Happy BuyNothing Day | Hacker News Reader

Happy BuyNothing Day

justbuynothing.com

212 points_p2zi75 comments

Worked in a mall in the 90s and thought a store that let people 'shop' but not actually pay money for things might be fun/useful. Or... sort of like a membership. $10/month, come in to some luxury type store - browse, test out stuff, etc. Go through a 'checkout' step with your 'store card', just... leave the items in the store as you leave. For some folks, the leaving and driving away is the 'high', but for a lot of folks, the 'purchase' itself is the high, and it's downhill after that. I saw so many people buying things they shouldn't buy - and that was over 30 years ago(!). I know it's only become worse over the years.

FWIW - my idea was possibly sort of dumb, but I was a bit of a dumb kid at times... :)

I do this all the time with online shops: fill the cart with things, come back later or after a couple of days and I don't check out because I feel I was dumb for wanting that stuff.

That's how I do my online grocery shopping - I fill the cart with things that are interesting, needed, etc., and when I'm ready to actually buy, I empty the cart and fill it with the things I actually need. Many times, what seemed like a good idea was, in later reflection, not such a good idea.

There are utilities to your idea and by that virtue, Just Buy Nothing. With a bit of contributed enhancements this could actually solve a niche problem.

I'm already imagining a situation where you can opt in for a discovery/assessment after checkout; each item is assessed for utility of need vs want and whether a smaller or less expensive replacement could meet the same needs.

At the end of this, a user could come off with a smaller basket that they could then take to a real shopping site and or be charged for the session. Privacy has to be nailed quickly though.

Closing remarks:

AI could help in the aspect of scaling the discovery/analysis with users.

This was about 15 minutes of thought. There's something here for sure.

I like this idea a lot. Been working a ton on the site to get it to where it is today and make updates based on user feedback.

AI has been helping me create product images. Right now I have it limited to 150 products on the site at the time. I originally had 1K+ and realized that cloudinary is very expensive. It provides the best user experience but had to cut back a bit for now to not break my own wallet.

you can even put some empty boxes in bags for them to carry out

Just replace "leave the items at the store" with debt, buy-now-pay-later or "30 days return" guarantees and you have a business idea! Car culture and oversized suburban homes even absolve you from the pain of carrying things you don't need, and finding storage space for them.

It is a win for the economy!

And if you need to free up storage space, dispose for free, it's societies responsibility!

I have found that adding things to a todo (Todist) list called "want-to-buy" gives me the little endorphin boost / anxiety relief without spending any money. I periodically go through and delete stuff from this list after time has passed, and I'm always glad I didn't go through with the purchases. Rarely I will come across something I truly do still want, and will purchase it.

Similarly, I have a "no same day buy" rule. Usually I wait at least a few days and most of the time by then I don't need the item anymore.

I have a 10€/day rule: if I want to buy something that costs 120€, I have to be sure of wanting it for 12 straight days.

That doesn’t apply to emergencies, of course.

One thing I would always buy right away is book recommendations. If someone recommends a book and it sounds interesting I just buy it right away even if I’m not sure that I want to commit to reading it or not. This helps keep my bookshelf filled with interesting stuff that I could still potentially read someday.

You'd probably enjoy "Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking", which has beautiful photography and possibly goes deeper into cooking than any other book. The main author was CTO at Microsoft back in the day, and another author founded a company that makes a thermometer with some pretty neat tech.

You should buy the Codex Leicester containing many of Da Vince’s thoughts, designs, drawings, etc.

;)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codex_Leicester

I feel the exact same way about Amazon lists and that's what I use them for. I wonder if that's why the "Add to List" button is somewhat hard to find, and if they regret the feature.

I lost my Amazon account and almost had a heart attack.

I do this as well, it’s especially good for media purchases like blurays and video games. Eventually there’s a sale or I just realize I don’t actually care or want to see/watch it any more.

I've been thinking about setting up a small website that lets you input what you wanted to buy, and after 24 hours sends you an email asking if you really wanted to buy/needed this.

Check out the chrome extension on the site! Helps ask you are you sure? before buying something on Amazon. Not on the chrome store yet but can be tested in dev mode.

Also see if you can make do. So many things when really thought about are unnecessary.

I do this with just an ever expanding notes file. Works!

