Buyer beware usually refers to some sort of scam, but it could also apply to preventing cases of buyer's remorse.
Maybe with a little more careful consideration beforehand, some regrets could be avoided.
Because these people have some major regrets over their purchases.
Reddit user MLP_draedek asked:
"What is the worst purchase you ever made?"
They've Got Their Number
"Spent $6k on a Sleep Number setup. It's not awful, but we hardly ever use the incline so wasted money. We also got the split so we could incline independent of one another which we never use so again wasted money."
"Worse the split means there is a giant gap between us on the bed that is terribly inconvenient for intimacy. Do not recommend for couples still intimately active."
~ bneff81
"I hate my Sleep Number."
"The foam side wall is not covered under any kind of warranty, so don't let them lie to you about that. Also, for any warranty repairs, you have to pay for shipping, and there's a sliding scale based on how old the bed is for what % of the repair they will cover. And it goes down I think every year!"
"The foam wall broke within 6 months, so it's basically sleeping on a hill because it's sturdy in the middle but then slopes towards the flat outside. Nothing I have tried fixes it and it kills my back to try to keep me from rolling out of bed all night."
"I can't even sleep in it anymore, but I'm still paying it off!"
"Also, if I got below a 40 setting, my hip would hit the hard plastic bottom under the air sack. So I couldn't even adjust it fully. And the air pressure on my joints HURTS (HSD, autoimmune arthritis)."
"Worst purchase ever."
~ kaekiro
The H Isn't For Happy
"A 1992 Hyundai Sonata. Bought it in 1998."
"Engine was OK, except it started leaking oil about six months after I bought it."
"The A/C quit working. The heater stopped working. The fan on the heater/A/C would only work on low, then stopped altogether. The wiper motor quit. All the power windows stopped working except the passenger rear. The rotors warped. All within a year of owning it."
"Worst car I ever had and worst purchase I ever made. Total piece of crap and I still see red every time I see the Hyundai symbol."
~ 123fofisix
Not Skylink At Least
"Viasat Internet."
"The company provides a horrible service and scams you out of a ton of money when you try to cancel."
~ Northmansam
Booking It
"A huge book lot from an estate sale."
"I was in my early 20's and thought I'd be able to resell them. I was like 'Would you take $200 for all the books?' and the person at the cash register accepted it."
"This was an estate from a former NASA scientist and there were probably 1k or so books. It was damn near 100 degrees in the middle of the summer, so I had to rent a Uhaul, but Iagot a free storage unit for a month which was cool. It took me all day to load them up, sweating my a** off."
"Anyway, imagine what a pain in the a** it was trying to sell all these individually. I found a few cool ones, but nothing even close to worth my time."
"I finally was able to sell them on Craigslist six months later after taking up my entire garage. I couldn't believe someone else would want them."
"It was some woman from another state who sent her kids to come pick them up."
"Ugh, what a nightmare. I learned my lesson."
~ rarecare
NFT ≠ Nifty
"A $10k NFT that is now worthless."
"But they told me 'right click, save img' wasn’t the same."
~ Blankboi-
"The only good thing I can say about NFT’s is that every time they are sold the artist gets a cut.
"Physical art is often bought from a starving artist and then sold for a much inflated price and and the OG artist doesn’t see a dime of it."
~ DAHMER_SUPPER_CLUB
Diamonds Are Forever
"An engagement ring."
~ IfIKnewThen
"Could be worse, imagine paying for a divorce instead!"
~ AlternateDFA
"I don't have to imagine it."
~ IfIKnewThen
Creature Comforts
"My $6,000 couch! I hate it so much."
~ PandaNanny0714
"I spent $2,700 on a couch that couldn't even make it a week without breaking. There were no returns, so I had to deal with it until it was becoming unusable and the leg rests would randomly pop out if I was sitting down."
"It was only 2 years old when I threw it on the curb and barely resisted setting it on fire."
~ magicrowantree
Timeshare
"A Hilton Grand Vacations timeshare. Don’t fall for it. Such a money making scam."
~ OnlyMove597
"Wife and I have one. Stupidest decision ever."
"We call it a scam and they always call us to sell extra sh*t. Then when you go in vacation they hound you to upgrade."
~ Xbeverhunterx
Pampered Pets
"A cat toy that said it was a catnip infused mini house/fort. It sure looked like a folded paper bag Ike you get at the grocery store with nice pictures on it."
"It was in fact a folded up paper bag like you get at the grocery store."
"It did have nice pictures of cats on it though."
"18 dollar paper bag."
~ Uri_nil
How Many Nautical Miles To Water?
"A boat…in Colorado."
~ New-Bookkeeper7320
"As a Colorado person, it does make me question one’s sanity, when I see a 30’ $300k centurion getting pulled behind a $120k Ford."
"I mean there’s what, 3 months you can use it in the year?"
"Most of the ones I see are garage queens except on Memorial Day and July 4th."
~ Poliosaurus
Expensive Flex
"Louis Vuitton belt…regretted it as soon as I swiped my debit card."
"Even though I could afford to keep it, I just couldn’t justify it."
"By far the dumbest impulse purchase I've ever made."
~ Patj1994
Taken By A Fake
"A 2001 Spider-Man movie poster showing the World Trade Center."
"This was pretty soon after 9/11 and I am ashamed to say I thought 'oh, this is gonna be worth a fortune!'."
"I spent $200 on it."
"I later found out it wasn't an original poster, but a knock-off printed specifically to exploit 9/11. Not a huge investment, but I absolutely deserved to lose the money."
~ neoprenewedgie
Some Assembly Required
"I bought a 3D printer."
"The fact I haven’t finished actually building the printer itself means I am probably the worst type of person to own one."
~ Vritrin
"I have one. For the first couple of months it's cool printing interesting models just because you can, but that novelty wears off."
"Then it becomes something that is useless 364 days of the year, but an absolute lifesaver when you need a really specific thing that you would never be able to buy off the shelf."
"You need some 3D modeling chops as well though."
Exercise Equipment
"A treadmill that became the world's most expensive clothes hanger."
"I guess my fitness journey is more of a scenic route."
~ EnchantedEvex
"I think this is really common. My mom bought all kinds of exercise equipment when I was younger, and all of it became clothes hangers."
"Walking is always free, and no in-home gym equipment will ever get you ripped like a model in an ad."
~ FastChampionship144
Tobacco
"First pack of cigarettes."
~ Googalslosh
"F*cking me too. I quit, but still struggle with cravings."
"So much money wasted on cigarettes for a couple decades."
"One of the few regrets I have and would give anything to have not made that mistake."
~ Vericatov
These purchases probably all seemed like good ideas when they were made.
That's why they say hindsight is 20/20.
What purchase do you regret?