For me, shopping is recreational. I admit it. I work a high stress job & make a good living. I enjoy the thrill of the chase in reference to sales. There are few things that I feel I must have, so I only buy what I want when I want it. I'm addicted to getting a good deal, tho.

I've had sale fatigue for years! When I grew up, there were sales maybe twice a year?...not sure because we never reacted to them. I know when my favorite retailers mark certain things down, and I'll wait to buy but if I want something and the price is reasonable, I'll buy it. This past weekend, there were 3 things I wanted at talbots and I had them in my shopping cart waiting until the discount went into effect. When it did, my size and color were sold out. Bummer! Oh well, wasn't meant to be. I have way too much, I'll bet most of us do.

For the first time I noticed, there were Black Friday sales all over Israel. I don't even know what else to say.

I'm agreeing with others that it's the full price that is the scam. I'm now very reluctant to pay full price for something when I can wait a week and there will be a sale code. Yeah, it shouldn't be that way, but since retailers have made it that way I am more likely to buy sale than not. It does seem to be a never ending cycle, but I'm not going to protest it by insisting on paying full price.

Now, I'm not a fun shopper, so I'm not one to buy something just because it's on sale. I'm not an impulse shopper. It's not like sales are making me buy things I wouldn't buy otherwise. But I can't say I mind them and I doubt they are going away.

It is interesting, though, that while I will watch sale prices on certain items and perhaps buy when/if the price is right, the things I absolutely LOVE I don't have to think twice about buying whether they are on sale or not. There was one item this season that I had not even been looking for, but when I saw it, I HAD to have it. It was sold out, and I gave my credit card number in advance to reserve me one when they came back in (which won't be until mid-January). I just wanted it and loved it that much.

And situations like that remind me that no matter how much I might watch sale prices or search for coupon codes, when something I really adore pops up, I don't even think about waiting for a sale. Perhaps I need to stop watching so-so items that I'm not willing to pull the trigger on immediately.

The constant sales drive me crazy. BR, AT and the Loft's Black Friday sales were no different than their sales two weeks ago. I stalk things and half the time when it goes on sale I don't want it anymore. Some things I see and know it's exactly what I want and I pounce on it.

Funny how the JC Penney thing backfired. I shop at Everlane precisely because the price is the price. They don't go on sale, ever. They charge us what it costs them to make it plus enough to cover profits. But then I suppose that's a small-scale boutique brand, as opposed to a "value" brand like JC Penney where people expect extra bargains on top of lower prices.

^ That's a really good point. I tend to shop more at places where I know they either do not offer sale prices or coupon codes, or where the coupon code is always the same when/if they have one. I hate always having to second-guess whether I found the best price. Places that offer things and the price is the price, period, tend to make me feel better overall.

And I rarely shopped at JC Penny before their change, and I certainly don't shop there now. They are right back to offering all sorts of coupons and sales, etc. Places that play roulette with prices so you never know what they might be drive me insane and I'd just as soon write them off entirely than to try to learn to play their game. Clearly, though, others don't feel that way, otherwise JC Penny would not have switched back to the sales and coupon strategy.

Its exhausting. I feel ripped off when a brand I shop regularly plays discount roulette so often... you mean you are taking me for a fool if I paid full price and had tge discount calculated into what you are charging me? Not to mention I find the clothes I pay full price on are those I wear the most and fit my lifestyle and wardrobe best.

I've noticed something new this year - or at least, something new to me. I am noticing that a lot of the Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales are final sale. Check the fine print today if you're shopping - it isn't a bargain if it doesn't fit and you can't send it back.

It does not work not to have sales in the US. I work for JCPenney and can definitely say that although our try at not having coupons and sales was effective from a pricing, fairness and profit point of view, the American consumer didn't get it. They wanted sales and promos. We had to go back to heavy promo and coupons (which from an employee perspective we dislike - the confusion is abundant) just to get consumers to notice. It's all about the promo to the US shopping mentality.
I can see some high end brands not doing sales but they will have tiny market share and a very very high markup so that works for them.

In the end, the true value of an item is what you're willing to pay for it. This is what I keep in mind when I'm shopping. I have a $ amount in mind when I browse, and rarely go above it. This shopping mentality has nothing to do with sales. It has to do with what something is worth to me, and includes my projected CPW. I will pay more for something that I know will have a very low CPW and less for something I need to have (special occasion dress, for example) but know won't be worn as often. Hope this makes sense.

I may need to change my shopping schedule more dramatically. The question is how to make it happen.

I used to think it was fine to "nibble," as Angie puts it, and buy a few things here and there, a few per month or whatever. I have moved a bit more toward "getting ready for the season" (4-season year) in order to reduce the number of things bought at end-season and unworn for months.

But, all of that puts me in constant contact with the new, the next trend, the discounted, the new but not-yet discounted, the it-got away thinking, the oh now it's on sale review.

I'm not sure it would work for me, but there would be advantages to having pre-pre-season "thinking", the "buying" month, and then 2 not-buying months where I amazingly "make do" and create outfits with what's there.

I know this would be good financially and time and mental-healthwise, and if I also could convince myself that all of that leads to a truly more fun and functional wardrobe, that might be the clincher.

The more honed the style focus, the easier, I think, because there is more "aha" recognition of the good item--or really, the truly good-enough item, once you let go of "perfect" as a goal. Of course another item can always be better, but more in that incremental, grass-is-greener way that you have to learn to live with for everything, really.

Oh to not be lured by the sale siren! When I shop, I "try" to take into consideration need vs. want, and how I will wear the item. Then I'll look it over (but not the price tag) and decide what I would pay for it, sale or no sale. I'd rather take my time deciding on something and pay a little more for it than purchase it and have buyer's remorse. I've missed out on a few things this way, but I'm none the worse for it.