I offer a ‘Professional Decluttering Service’ I visit people who spend a lot of money on stuff, I speak from experience. I tell this tale as a hint or tip you decide which, it is an observation only and the only real truth and facts are the ones I have found to be true for me, you could call it a human study. I was in fact at the centre of such a study, of myself, by myself. This was because during what was a difficult time for me I started to watch TV, quite a lot actually and this is what I learnt.
There is a ruse, a ploy…..same thing really. I believe people involved are the market traders that were, the descendants of old Music Hall acts. The ‘Costermongers’ and the ‘Barrow Boys’, the door knockers and sellers of potions from market carts…. all claiming they could; fix everything that ailed you …. You are never going to Adam and Eve it, the buggers; they’ve only got themselves on the telly! These Hawkers of stuff have been cast into new and perfect roles, written for them by professional writers. I am without doubt these theatrically styled productions, played out daily by very effective actors and actresses, who work within an industry dedicated to making us want to spend, are absolute experts! These chatty, engaging, personable folk have the in built talent to suck us in. I have seen and watched them progress from tin pot shows to big productions, often celebrity endorsed! Indeed I am referring to the many shopping channels, some are selling quite high end goods along with lovely lotions and potions, some of which I have bought and re bought like my @Revitalashuk and @Decleoruk products , because they are, very, very, good.
It is a safe chatty engaging friendly place that you don’t have to leave home for, a place to meet your screen friends. It is a place with a special coaxing language and if you are a regular, you may have heard a certain phrase ‘Adding to Your Collection’. The term adding to your collection, it is very much a ploy to get you to buy more stuff (of course you know this already) but that’s because, YOU ARE SMART……? And anyway you get 30 days to return it however, we are British and we don’t like to cause a fuss and half of us don’t get round to it and anyway it was so cheap wasn’t it? Well there are lots of smart people, but I tell you now if you look on EBay you will see it is full of people selling the stuff from their collections – stuff they never needed, often stuff they haven’t use BNWOT or BNWT. I see loads and I mean lots of lower end jewellery. I’m not sure everyone can really afford to buy, I find this a bit sad and wonder about the duty of care aspect of the sellers. I know that items are often sold with special terms to make them seem within reach financially by offering easy pay options. These are a very useful tool if you are buying something you need or actually will use.
But you are my friend … aren’t you?
Shopping channels have a knack of befriending us and making us feel a part of something special, like a shopping family. So just a word of warning, they aren’t our mates and if you really don’t need it or just cant afford it don’t be tempted. That excited Butterfly feeling it will flutter by, because it is a fleeting rush. The rush of buying something new is most short lived and the feeling of horror when your credit card bill arrives can be shocking and is real. Learn to replace that old rush with a new and different feeling, think about something you really would like, a holiday or a great day out or one beautiful item that will last years and not just stuff that will sit in a draw – think before you buy. Try writing down your new plan, re-read your goals back to yourself daily, even set a reminder into your phone that will ping at you – I find this one really useful.
Remember nothing and nobody is perfect, I still buy a few things I probably know I shouldn’t. However, now I have a great way of moving these items on and getting my money back. Also there are other ways to find the things you want for less and my favourite hunting ground is EBay! I am in the middle of a blog to tell you all about that, so watch this space…… ‘Ebay Buying and Selling Tips’ with Mardi Girl
Check out my Instagram page @mardi.girl
www.mardigirl.co.uk