How to Resist the Almighty Deal

You know what I find ironic? How much I hate spending money on sensible things, (like socks, why do socks cost so much?) but as soon as a mediocre, flashy product is marked 70% off — it doesn’t matter if I even know what the thing is — I’m going to do a double-take.

I’m not even a bargain shopper. I do look for the best value I can find and I have had my dalliances with Jane, Tophatter, and Black Friday Deals, but I’ve trained myself to be immune to the flashy red signs that promise a clearance deal or better.

Oddly enough, resisting The Almighty Deal is irrationally difficult and they know it. Anyone who wants to sell you something knows that your brain is wired for this.

According to an article written by Dr. Kit Yarrow, sales are “psychologically irresistible” for reasons like: fear of missing out, competition, and false perception of value.

In other words, we are afraid the deal will go away forever. Which might be true. We also want to be the one to get it on the best deal — at a better price than anyone else. And we have no idea what it’s really worth so we trust this little tag that’s slapped onto the pair of shoes to know if it’s a good buy.

The last one is especially prevalent. Have you ever noticed how many things are on sale on Amazon? I’ve stopped trusting their “List price” completely because it’s really common for the list price to be artificially inflated in order for the sale price to look better.

Another thing about us, as consumers, is that we like to feel smart. I don’t know about you, but if I can snatch something valuable for cheaper than normal, I feel like celebrating my genius. Yet another reason why it’s hard to resist The Almighty Deal.

The final reason The Almighty Deal is irresistible: we glamorize bargain shopping. Also, as as society, we’re addicted to buying things. You know I’m right.

It looks like the cards are stacked against us. You and me vs The Almighty Deal wielded as a tool by the marketers to drain our hard-earned money from our pockets to theirs. I’ve hacked it though. I have discovered a few things that inoculate against manipulative marketing tactics.

First, we have to know our own budgets. I don’t just mean knowing how much we want to spend on something. I mean, knowing the implications of it. Every dollar we spend on one thing is one less dollar available for anything else.

I find it both infuriating and mildly amusing when a salesperson will tell me that their product “is affordable.” Newsflash: affordability is relative. I’m sorry, teenage-mall-kiosk-kid, but $50 for foreign mud that’s supposed to make my blackheads vanish (thanks for point them out, by the way) is not affordable for me in my situation. That $50 is already planned for something much better for me in my situation — an Instant Pot.

And while I really want to pamper myself with a wonder-mud-mask, I know what I’d be giving up. No amount of bargaining, sales, or foot-in-the-door tactics can sway me.

This rings true for the digital ads that are in our faces via the screens we have as our constant companions. If someone isn’t trying to sell me something by email, it’s a text, a phone call, a Facebook post, or an ad on YouTube. Literally, everywhere I look someone is trying to sell me something. In our society, if we want to get ahead financially, we have to realize what our financial goals are and how purchasing things will affect those goals.

When we know what we have and what we need, we can make a truly informed decision about where the money is going and where it really shouldn’t go.

Second, we can’t impulse-buy. It has to be a rule. We should only buy things we decide are wanted/needed without influence from ads or salespeople.

Third, we need to know exactly what we want and exactly what we’re willing to pay for it. An example is shoes. I pick a price I’m willing to pay and decide the exact kind of shoe I want. Then I go shopping. This type of shopping requires time because not every store is going to have what I want. There is great satisfaction that comes from finding it. This sort of premeditated-shopping has saved the life of my bank account on more than one occasion.

And finally, be willing to walk away if what we want isn’t what we’re looking at — no matter how Almighty that Deal seems. If we walked into the store looking for a pair of jeans, we should stay focused. We can’t afford to get distracted by the flashy pink boa that is 99% off. We don’t need the pink boa. We need the jeans.

The Almighty Deal is almost irresistible. It’s an innate, psychological reality. But we aren’t helpless. As we inoculate ourselves by knowing our goals, avoiding impulse buying, and strengthening our walk-away power, our wallets will look less anorexic and our cash will flow toward loftier financial goals.