Ask HN: What expensive product was a complete waste of money?

I bought a Sleep Number bed for a few thousand that might be the least comfortable mattress I’ve ever slept on. I tried higher numbers and lower numbers. No matter what, I woke up with a backache. I returned it and was out the delivery fee. (I recall them touting “free delivery and free returns” but they charged me for transporting it back.) This purchase sticks out as one that I particularly regret wasting time and money on.

On the other hand, I have met people who love these mattresses, so maybe I am unusual.

I got one of those mattress-in-a-box things for half the money, and I’m perfectly happy with it.

Xbox Series X. I'm a big Halo fan and bought it for the grand return of Halo.

The game wasn't great. The core gameplay was okay, but they seem to have abandoned any previous story they were telling and it feels like a weird side story with a throwaway antagonist. There is no more split screen, despite the promise it would be there. The network code lags horrifically and there are many odd UI choices and bugs. There aren't many maps, and the game hasn't gotten much better over the past year.

The system itself is okay, but doesn't support USB headsets like the PS5, and there aren't many other exclusive games as good as God of War, Returnal, or Horizon: Forbidden West.

I bought a $700 sim racing steering wheel. It's really fun to use, but I unfortunately never really use it. It's too annoying to set up, and I don't have dedicated space where I live to give it a permanent location.

Prescription eyeglasses: $700. I was tired of tracking down cheaters all the time so decided to get "real" glasses I could leave on all the time. Big mistake.

I got the kind that are bifocals w/o any lines. I didn't really understand what I was getting. They made the glasses, asked me to read a small card about 3" wide and 4" tall, and I could read it fine. Then when I got home I tried to read a computer screen with the glasses. Forget it - it was impossible! Wearing the glasses while moving made me feel sick because all the walls in a room seemed to be moving.

The bifocal part of the glasses was still a small circle, like on old prescription glasses, but w/o the lines. So to read a book for example (much wider than the 3" index card they had me read before accepting the glasses), I had to move my head from left to right for every line on the page. Same for a computer screen.

I put them in a drawer and never wore them. To solve the cheater problem, I bought different kinds for the kitchen (higher power for reading ingredient labels), bedroom (for book reading), office (computer), pocket (menus and grocery), and piano (half height so my fingers don't get magnified). I can get cheaters for $5/pair and usually buy 5 or so when I find ones I like.

Cheaters (for me) work way better than prescription glasses.

I guess my lack of ability to think of anything is a reassuring sign that I spend critically enough. I know the expensive graphics card I got once was absolutely not worth it. My iPad probably got enough use over it's lifetime that it ended up being fine, but I wouldn't buy another one.

I hate being burned by mediocre food though. It happens occasionally.

Also my Fuji-XT10. I do like it quite a lot, but it's one of those things I bought because I had aspirations of developing a hobby, rather than improving one I was already engaged with. I've got some use out of it though.

Plenty of things I don't buy though because I know they'll end up this way. Never owned an iPhone despite exclusively buying macs, though I appreciate their handfeel. Also won't ever spend more than $600 CAD on a phone. Doubt I'll ever buy another car, but I'm always on the fence about a practical used one in the future, it would have to have a very clear purpose. Any kind of business-casual clothing has also been completely worthless to me, and I would need a very good reason to buy more.

First thing that comes to mind was the 400$ Juicero Press that failed spectacularly. But I guess it depends if you consider 400$ expensive.

Not a complete waste of money but I stopped using my car during the pandemic. I'm giving it to my parents and walking more in the neighborhood or a bit of off-hours public transit and ubers/autoshare/car rental/or borrowing the car works well enough and I get much more exercise than with a car.

Occulus Quest: I think I paid $350 or $400 a year ago. I just remembered it after reading your post. I used it a couple of times and never used it again.

It is pretty much the same thing with most of my friends. They haven't used it more than a few times.

My bachelors degree.

(I quit chasing losses and left ABD but the damage was done by then.)

Expensive is relative. But for me it was Alfred. I tried to force myself to use it but looking at the usage chart, I clearly don't open it anymore.

Twitter

In-air wifi