I have spent my whole life mostly buying nothing and I realized recently that I am probably pretty far from optimal on that tradeoff. Outside of food, rent, and travel I've been spending around 5k/year my entire life (mostly laptops and phones)

Recently I realized I'd probably get old with money better spent while I'm young, so I started spending a lot more. It's felt great overall, for example I bought a sleep tracker, new bedding (had been using the same pillows for 12 years), humidifiers, air filters, CO2 monitor, and a few other things to sleep better. It made a noticable difference on my sleep.

Probably many people reading this site actually buy too little.

Did it make your sleep actually better? I always considered these a needles luxury (other than maybe humidifier, but I don't think it's useful in my climate).

I'm not trying to downplay you, I'm actually probably underspending and you seem to come from the same background as I do. I'm certain that interesting in one's sleep is worth it.

If you are having any kind of issue with this, please consider doing it. I have this background as well. I am not used to large paychecks or even financial stability. I often freeze when spending that makes my life better. Recently I bought a window air conditioner unit that helped my sleep tremendously. I don't even notice the $300 gone but I've gotten energy back that I didn't know I had. I've tried other things for sleep but this one was the most significant. There is a cost for not deploying your resources too.

Yes I've been measuring it and I sleep more as a fraction of the time I spend in bed. Part of this is paying more attention to things like how late I work out and drink water, but without the tracker it would be hard to pay close enough attention

What about buying used?

I have this unofficial policy of buying used for frivolous purchases. The extra effort of browsing classifieds and arranging the purchase means that I must really want something before I get it. It also means that nothing gets extracted from nature and shipped around the world to satisfy a weak desire.

I've also been much more selective about which objects I allow into my home. I'm older now and I realise how long these objects stay in my life, so they might as well spark joy every time. Again, the long process of acquiring something means I avoid a lot of impulse purchases, and end up with fewer, better objects.

My favorite thing to buy used is books! If it was written more than a year ago, odds are good you can find it for half the price of what it's selling for on Amazon. My go to is https://www.betterworldbooks.com

I mostly read digital, but I love passing books around too. Our friend circle is turning into a little library. You can also find books in public bookshelves. Give one, take one.

I started buying silver, platinum, and gold coins. Itches that “get shiny” scratch, and I’ve been profitable enough to not regret collecting something. After I got started, I became a calmer, more rational investor in the digital realm. Something about the physical weight of the silver unlocked some “it’s all okay” mechanism in my brain. It felt drug like, a chemical change.

Now go try to sell it. Hint: there’s no limits on fees they can charge, and it is super shady unless you have sealed ingots with holograms for provenance. That’s why every gold store is some sketchy mall shop. Buying is easy. Selling is hard.

Or just sell it to Kitco, and only buy bullion coins of high quality provenance, probably also from Kitco. No real issues other than the logistics costs associated with shipping via registered mail.

I've sold plenty, actually. I've never been ripped off. If you're going to a gold buying store in a mall, yes, you will get ripped off, but that's your fault

You also don't need "provenance" or "sealed ingots". Any shop will unseal them and run them over the sigma tester or under an XRF gun.

These new accounts that pop up to spread FUD are one example of the forces at play preventing you from buying PMs

r/pmsforsale

I resist buying many things by thinking about my kids having to (some day) deal with it when I kick the bucket.

I know people who live in an apartment resist purchases by thinking "it's going to be a liability for my next move" which works quite well.

Living in an apartment definitely limits my purchasing. I'm not thinking about things being a liability for the next move, though. I'm thinking about now. I have limited space, so part of the purchasing decision is "what am I willing to get rid of to make room for this?". Often the answer is "nothing" and the purchase doesn't happen.

especially with art, "how hard is this going to be to clean?" helps too

Maintainance in general, excludes all IoT electronics right off the bat for me.

When people buy, you should send them a postcard to close the dopamine loop.

In my experience the majority of compulsive shoppers like getting a box almost as much as whatever is in it

I like this idea a lot! That's the missing piece is not actually getting something delivered.

Thinking about making a premium version where users can log in and get a postcard delivered and simulated ads like emails and SMS for fake deals.

> The dopamine-free shopping experience.

This doesn't seem like an accurate description, since it's designed to trigger the same dopamine release as shopping, just without the real-world consequences.

I'm confused by the NoBucks Rewards ("Need $xx.xx more NoBucks; Complete anti-consumption tasks to earn more"; <https://justbuynothing.com/rewards>). Obviously no real products are getting shipped. I'm not going to make an account on this site but can NoBucks actually be earned? What happens when you've earned enough to actually "checkout"?

You're right. I'm going to update this today that's a good catch. Also, making a way now so that users not logged in can still go through the checkout process. I originally posted this idea on Reddit and got a ton of feedback for gamifying it a bit and that's where the no bucks came into play. Check back in a bit this will be updated.

