To not be able to buy anything

[SmileEachDay]

Because there is too much choice. Particular culprits:

lampshades
small plates
cutlery
a rug for child’s room

It took me nearly 2 years to finally buy a new mattress.

I look, there are a gazillion choices, I give up. Online. In a store (that’s even worse)

YABU - shopping yay!
YANBU - shopping is overwhelming and awful

I need new curtains in the lounge and a new kitchen, but choosing is overwhelming, so I stick with what I’ve got.

Yes same here. We are doing our bedroom up as all the furniture we bought when we first moved in together 13 years ago.

We just managed to choose bedside tables after weeks of deliberation and now we’re stuck on lamps to go on them! I really like the Tiffany style lamps but haven’t found the perfect ones yet.

Yes. Curtains.

Pattern?
Colour?
Fabric?
Style?

It’s too much <cries>

I read somewhere that there is an optimum number of choices and beyond that people feel overwhelmed.

So you need to learn to filter down -.eg lights - do a hroad brush and gather lights you like in your budget and then filter down from there - eg reviews - remove some based on reviews - and that can depend on your focus - eg quality and after care Then perhaps group similar lights together and select the best example or 2 for each group.

Keep going till you have 3 or 4 and then make your choice from the smaller number

I find the opposite.

I look at clothes and though they look great on the site, they are made of polyester or cheap viscose. If I order something, sometimes the quality is so poor, I send it straight back.

I can take 3 months to find a decent pair of shoes that actually fit.

I can't tick either of your choices! I don't enjoy shopping for this kind if thing, but I'm also quite decisive and don't get overwhelmed by choice.

Have you tried doing it online, sorting by price, and choosing the first thing on the list (ie cheapest) that you really like? Then stop looking!!!

@maddening you are sensible and a grown up.

Much better approach than bewildered wandering round the lighting section of IKEA and then leaving without a lamp 😂😂

Wow! You say that like 13,years is old for furniture. I regard furniture as a life time purchase!

OP I got all my curtains second hand. Cost £10 each from charity shops, and your choice is reduced so easier to make a decision!

@BananaGrapeMelon

I do sometimes just buy the first thing I like.

But the minute I think “I’ll just see if…..” I’m done for 😂

I do really like charity shops @Honestlymade

YANBU.
Pick one or two shops. Get to know them really well and only ever buy and look there. Éliminate all the other shops and choice. I would say go to John Lewis. Amazing staff, and you could also ask them to make the choice if you give them the details. They would be able to show you one or two items and you can forget the rest!! I feel like you in supermarkets. Way too big for me. Shop at one very small one now that I know like the back of my hand and do a weekly drive collect shop for a set list of cleaning bits dog food etc.

There's much less choice where I live. I prefer it.

Haha I understand this. I've just ordered curtains for our front room... Took me 6 and a half years haha

I agree with @babyproblems. The key is to limit the choice in the first place. I am chronically indecisive and limiting the choices available in the first place works for me.

Supermarkets are awful @babyproblems If I pop in on my way home with no list, it’s not good.
Too big.
Too bright.
Too many things.

Congratulations @Eenameenadeeka . I think that’s a reasonable time frame 😂

I'm finding this with a lot of websites. Next is particularly the case, but John Lewis and a few others are equally as bad. Thousands and thousands of trousers, t-shirts, dresses. Filtering brings it down to hundreds rather than thousands. It's hopeless.

I also love charity shops for this reason, I browse what they have. If nothing suits, fine. Move on with my life. Although more and more charity shops are grouping by colour and not size/style. Colour? FFS. I'm there to browse things in my size. That is all. I avoid the colour-sorting ones now.

I now longer go shopping, browsing the rails in a clothes shop, like I used to do in my teens and 20’s. In those days you could ask if they had your size in the back, but these days they don’t. I have very few clothes that I wear and wash frequently because shopping on line overwhelms me.

Yes I get overwhelmed by choice too.

Agreed op. I recently took my DC to clarks for some new trainers, a nice lady measured his feet, bought out 3 pairs in his size, he picked one and we were done. I wish all shopping was that easy. Maybe it is if you're mega rich with a personal shopper...

Maybe it is if you're mega rich with a personal shopper...

YES! This is what I need for sure.

I think I’ve missed the boat for mega rich though :(

Can you choose first, in your own mind, before you start looking and have a budget? Then put very specific requests into google search to narrow the choice and only click on things within budget.

I have the opposite problem, in that I know exactly what I want but struggle to find it!

Ha...was just saying very same ten minutes ago. Need a new hand mixer for baking. My head has exploded at the choice...cost versus power versus customer reviews versus availability versus cost.
I want to spend my money wisely so aaargghh.

Have gone for a Bosch mid range job to be collected later. I do hope it's not a piece of crap. It's £53. Maybe not much to the Kitchen Aid consumers but I can't afford a showpiece. I still want something that will do the job and last though.

So many factors to consider, above all not getting ripped off.

We would like a bean to put coffee machine. Looked in Amazon looked at reviews we still don't have one.v