Paul McGregorOn a recent shopping trip to Westfields in Stratford, London… I got thinking about the shopping mistakes I used to make.
From buying too much clothing to wasting my money away on brands, I decided to put together a video discussing the shopping mistakes that I made, but they might be mistakes you’re currently making…
In this article you’ll discover the 5 shopping mistakes you need to avoid, but also how I overcame them to save me money and time.
As always, there’s a video to accompany this article that demonstrates 5 shopping mistakes you need to avoid in more detail:
Can’t watch? Below is a transcription of the video.
1. Shopping With No List
The first thing is that people shop without a shopping list. You wouldn’t go and get your groceries without a shopping list, so why shop for clothing without one?
If you’ve ever shopped with a shopping list before, you probably know that you’ll normally buy things that you don’t necessarily need. You’re overbuying, and in return you’re spending more money than you need too.
It’s exactly the same when you’re buying yourself some clothing. Go shopping with a shopping list. What is it that you need? What do you need in your wardrobe? What are you missing from your wardrobe? Is it t-shirts? If so what colour? What style? What size?
Write yourself a very specific shopping list so that when you actually go shopping, you know exactly what you need to be getting.
2. Choosing Brand Over Quality
This is a mistake I see a lot of men make. They’ll typically go to the premium stores and they’ll buy something just because of the logo on the shirt. Don’t choose brand over quality.
When you’re shopping in person in particular, you want to really check out the quality of the garments.
Give it a quality check. Is it good fabric? Is the stitching good? Is it made well? Is it manufactured well?
Deciding to choose quality of an item over the brand of the item is highly beneficial, even if it costs you more in the beginning… a good quality item of clothing will last you years if not centuries to come.
So when you next go shopping, make sure you go looking for quality rather than premium brands.
3. Sale Frenzy
A lot of men see that a sale is on and buy as many items as they possibly can. It’s the same as what’s called impulse buying.
You’ll see a shirt that you like, you’ll buy it, you’ll wear it a few times and then you’ll hoard it away in your wardrobe.
Don’t buy something because it’s cheap and don’t buy something just because you like the look of it. Only buy things that you necessarily need.
4. Avoiding the Changing Rooms
We all know that fit is the number one principle when it comes to improving your style, so making sure that you’re trying the items on before you purchase them is a very, very good thing to do.
I know it’s a pain and I know sometimes you haven’t got the time… but don’t buy something without trying it on first.
Trying on different sizes and trying on different items will help you decide whether or not you should exchange your hard earned cash for the item. It will take you more time buying something, trying it on at home and having to exchange it…
Don’t waste your money (and time) by avoiding the changes room when shopping, make sure every item that you buy, you try on before you purchase it.
5. Avoiding Shopping Around
I remember when I bought a breton t-shirt once and it cost £45. The reason why I bought a t-shirt for more than I’d normally spend was because I couldn’t find it in any of the other stores that I was at that particular moment.
Then, I remember when I went home, I was browsing online and I found basically the exact same t-shirt, probably better quality as well for a much lower price. Obviously, I shopped at a premium brand and I avoided shopping round.
That’s why I had to spend more money when if I would have just shopped around, I probably would have got it for a lot cheaper.
The lesson here and the mistake is make sure that you shop around. If you’re in a store and you see something that you like, don’t be afraid to go and find it maybe online or go to another few stores, see if you can find something similar that’s maybe better quality or better fit.
Buy it there. If you have to, you can always go back to that store and buy the original item that you saw but please, please shop around if you have the time and you want to save some money.
Mistakes To Avoid in Shopping
There we have it, 5 shopping mistakes that you need to avoid. Share some of your thoughts and share some of your shopping mistakes in the comments below.
If you think this article is going to help someone, maybe someone who’s not a good shopper, share it with them as well.
Don’t forget to subscribe to the channel and I’m going to go do a little bit shopping now.
