You bought it. It was a mistake and now you regret it. What happens next?

I only have a few items like that I try to use them,but one item spring loaded knee braces supposed to be great especially for those with arthritis J-U-N-K!! and with shipping were close to $100 canadian and never worked .

So—you kept them, or what?

If returning it is going to be too much trouble, and it wasn’t an expensive item, I usually pass it on. Example, I ordered a foursome of stemless wine glasses recently, the description said each one held 8 ounces. What they didn’t say was that each held 8 ounces…twice. They were obnoxiously large for me, but my friend was happy to have them.
Unfortunately, about 15 years ago I bought a mattress with a terrific warranty. When it sagged in six months, still covered by warranty, the sellers (Sleepy’s) made it so difficult to return or exchange or get refunded, (and they were masters at this, just barely skating on the legal side of the contract) that I eventually gave up, as they intended I would, and simply ate the cost of the item.
That one was definitely a “live with regrets” scenario.

I donated it, with caveats.

I put them on facebook community pages and get my money back. For small items I give them away.

Suppose it’s a $5 item. Give it to a friend. Some friends might insist on paying, some won’t. I wouldn’t be asking for them to pay me anything though, in fact the opposite I would tell them to just take it. If they insist I would take the money. This is happening a lot right now during COVID. We are buying things for each other if we find an item at the grocery store that a friend is having trouble finding. Also, some of us are getting items we didn’t really want because the store or shopper substituted an item on an online order, and so people give the items to friends rather than returning the item. I’ll probably throw it away if no one wants it, but it could take me a year or two to throw it.

Suppose it’s $100. Possibly, give it to a friend or family member. Is it a gifty thing? Then it might be a gift for someone for an occasion, but I might gift it without any occasion. I have a regift shelf with items like this. I might try to sell it, really depends what it is. I think it is more likely worth more as a gift that I don’t have to buy, because I doubt I can sell it for $100.

Now suppose it’s over $500. If my immediate family could use it I would give it to them, otherwise I would try to sell it. As time passes, let’s say a few years have passed, and I can’t sell it for much, eventually I might clear it out of the house and give it as a gift to someone who isn’t close family. I do tend to hold onto things for a while if they worth quite a bit of money, even if it just sits in a closet. Eventually, I get to a point that I rather someone get use out of it.

I have things laying around that I have saved, like curtains that were from a previous home that don’t fit a window right now. Sometimes I think of making pillows from the fabric since the colors still match my furniture. I have the regift shelf I told you about above, but I do regularly gift people those things. I have boxes of items waiting for me to get back into a larger house, and I miss many of those things. It is not a case of out of sight out of mind. On a regular basis I want something from one of those boxes. I also have a few pieces of furniture I really should get rid of, but haven’t, and even if I was in the bigger house I should get rid of those pieces of furniture. What stops me is the money I paid for them, or some memory of when I loved the item.

I ordered replacement band for my smart watch, they sent the wrong one. Went to contact them and e-mail bounces back they are . . . out of business. Nest time I go to pharmacy the cashier is wearing the watch that matches the band. She is a college kid (taking a few courses not a full load), I ask her she would like a new band, come back four hours later before she goes home and give it to her. Band was a $90 band marked down to $45. She will complete her nursing degree next year.

I have an unused $100 gift card for a bicycle shop that just went out of business. I won’t sit on gift cards until I really need something anymore.

I buy and sell things frequently. It’s nothing to flip an item for a quick $50 sometimes. That’s what I would usually do. I also donate quite a bit to a local charity.

Sell on eBay if worth $20 or more (I’ve been selling things on eBay regularly for years now). Less than that, just eat it.

I bought a used electric chair four years ago. It seemed great when I test drove it. Later, when I was stranded shopping, I discovered it had a short or cross in the wiring. It would shut down suddenly when there was plenty of power still. Eventually it would go again, but being unpredictable, I couldn’t use it. It has spent all this time sitting beside the house. No way was I going to pay someone to take it away. I was already out too much.
The other day I was negotiating with the boys who mow for me. I hadn’t been able to get out to an ATM until the day before, so my house looked like a jungle hut. I told them they could have $20 taken out, if they wanted to have the chair. They were good with that. They just might have a sibling who can find and fix the problem. I was completely honest with them about its condition. I got a discount on the lawn care, they got a project their mom might well use in the future.

I took a loss, which usually I try to avoid, but this was likely the best deal I would get on that thing.

Pringle’s Wendy’s Baconator

I bought this tonight and our oldest son holds the record for # of attempts to taste. He ate 2 chips. The rest of us couldn’t get past the first.

No dip will make this chip taste better. We don’t know what to do with this crap.

It took us over an hour to get this taste out of our mouth from one chip.

I am having a hard time thinking of a purchase I regretted. I do have 2 restaurant gift certificates that forgot about and discovered after both places went out of business. Maybe my cash kept them going for an extra minute or so.

Unwanted stuff goes to Goodwill or, unfortunately, in the basement if there’s a chance i can use it later.

Some things that are small, I may bring to work and there’s a spot for free stuff that people want to give away. I don’t know if that is continuing now with the Covid, but that’s what I used to do. Sometimes if something was cheap I would just throw it out. If it’s something that I spent more money on and it’s something a friend might use, I would give it away.

It’s more like stuff I am not going to use anymore.
I have given away things to family & friends and have also donated to organizations.

A regret I have involved giving a bunch of flower pots away to a neighbor who is an avid gardener.
I made them to experiment with different glazes & techniques. They were pretty ugly but served their purpose (for me) I figured she might use them to start her own plants & toss them out.
About a month later, she told me that she made a bunch of money when she sold them at her garden club get together.
What? My name was all over these bombs!
I made modifications to my maker’s mark shortly after that as I couldn’t be associated with that mess Lol! and learned a lesson about expectations:)

Sell it on eBay or Craigslist. Or give it to Goodwill.