself.

catgirl

Veteran

Every now and then I get "return fatigue", since I only shop at Nordstrom or online (or the grocery store!)... That's what slows me down from constant trying of new things, more than anything else. My brother calls it shopping bulimia.

annagybe

(website)

Veteran

I find if I wait too long I lose interest. Exception being today's purchase.

catgirl

Veteran

And do you ever regret that, Anna? In other words, does your interest rekindle when an item is no longer available, as mine often does?

annagybe

(website)

Veteran

I've kicked myself over a few things. But there's always some new shiny bauble to entice me. I need to experience regret more often actually, to train myself that I don't need to be on the bleeding edge of every trend.

Echo

Veteran

Just like for others, it depends on the item for me. There are things I buy that NEVER go on sale, so those are really a matter of deciding when and not if (if they are must-haves). On the other hand, some things that do go on sale go REALLY fast, so I need to know immediately if I am going to get it at a better price. With those items, I usually buy them full price if I cannot bear the thought of missing them. Other times I get lucky. There was a scarf I pined over for months last year, and I was sure I would never have it. It was simply too much to pay for what it was. And then I heard about an online sale, and although I paid a hefty shipping charge, it was still about half the price I would have paid before reductions (and from a reputable site, which is essential). I really, really lucked out on that!

For most things, though, I think people are right that stores have trained us never to pay full price. I know that they will restock the item (unless it is end-of-season, in which case it is already on sale), and that there will be promotions, F&F sales, coupons, etc. For the vast majority of things, I will wait because I know I can get a better price later on.

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

Since I buy mostly second hand it is a question of pounce now or never for most things. But I had been after an Equipment shirt for a long time and only finally pounced after you bought it on ebay and told me the size you wear. Then I pounced on my birthday!

jayne

Veteran

I try to wait 2-3 days for the expensive items. Anything under 20 USD I will buy there and then and not worry about regrets. I use that range for playing, buying a cheap version to see if it really suits my style before trying to find a nice version for the permanent collection

I was triggered a bit by Anna's comment to note that I also sometimes have to force myself to ignore something I love because it does not fit budget nor style and hope I WILL get over it, lose interest. Especially trendy things. Because sometimes when you do lose interest, isn't that a sign that maybe it wasn't needed anyway? It is so hard to do that though, not buy something you have a passion for, hoping the passion will go away. But I have passion for too much and learning which to walk away from and which to pounce on is difficult.