Ordering stuff online....who can order only what you need?

Me.

But in my defense, I usually go in with a shopping list.  Incidental purchases happen only on occasion.  Honest.

I'll see you, and raise you.

My typical 'justification' is "Well, I've got to pay X-amount of shipping anyway...."

So I start adding on...just to 'flesh out' the order...and adding on, and adding on, until I'm way past the 'minimal' shipping threshhold, and perilously close to the 'free' shipping level: "Gee, only thirty dollars more, and it's free." (When is anything ever free???)

The 'good' news is...about 2/3 of the time my innate cheapness kicks in, and I look at the total -- and the one or two items that I actually started the order for -- and think to myself, "Screw it, I won't need it/them this week."

(And of course...with advancing age...a day or two later I will have forgotten the whole thing. )

Cheers

yes. I do buy more than what I need but I dont go to the bakery and leave with just bread lol ....

I have also had times where I have ordered more than I need to justify shipping costs, but that's OK because as long as I use what I buy eventually, it all comes out in the wash.  The thing I do more often than not though is to order just what I need...and then I pay more for shipping than I did for the item.  A couple of days or a week later, I find something else that I needed, and kick myself for not including it in the previous order.  That's a behavior I wish I could break.  

I try not to order single items at once unless there is nothing else they had to offer. I'd like to save money for myself because most of us can't afford ship[ping costs. I try to see if Amazon Prime would have it with the free shipping. Or look at online companies that have free shipping. Most of the time I would add items to their wishlist on their website and later on add more items I may want down the road.

Paint is the worse. I mean 1 bottle of paint. But I have done it a couple of times.

Shipping costs are so crazy, I keep a list of things that need replenished and will order them when I order a new model at the end of a build.

Yep, I do it all the time to offset the shipping charge. I for one don't like ordering a $3.99 paint jar and pay  $4 or more for shipping so I stock up on other stuff. I also open the paint drawer and search for jars that went bad to replenish.

Sometimes but it hurts to click the check out button with only a few necessery items.

One reason why I like Amazon Prime.

Yes Amazon prime is easy. I hope they switch to Fedx or something though because in our area UPS been screwing up royally lately. FedX been doing fine.

You also have to watch Amazon, some things are priced ok but some are totally out of line.

Really enjoying reading all of your thoughts and comments.

When I buy online, I set a budget for myself and look for kits that would interest me that are in that budget. My lack of a stash encourages me to buy a kit and all of the extra goodies for it in one order.

For paints, I just go to the LHS or hardware store because it is cheaper to get rattle cans there rather than getting them online. My other reason for this is good hobby shops are far and few between in my area so I like to support them whenever I can.

Ditto to all above depending on circumstances at the time.

Jim 

Stay Safe.

Nope. Sometimes the shipping costs encourage you to do that.  I carefully shop to find what my lowest bottom line will be, then keep looking at other vendors.  I have amazon prime, and have ordered from amazon when they had to highest price on the kit or supply item, but bottom line cheaper.  I am a real cheapskate.

keavdog

I'm in the same boat.  I just ordered a beautifully printed blower (I have not current need or plan for it - just had to have it).  I browsed the guys site for anything else I could add... In the end, I paid $5 for this and if it looks like the pic it will be well worth it...and then I paid $10 shipping.  In hind sight I should have ordered 2 or 3 of them.  

 

Bill

Greg

I did something yesterday I've never done before.

I found an aftermarket item yesterday I've been pondering, and managed to order it. And only it.

Huh? ....you might say?

My habit has been otherwise. If I'm ordering one smallish thing, I always figure I gotta pay shipping anyway, so I end up browsing around and ordering more stuff, ending up spending 20x what I was planning to. This has probably cost me a fortune over the years. It shocked me that I was able to order just that one thing, it wasn't quite as traumatic as I thought it might be.

So I'm just curious, does anyone else suffer from this goofy purchasing behavoiur?

 

One item on an order?...Not goofy at all.     

     Some well known members of ModelWarShips forum seem to buy 1 kit at a time.    I can understand the "get it while you can" method when it's something you absolutely needed or always wanted. Often models are Pre-release or issued in limited quantities or have not been produced till now. The going out of production reason may provide the biggest stimulus for a single purchase.   All good reasons for a One Item Purchase.

 The other side of  the Coin...

  Spending more than you planned becoming a habit?  Mine too and economical I say.  Buying multiple items on the same order is my method 99.9% of the time. Until earlier his year I still had big wish list. There was always something to " flesh-out" any order to pro-rate that shipping cost with my favorite Online retailer. My method was to request they Cancel my Entire order if any item was out of stock.  That request only failed 2 times. I felt real dumb paying for a $9.99 item with $8.95 shipping.

   The retailers that have always followed my requests and understood the reasoning are FreeTime, HobbyLink, ScaleHobbist, DragonUSA, ModelUA, HobbyEeasy, and Plaza Japan.

     Ultimately, spreading out the  shipping cost coupled with a percent off Coupon plus the chance at free shipping is the American Way!  Buy More America!  My 401K depends on you.

It's not just models...

I buy Books that "economical" way too. (GM is Sooooo Right.)                       Some recent purchases were done 'cause I got free shipping with a 2 book purchase.  Then I got a 15% coupon off on my next purchase, so another order placed that also qualified for free shipping.  (Those books are Silent Victory: Submarine War against Japan by Clay Blair, Clear the Bridge By Richard O'Kane, and Thunder below: The USS Barb By Eugene Fluckey.  All Great Recommendations by Tom Dougherty.)

      Nino.

Hey Greg, do you remember comedienne Rita Rudner? She once said “I rationalize shop. I buy a dress because I need change for gum.”

Well, I kind of do the same thing with models. 

I'll look for a bottle of paint, and end of with a couple kits too. Not because it justifies the shipping, although, that is what I tell the wife. But, because I want them! lol

I must be old fashioned, I prefer to go to the store were I can look at the items and decided if I want it or not by looking at it. I found out the online stores sometime do not give you sufficient info to make a qualified decision, plus, you may have to wait a while before the item is delivered to you.

Why do I buy on line? Due to the virus thing, since I considered to be an "at risk" individual, the Admiral, together with my daughters, do no let me go to any store, so, until this virus deal is over, I do not have a choice but to buy online.

Joe

I’ve always been immune to impulse purchases. And tight. When the dime slips my finger the silver stays.