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When was the last time you bought something online that you regretted? It’s probably not too hard to remember, is it? Now, how much money have you wasted on stuff like that? If you’re normal you’ve thrown down $899 in the last year buying things online that, if you had it to do over again, you probably would not. And as it turns out, it’s not just a byproduct of having been bored during the pandemic.
According to a study by Fakespot, the average American now racks up a total of $70,000 in online regrets during their lifetime. The odds are the era of near-instant online gratification isn’t going to help that number come down. So, what’s the stuff we end up regretting the most? Well, it's clothes, technology products, and toys.
What’s driving these bad decisions? Most commonly bogus reviews. Two third's of our online buying decisions are influenced by reviews and the ones we most commonly are influenced by are fake. According to the study, 51% of consumers were more likely to trust what turned out to be fake reviews as opposed to the real thing. That’s probably not a coincidence given that the fakers have a financial interest and are good at faking.
Efforts to combat the fakes exist, for example, Amazon’s verified purchase. But even that’s not foolproof. Sellers realize the benefit of a well-reviewed product on a site like Amazon and have been known to pay people to buy the product and write reviews as well. Only 56% of unwanted stuff is returned so we often keep the bad with the good.
A couple of takeaways here, if you’re on the fence about buying clothes, technology products, or toys online, don't do it. Commonly when we’re on the fence, that’s when we start getting in the reviews until we find ones that resonate with us providing that excuse to go ahead and buy. That’s probably good advice generally, but playing the averages in those categories specifically will help you cut down on buying stuff you regret and wasting nearly $900 a year.