Really appreciate the feedback!

I try to combat the shopping addiction by ensuring for every purchase, (1), that the price is really good, (2), that the quality is actually really good, too.

For example, $149 for a great monitor is a great deal. But it has to be IPS, USB-C, DP 1.4, QHD or higher, 400nits etc. Normally, these retail for $599, so, I don't buy. Many monitors retail for $99, but they're FHD 250nits VGA crap.

Slickdeals.net is a nice website where you can find some of these deals. Keep in mind that even for really good deals, some people over there would still be unhappy and would still expect higher specs or lower price, so, you have to use your own judgement whether something is good or not. Recently missed a 32in 4K UHD monitor at 159.99 because it was a VA, and people complained too much that VA sucks, but the rest of the specs were just too good, and it sold out quickly; OTOH, I can now wait for a better deal!

I set aside some money for a monitor and it was years before I got a good one. one day at Costco I was walking by this monitor I had been eyeing for about six months. It was on sale. Last one. Floor model. No box, no book, just the monitor and the power cable. Saved $150. Cost about $350 after the mark down. It’s been great for over a year without any issues.

Your deal will come! Just keep your eyes open and your budget prepped.

I'd heavily expand on the selection. Maybe even make them AI generated with beautiful designs so people can go through an endless catalogue. Dream. You may be on to something and this may be bigger than your original idea. You could help people dream about stuff that does not exist.

Hah, an AI-generated page of specs would give me a mental boner.. "This floorp Deluxe comes with 512 zroom fleex cores, plus 768 of the latest-gen 4nm-process QPU...".

https://youtu.be/Ac7G7xOG2Ag

Originally I had over 1K products on site and quickly realized that cloudinary is expensive....Once I can come up with a better way to scale I'll add them all back. Also have some AI generated futuristic products to unload.

> Maybe even make them AI generated

Pretty sure they already are--just ahead of time, not on-the-fly.

Seems unrelated to the original Buy Nothing Day campaign from AdBusters?

https://www.adbusters.org/buy-nothing-day

I've never seen this! This is awesome. Really going to ramp up the website to get ready for our Fake Black Friday Clearance Sales

Amazing store, but I think the elite soccer ball is a tad bit too expensive at $21. I'll wait until black Friday I think then get that for my least favourite nephew.

Great work!

thank you! I actually noticed these prices are crazy on the site. Tried to optimize them a bit better so if you look today shouldn't be as crazy.

Be on the lookout for our Everything Must Go Holiday Sale.

Maybe I'm thinking about it too hard, but this seems to imply that the "fun" part of online shopping is somewhere in adding things to your cart, or maybe even the act of spending money.

But for me the dopamine hit comes from receiving and opening a physical package. Ship me a box of air instead!

I agree! There was a comment below about shipping a post card. I really like that idea.

So it's like nicotine patches? Gives you a similar dopamine hit without the wallet hit?

>Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverend_Billy_and_the_Church_...

Does it track my behavior to sell it to advertisers of less whimsical storefronts?

What's up everyone

I'm the person behind this site and thank you so much for all of the feedback and stories. Feel free to post any questions about the current state of the site and I'd be happy to answer.

Coming up on 28/29th November https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buy_Nothing_Day

Saw a frisbee for sale for $170, but there was free shipping...

In theory it is self-shipping if there is enough skill.

hahahaha

Interesting. So much fun clicking around on the website. Not that I'm addicted to online shopping tho but still a pretty fun site to play around with.

Glad you are enjoying it!

I think this could work if it was more than just a static site with no description page. Give it description pages with gallery, reviews etc.

Unless it's changed in the few hours since you've commented, there already are detail pages and reviews. You have to scroll down below "Limited Time Offers" to the complete category list/gallery, and those products are clickable. e.g. https://justbuynothing.com/product/6086

products should all have descriptions, prices, and reviews (still waiting for users to generate these) when you click through on them.

Want to add more for each like all e-commerce sites have but man Cloudinary is expensive.

You are never too old to play store.

This is a pretty good idea but what if we simulated actual store UI such as Amazon

>what if we simulated actual store UI such as Amazon

A phone call from Amazon lawyers.

definitely am trying to avoid getting sued. Made it as close as I could without it being exact. Also thinking of adding additional skins to match stores where users find themselves spending for no reason.

This is like cigarettes and coffee for ex-alcoholics.

this is brilliant

thank you!

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