If you’re like me, then you love to buy new things. It seems as though each of us is raised with that consumerist mentality like so many other Americans before us. There is no feeling like buying that new, shiny, dopamine inducing product that will satisfy us temporarily until the next thing we find to buy. We’ve all been there! I personally really love clothes shopping. I enjoy wearing new clothes and changing up my wardrobe frequently, and this involves buying new clothes on a regular basis. I like to shop at thrift stores a lot because things are so much cheaper and you can honestly find some really cool stuff! Some people don’t like to shop at thrift stores because it can seem gross or poor, but I think it’s like a fun adventure and a treasure hunt to find something really cool amidst all the other crap in the store!
One problem I run into when shopping for clothes is stamina. My mom and my sisters can shop for hours, and oftentimes when I was little I would have to tag along. However, I max out at maybe 2 or 3 hours before I’m ready to do something else. My feet get tired and I don’t have the energy to keep looking for more stuff. The solution to this, though, is online shopping! Online shopping for clothes is truly a dangerous addiction for many people. Everything is so casual, easy to browse, and non committal. I began to shop online a lot more during the COVID pandemic when everything was shut down for a while. There were not a lot of brick and mortar stores open during 2020, so online shopping was a great solution for many people that were looking to buy clothes. You can find so many different types of clothing, brands, styles, and fabrics online with a few simple searches, and it has never been easier to click that ‘buy now’ button and have the clothes shipped directly to your door in nicely packaged poly bags.
As you can see, I really do love online shopping at times. However, there are a few drawbacks to online shopping. Like everything else in life, there are pros and cons. One big con to online shopping is that you normally only get a small, virtual preview of what an item will look like before you buy it. This can make it really hard to commit to buying online if you’re not sure what it will look like on your body. Being able to try clothing items on instores was super helpful for me in making my final decision. After all, half of what makes clothes look good is how they fit on you! The return process for items has gotten easier over the years as many online stores have realized that more people are likely to buy items if they feel confident that they can return them if need be. Most stores will simply let you place your unwanted clothing items in poly bags or other packages and have them shipped back to the warehouse, thereby issuing a full refund for the item.
Another disadvantage to online shopping is that you don’t get the experience of going to the store with friends or family. Shopping is always more fun with other people that you enjoy spending time with, and you can’t really get the same effect when shopping online.
