HOW I CHANGE THE FEELING OF PANIC BUYING INTO A THOUGHTFUL CONSUMER
How do I even experience a panic buying in the first place?
The term panic buying started exploding in the pandemic era in which people are raging in the shopping mart as if this universe is about to end soon (but, is not it?). Based on the Oxford dictionary, panic buying means the action of buying large quantities of a particular product or commodity due to sudden fears of a forthcoming shortage or price increase. I still remember when the president would announce the lockdown, a bunch of people were going to mart and take out everything that leads to the shortage of many items, sounds eerily horrifying? I should be grateful for not facing the fear as I always think the resources are abundant or at least enough for us? I believe our government, though (smile like a joker).
Currently, I experienced this panic buying feeling and it is not even related to the food consumption nor daily need but (I am not feeling guilty) anime merchandise? I have this fear of not gaining my favorite character merchandise knowing he is not even that popular in Indonesia, so when can I buy these if it is not now? Hence, I spent almost 2 million in a month (I know there are many people out there who spend much more than me but is that not the point?). As someone who is wise enough (especially spending money on unnecessary things) in managing expenses for years, I got a cold sweet seeing a red sign on my expenses app. For God’s sake I swear not to make the same mistake again. Words are just words in the end. After watching multiple anime, it is getting worse but THANKS GOD I still can control it a tad (a tad you say, Ros?) PVC Figure Gojo + PVC Figure Megumi + Big Plush Megumi + Oikawa Nendo in a week? In fact, admiring popular anime is worse because their company keeps releasing merchandise endlessly + fan artists compete to produce fan merchs? Let me take a breath.
After months of regretting my stupidity, I came to find a pattern in this anime merchandise universe. The rarer the character item is, the more expensive it will be (basic law on selling and buying). We can actually buy it in exchange to sell it someday once we get bored and even can raise the price. For instance, Haikyuu Nendo (uniform based) cost around 600K — 700K in general but right now, the price tends to increase up to almost 1,5 million. I am not sure if I can actually call it an investment because not all merchandise have the same treatment. However I am positive to say, this universe will sustain in a longer time. If you have already purchased it in bulk, there is always a chance for you to sell it because many people will still look for it (but it depends on the anime as well). Anime is so popular in Indonesia, so do not worry that much. I sold some merchandise which I already lost interest with (e.g comic, keychain, art print, figure, etc.) and people are still willing to buy. Nowadays, we have many platforms to market our products especially for anime such as Shopee, Instagram, TokPed, JPM (My fav so far), etc.
There is this interesting term called Open Slot which means exchanging orders from our personal account to other people. It triggers me because I used to laugh at people who do Opslot but I end up doing the same thing (yes, I am guilty). Then, I tried to research the reasons behind opslot:
1. Urgent matters. The official merchandise is mostly sold in PO form meaning we have to wait at least three months in advance. During those three months, we never knew what would happen. If I recall people doing that, they usually need urgent cash. This is interesting, if we decide to spend on entertainment-kind of things, make sure you have an emergency fund.
2. Losing interest in certain anime/character. It still resonates with point number one, we never knew what will happen in those three months. If people already lost interest in character, logically they do not want to spend money on it and the choice is? Open slot. Think clearly before clicking the purchase button.
I do not have any intentions to criticize this system because it can be bad and good, I even experienced it. However, this system can reduce the initial purpose of owning merchandise itself as something that is supposed to give us joy? The thinking system should be “ordering — waiting — receiving — enjoying” but now it’s turns out to be “ordering — waiting — open slot” as if we just follow the hype of people out there without any intentions to enjoy it sincerely (as you see there is no “enjoying” in the second thinking system). When we talk about money, we really can’t follow 100% theory given, it depends on the individual.
For almost six months of me getting into this cycle, I came to take lessons:
1. Think for days before pushing the purchase button. Hold yourself and better do something else to avoid the thinking “If not buying now, when can I?” kind of. Believe me, if you only think about it for one day, you’ll end up buying it anyway because of your ego and fear. It took me almost a week to come to the conclusion whether I would buy it or not and it worked out? You might try but do not forget the deadline as well.
2. I buy something that has a possibility of being sold in the future. In short, buy anime merchandise many people like (please don’t call me a capitalist). It doesn’t only work on anime merchandise but other stuff as well e.g book, bag, clothes, etc. Hence, we must take care of our stuff. Who knows people out there will have any interest in preloved stuff. This point really changes on my mindset the most.
I have no idea if this is even useful writing and am I being a thoughtful consumer? Taking some experiences is great though, it makes us wiser and mature? Making mistakes is normal as long as we realize and not repeat them again. Such a life huh.
