At LV and Saks today, saw some really compulsive buying happening...

azngal

O.G.
Jun 12, 2010
735
14
Tell me if you think this is compulsive buying beyond ones means...

So I was at the LV store (oh we had to wait a few minutes to get in, it was too crowded inside)....and was trying to decide if I should go ahead and get an Artsy Azur, when a young 20s woman and her friend wrangled my SA away from me (pretty much said "hey, I need help, I'm going to buy this") very rude. So they end up trying out a ton of bags it being first LV purchase I'm sure, until they decided on the largest Neverful in Azur. After standing there for what seemed like an eternity, and my SA looking at me apologetically, they then asked "can I put it on 3 cards and pay you some cash too"...to which of course I was thinking great...this is going to take a while. As they walked over to the cashier, heard them talking about "which card do you think has money still left on it?"

I then head over to Saks...after I gave up buying any bag at LV given the line, and same thing happened...elderly lady who really was dress quite nice, bought $900 worth of clothing (during the 50% off sale today), and asked to put some on credit card up to $500 and then paid on another card for the rest.

Am I the only one who thinks that this is not right....maxing out your credit cards to buy luxury items that are beyond ones means?
 
That's too much! People should not live beyond their means. It says a lot about the world we're living in. It's sad really. Maybe there was a method to their madness but gosh how embarrassing
 
You don't know it was necessarily beyond their means. I bought a very expensive diamond ring at Tiffanys recently - and I'm in my late 20s but could pass for 18 - and used four credit cards for the purchase even though I had the money in the bank. I wanted the 3% cash back and each card had either a cash back limit or just a general credit limit that required me to be creative with which amounts went on each card. I paid off the balances from my checking account before the end of the week but to someone else who was making assumptions and with no context it could have looked like I was in-debting myself for life.

I guess my point is, if its not your money and if you don't know the details, who cares? Sorry that you got ignored at LV though. Thats always very frustrating when the store is busy. :smile:
 
I am definitely sure it was beyond their means. You can tell, nervous with the purchase, contemplating over it, asking how many credit cards can be used and adding cash to it, etc. But, it is a choice some people make and that's how retail can stay afloat.
 
I don't know. In my case, I was definitely nervous and second guessing spending that much money. I had to call each credit card's customer service number to make sure they would approve the amount. Even then one of them got denied by the fraud department so I had to call them a second time and have the bank stay on the line with the SA while the charge was rung. Talk about embarrassing! Maybe I'm just giving humanity the benefit of the doubt. :shrugs:
 
? I do this sometimes... and I never purchase things unless I have the money to spare... I'm also 22. I take care of my own bills and school and what not. I only use two cards, both debit, but sometimes, because I have different accounts for different reasons and for safety I transfer money into the account connected to my debit... but sometimes I have a decent amount of cash on me so I think why not use up the cash I already have just so its used up and I dont need to worry about carrying the money with me anymore... I do it for safety reasons or because I deposited a paycheck or a personal check on one card cuz it was convienent so i'll split it between cards because its easier and I can split the rewards on each card...
 
Well dropping a $1000 plus on a bag does deserve second guessing for everyone...even if you can afford it. I agree with that. Let's hope we all buy these lovely bags responsibly after we work hard for our money and buy ourselves (or our DH buys it for us) a gift as a reward. At least for me, saving and working hard to earn that reward makes working hard worth it :smile:
 
Some people just have really low limits on their cards. I somehow, have managed to establish a $3500/transaction allowance on my debit card; I have yet to put anything anywhere close to that sum of money on my debit card so I have no idea how I've managed to build it to that level. But I have plenty of friends who have only $300, $500 on their weekly debit card withdrawals. They may have the money in the bank, but just aren't able to put that amount on their debit without it being flagged or frozen.

I get it enough at work that it doesn't bother me. Providing you're not the idiot who pays for their $500+ purchase in 20s, tens, fives - or coinage - I pay no attention to how you pay your bill.
 
Compulsive spending on anything to excess is wrong, especially if financially you cannot afford it. However in saying that, I don't think you can assume the people you saw are in financial difficulty, some people I know have set limits on their credit cards to prevent huge spending if they are stolen and so pay with two cards, yet financially they are perfectly fine.

I feel society does exert a very strong push to consumerism, which unfortunately for younger people, they feel the need to demonstrate their 'financial success' (even if it is only fleeting) more quickly than older generations. People want everything 'now' rather than wait until they really CAN afford it. Loans, credit cards etc. are such a trap for young people as many don't bother to read the fine print or really take stock of the consequences if they cannot pay their debt off.