Is anyone else just overwhelmed by how much nice stuff is available?

[EligibleTern]

I'm going to try my best to word this post properly as it's hard to explain exactly what I mean - but, has anyone else found that now that there are so many lovely things available, they just don't want any of them?

It feels like everything, from beauty products to items for the home, is so well-designed and beautifully packaged, with multi-item ranges that work harmoniously together, that it's just overwhelming. I remember when it felt special to find a lovely thing, but now there are millions of them from every corner (and unless it's genuinely handmade and locally sold, you can get anything anywhere - no more of that "bringing back something you can only get in X place" from a holiday anymore, you can just order it online when you get home), I've just stopped coveting things.

Similarly for merchandise for films and TV shows, etc., basically anything you're into - there seems to be official merchandise for EVERYTHING now, vast ranges of it, and it just feels like absolutely everything is as commodified as it could possibly get.

With Black Friday deals and Christmas coming up, I'm being bombarded with ads for beautiful things and am just thinking, "Oh no, what now," rather than "Ooh, that looks nice." Does anyone else feel like this - that goods in general have just lost their allure?

No.

No, more the opposite..it feels like there's so much tat and 'stuff for the sake of stuff' available it's even harder to find the nice bits worth buying!

I think so. I didn’t have a lot of ‘stuff’ growing up (like a lot of people my age) and all the online ads and piles of things in the shops make me feel a bit queasy. All the packaging and throwing out old stuff.

I remember once standing in Boots staring at all the shampoos and wishing there were three - for oily, normal and dry hair - each in a big plain bottle.

I know what you mean but I've found the opposite, there is soo much stuff I kind of would enjoy owning/consuming, and still an awful lot of stuff that I really genuinely would love forever and make use of and justify... But I can't possibly buy it all and I just try not to dwell on it because it makes me slightly depressed. Stuff definitely hasn't lost its allure tho😏

I struggle to find anything that I consider nice TBF it's all nasty cheap tat

I think it's more how easily available things are due to the Internet. Basically if you think of it, chances are you can buy it. Its overwhelming. Pre Internet one had to go out and physically search for items, so it felt much more rewarding to find nice and special things. I also covet things far less now. We should all be buying a lot less or buying pre used now anyway. There is too much choice, over consumption and wastage which I think also dulls the pleasure of consuming (once you realise this).

No I don't want to buy anything as feel overwhelmed with clutter/ unused beauty products etc and find it hard to dispose of anything. I honestly don't want to buy anything this Christmas except nice food and drink. I just don't look at stuff, don't go to the shops and am avoiding craft fairs and things. So much stuff ids unnecessary.

I agree that this is a HUGE part of it. Knowing that you can find pretty much anything you can imagine causes some kind of decision fatigue, I think.

No - where are you shopping?

This year I’ve been really overwhelmed. I think more shops seem to cover more bases now e.g primark was once where you’d go for clothes but their home section is huge and ‘nice’ but cheap fast fashion type shite. Tesco and Sainsbury’s the same; used to be just for your groceries but now I feel overwhelmed by their clothes and home offering.
I look at a lot of stuff. I visually consume a lot. I have to not look! I have to physically avoid certain shops because it just makes me feel so empty, I want it all and also want none of it. I feel a little grossed out at the consumption of it all. By my own desire to consume that is.

Yes! Your last paragraph has summed up the horrible push/pull emotion it creates much better than my rambling opening post.

No, I'm the opposite. I struggle finding things I like. I'll occasionally find something I love but I'll see the price and usually decide against it. I think most things look like cheap tat these days.

I agree OP. I've been having these feelings fo some time now, but unable to put my finger on it or explain it properly. I think decision fatigue as you say is certainly part of it.

It's overwhelming to have a choice of any colour, price-range, any brand, flavour or scent, and it is getting harder and harder to determine which items are actually 'deluxe' and which are below-par.

Plus then you've got all the online reviews, and lists of the the top 5 best purchases, it's all too much for me!

Everything feels like terrible quality and/or design so that s a no from me

I genuinely feel the opposite.

Everything I find that I think I want is wrong in a key way (design is 90% lovely but there's a 10% eyesore, or it looks great but is made cheaply). There are plenty of beautiful things that I can admire but I know I don't actually want.

I can't remember the last time I actually felt the desire to buy something in a shop. It's so much easier to spend money on experiences (restaurants, concerts, tickets, travel).

I feel like there's an overwhelming amount of stuff available at all levels of quality and design, but for some reason it's the lovely stuff that has really pushed me over the "there's too much now" line.

This is me too. I have a real love/hate relationship with consumerism. I hate myself for how much the marketing actually works on me and although I’m not in any debt I don’t save anywhere near as much money as I should for the future/.my kids as I’m constantly tempted by things that deep down I don’t really need though I do enjoy using them (eg jewellery, skincare, clothes, whatever)

With experiences now, they cost so much that I feel there's too much pressure on them. 15 years ago, when I could afford to go out every weekend on a lower salary than I'm on now, it wasn't a big deal, but it often doesn't feel worth it now.

Yes, so much stuff companies are actively marketing. I am amazed they sell it all!

The older I get the less I want.

That reminds me of a time in Boots, when an older gentleman was looking overwhelmed at the volume/variety of toothpastes and asked for my help - just to find the one he usually bought.
I don't work there, but I certainly empathised with him and found what he was looking for!

Sort of, though I also think it may be an age thing with me. I think it's a good thing not to be constantly coveting things though.

100% agree with you OP, I think I know exactly what you are trying to say and I feel the same way. I feel it most strongly in Waitrose of all places. I really love cooking and really love food, so you'd think it would be one of my favourite shops. But the sheer amount of choice completely overwhelms me to the point of taking all of the joy out of it.

There are actually some really interesting studies into the psychology of it all. Try googling "the paradox of choice". We're not alone!

No, the opposite in fact. Everything is the same - ubiquitous - cheap and tacky.

I went shopping in Manchester at the weekend and was saddened by the plastic shoes with wonky glue on the sole and the sparkly tops with uneven seams and the tailored trousers with badly attached zips, and these were places I loved to shop in a decade ago (Mango, & Other Stories, Mint Velvet etc..) and dont get me started on the sea of polyester that passes for clothing these days.

I think originality and craftsmanship has been lost.