As humans, it's part of our nature to always buy one thing or the other and it's one of the factors to living a fulfilling life; satisfying our wants. But a lot of times, we end up buying things we didn't really need or something that works differently from what we imagined. It might be a case of "what you ordered vs what you got" or it might be an impulsive purchase which just happen in the spur of the moment.
No matter what form it comes in, we have all bought something we regret. It might be instant regret or the regret that comes after using the product for some time. But there's still the other side of this situation, which is the purchases that made us proud. It might be something you really needed and finally got after saving for it or something that was gifted to you by someone. I have had my fair share of both situations and I think I will start with the best one (because why not?😁)
Best purchase
Over the years, I have bought a lot of very good things and I'm having a hard time picking the best. It can be a small item like a phone holder which my friends never understand the reason behind it but I have been using that phone holder every day since I bought it and it's especially useful when I'm using my laptop. On the other hand, my laptop is also a very good purchase that has served me well over time but I think in this case, one particular item ranks higher than all these I have mentioned and it's my phone.
Before I bought this phone, I was blogging with my Tecno Spark k7 and believe me when I say it was a very torturous process. The phone lags a lot and freezes occasionally (it's a 1gb Ram phone), so it took me hours just to write an article. Also, it got to a point where the network became very terrible and I can't use it when I'm in my room, so I usually step outside just to do anything that involves the Internet.
Back then I was still a student, so I usually wrote my articles at night which means sometimes I can be outside up to around midnight struggling to publish my article. I eventually saved up a lot of money and bought a new phone in October 2021. I had about 4 options to pick from considering my budget but in the end, I decided to go for Tecno Pova which cost me around ₦100k. The move from 1gb to 6gb RAM was a very big upgrade for me and I have been enjoying the phone ever since.
The battery is also bigger; 6000mAh which is times two of that of the tecno k7 (3000 mAh) and the best part; it has a 4G network. The reason why I picked my phone as the best purchase is that it made the money I used to buy every other good thing I mentioned earlier; my laptop, phone stand, power bank, earpod, sandwich maker and a host of other things.
Worst purchase
I have done a lot of bad purchases in my life but there's one that takes the crown as the undisputed king of worst purchases and it's a virtual reality glass I foolishly bought from Jumia in 2019 for just 5000 (around $10 back then). I just heard about virtual reality (VR) during that period and I was so intrigued by them. I researched the price of VR glasses and the cheapest one I saw was around $1500 (around ₦700k).
I decided to check on Jumia to see if there was a cheaper one and of course, I found one. The way it worked is that you put your phone inside and then you put on the glass. You can use it to watch movies and even play VR games. Without thinking, I ordered it and in a couple of days, it arrived. The instant I saw it out of the box, I knew I had bought rubbish. I decided to give it a try and see how it worked. I put on a move, put my phone inside the case and to cut the long story short, that was the worst movie experience of my life.
It was very blurry and uncomfortable, I couldn't even use it for more than 5 minutes. I immediately put it back in its carton and kept it hidden in my wardrobe, I only took it out today to take pictures of it and show you guys what a bad decision looks like 😂 My phone can't even fit in because the phone I was using when I bought it was smaller and fit right in, my tecno pova is a bit bigger. So there you have it, the worst purchase of my life.
One thing I have learned from this experience is to never buy things on impulse. Whenever the urge to buy something that feels like a bad idea comes up, take some days to think about if you really need that thing, and then you can decide to still go ahead with the purchase. But as for me, I didn't even think it through, I just saw a cheap VR glass and immediately bought it. Maybe I thought it was a glitch and if I didn't buy it immediately, I would lose that chance. Big mistake.
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Twitter: @kushyzeena