How quickly do you make big purchase decisions?

[NewMatress]

Recently I've made some big (for me) purchases and made decisions very quickly. I think the decisions have been good maybe better than ones I've spent ages dithering over and the process has been so much less stressful for being over quickly.

• £3k patio canopy. Ordered the day I first enquired of the company after an hour or so checking on line that the price was in the right ball park.

• £1000 odd jobs around the house (lots of them). Had a brainwave that someone I know who does this kind of work might be able to get them done in one go. Booked within half an hour of the first thought. Work completed within 3 weeks.

-Kitchen refurbishment (not new kitchen) £4000. Quote booked the day I saw the website, accepted same day, work complete within the month

Now I'm about to buy a car. C. £25k. I started looking at websites and making enquiries this morning and I'm ready to tell the dealer my decision. This one seems a biggie to make so quickly, but once it's done I'll never know if it could have been better.

Go for it? What's to be gained by more deliberating? ATM I'm holding off just so it's not too easy for the dealer

I take forever to make decisions like that. I like to do a lot of research and ask for advice and recommendations. I need to make sure whatever I'm purchasing is good value for money and that I'm not going to regret it.

Holidays are my worst thing. I take longer planning them than actually on them. I do enjoy it though.

Most research I ever did was our first family car. Rover 416i. Objectively it was bloody wonderful. Car of the year, responsive engine, good looks.
Should have listened to that little voice that said "not on your nellie".

It was lovely and drove beautifully. The first engine and the replacement engine blew up.

I just follow my instincts now. If I have to think twice I don't do it.

I don't have money to decide whether or not to purchase expensive things 😭😭 the answer is always no

I’m very quick. I know what’s right straightaway and how much I’m willing to pay.

DH takes forever.

I've usually done all the thinking before hand so I know what I want and how much I'm willing to spend so if I see something that fits I'll just do it.

I love the planning process for this kind of thing and read every review I can before I make a decision.

Don’t just go with the first price a car dealer gives you. We got loads off our new car through haggling and deliberating a bit plus extra services thrown in, 3 months of no payments and a holiday voucher. DP had been adamant they don’t have leeway to do deals so he was very pleased my negotiations paid off

Anything over £500ish and I'll generally put in an hour or so of research. I'll do some reading to get an idea of the main options and prices, then I'll narrow down to a shortlist and then look at reviews on a variety of sites.

I really went to town on research for my gaming laptop, since I use it every day. It also takes me several hours to choose a holiday, mostly because I love looking at all the different hotels and areas.

I move reasonably fast on eg a sofa, but I wouldn’t buy a £25k car in a morning. I generally prefer to walk away for a few days to consider other options, drive a few alternatives and also see if the dealer would like to offer me a deal. I’ve had 20-25% off by waiting for a week or two until the end of the quarter and seeing if they needed to meet their targets...

I have a 3 day rule. If it’s still a good idea 3 days later then I’ll buy it 🤣

DH is a nightmare 😐 bought our house while running through airport security on his way to work after viewing the property for 5 minutes the day before - before it was even officially on the market 😐😐 then phoned me at home to tell me he’d bought the house 😅😅 “Hi, I know we said we’d think about it but I couldn’t stop thinking about it so I bought that house!! They want very quick completion if possible so I’ve given out notice. Boarding the plane, love you!” 😳 we were renting at the time. Moved in about 5 weeks later if I remember rightly 🙈
Turned up to pick me up from work one day in a new car that he’d seen advertised that day while I was at work and he’d been and got it by the time I was finished 😐

Yet he comes with me to do a food shop and I can have the whole rest of the shop done by the time he’s picked a breakfast cereal 🙄🙄🤣

I used to research and dither about forever. I tend to just go for it now and generally prefer it.

Life is too short.

Ok when I said I’m quick I meant about things like an expensive bag, or jewellery, or a piece of furniture.

I wouldn’t buy a car without proper research, or a house, or a holiday...but then those are decisions that we make together anyway.

Hmm, dh and I saw the house we live in now at about 4.15 on a Saturday afternoon. The decision was made as he reached for my hand before we stepped onto the drive.

Same as you, very quick

New car? Same day.
New sofa suite? Next day after sitting on only 3 different ones
Caravan? Took rubbish to the tip, caravan place is next door, had no plan to buy one before that day, bought one that afternoon.
New kitchen? Same day

Majority of purchases have been absolutely fine and no regrets. Just one car mistake, as own fault for not checking the bells and whistles. It didn’t have the ones I wanted, so changed it 2 wks later.

I think it depends on the item and the cost relative to the amount of disposable income you have. But in general I do a lot of research and get several quotes (sometimes quite obsessively over quite a short space of time!) before parting with a significant amount of cash.

Very quickly. There's just so much choice out in the world that you could drive yourself mad with FOMO.

Holidays, cars, furniture - I'll make my mind up as soon as I possibly can so that it's not hanging over me.

Bought our current house after one fifteen minute viewing.
Had possession of my new car after a boredom browse at the showroom within two hours.
I don’t even look at furniture I can’t have within three days.
Ordered a new kitchen within a day of a cold call.
I’m probably a salesperson’s dream

Most things I'll deliberate over and wonder whether I really want (or need) it.
However, with our biggest ever purchase (our house), we drove past and saw a little handmade For Sale notice and phone number. Rang the number and arranged to view an hour later. Had a 15 minute viewing, got in the car, turned to each other and said "This is the one".
We're still here 33 years later.