Online Shopping Ban 2024

Summary of the most important points from my video, if you need a quick reference

Here’s a summary of the most important points from my video, in case you need a reference if you decide to do this project with me too.

Reasons why I think online shopping is not good for me

1. Firstly, even if I don’t buy anything, it still saps my time and energy. I can spend hours browsing, thinking about buying something, wanting to find the best possible deal if I were theoretically going to get that thing. And the list of things is endless, when things are constantly being marketed to you.

2. Secondly, I was starting to use shopping and browsing as a coping strategy for stressful situations, and to avoid unpleasant feelings. Rather than dealing with the feelings or addressing the root of my stress, I would compulsively just take out my phone and start browsing as a way to distract myself. For a period of time, I couldn’t even be still for 30 seconds without feeling like I needed to be looking at something on my phone.

3. Thirdly, I know myself, and I know that I’m very susceptible to influence and comparison. Constantly exposing myself to the world of online shopping made me feel like I’m in a perpetual state of deprivation, of not-enough-ness. There was always something new to buy, something that will improve my life, something that will finally make my life feel complete. And I know that’s not true. That is not where I find meaning and fulfilment in my life. These are not things that I can buy.

Objectives of the “Online Shopping Ban”

To summarise, the main objectives of my “Online Shopping Ban” are quite simple.

1. Firstly, save money.

2. Secondly, save time.

3. Thirdly, with the extra time, to work on other things that are more meaningful to me, like this YouTube channel.

4. Fourthly, to reduce overstimulation of my brain, and rediscover my slower hobbies that I’ve long neglected, like reading, journalling, and watching movies. I also want to learn to really rest, to let my mind wander, and to do absolutely nothing.

5. Fifthly, to redefine the role of shopping in my life. To be clear, I’m not banishing shopping entirely from my life. I think shopping, in its physical, in-person forms, still has a valuable place in my life. I think that shopping can be a social and shared experience. For example, I can go shopping with my friends at the mall. The highlight of that experience would be the visual, tactile, and social aspects of shopping. So for me, shopping can still be a pastime, if it’s with other people, and if the focus is not simply on the acquisition of things.

6. Finally, to be more intentional with my purchases. For any purchases that I make moving forward, the intention and purpose must be clear from the beginning. This means no more scrolling online, browsing for things to buy without any clear purpose or need to fulfil.

Rules of the “Online Shopping Ban”

Access rules:

1. I will delete Shopee and other shopping-related apps (e.g. Lazada, Sephora, iHerb) from my phone. So on most days, these apps don’t live on my phone at all. I will only download them if I need to look for something, and then promptly delete them.

2. I can only download Shopee for one day out of the month to browse during the monthly promo days, like 6.6, 11.11, 12.12. I can log in the day before to add to cart and check out at midnight. I can also download the Shopee app to mark an order as received, and delete it immediately after.

3. I am also using this browser called Firefox Focus as my main browser on my phone, because it only allows me to open one tab at a time. This has helped a lot in preventing me from opening multiple tabs at once, which is what I usually do when I’m window shopping online and looking into 10 different products at the same time.

Purchasing rules:

1. I will maintain a list of things I need to purchase. I will see what can be purchased in store (e.g. Fairprice, Decathlon), and what needs to be purchased online.

2. I can buy things online if I have seen the item in-person at a physical store. I did this recently for something I wanted to buy in UNIQLO, where I needed a size that was only available online, and I also had an online-only voucher.

3. And then, I will save up all the items that can only be purchased online* and only buy them during monthly promo season on Shopee.

4. *Criteria before purchasing anything online:

   • Significantly better deals online than in-store (e.g. more than $10, and savings are more than $2)

   • Item needs to be unavailable in store in a convenient way, (e.g. travel time to the store is more than 1 hour from my house)

   • Item needs to be inconvenient to bring home due to bulk or weight (e.g. groceries, furniture, appliance, etc.)

   • If it’s a replacement item for something I use regularly, I can get it immediately (but access rules still apply).

   • If the item is considered frivolous and a non-necessity (e.g. perfume, home decor), then it has to live in my wishlist for at least 3 months before I can buy it.

Anti-Online-Shopping Manifesto

1. Shopping is no longer only a physical event that happens with others, or in a physical retail store. Online shopping is a lonely, solitary and isolated experience between yourself and your phone screen.

2. The total amount of time you spend on Shopee is in no way commensurate with the total savings you get from flash deals, vouchers, and coins cashback. It is Shopee’s ultimate strategy to get you to compulsively check their app for these things. Your focus, time, and attention is far more valuable than these deals.

3. Convenience is not the ultimate goal, intentionality is. Shopee’s ultimate selling point is its convenience, but the price you pay is too high. You are not just paying with money for things you never intended to buy, but you are also paying with your attention, time, and energy. You might think getting something for cheaper on Shopee compared to retail is worth it, but it is usually not, when the invisible exchange is also your time and attention on the app.

4. There are very few things in this world that you need that can only be found online. If you truly need it urgently, you will definitely be able to find it in person in a physical store. For example: groceries, cleaning supplies, household tools. If you can wait for something to be shipped, it’s unlikely to be urgent, and therefore unlikely to be a true necessity.

5. It is also Shopee’s strategy to provide anything you could possible want to buy, from groceries, household necessities, to furniture and decor, and even luxury items. This is a trap. Their aim is to have a monopoly on all your categories of spending, so you never have to look anywhere else.

6. You won’t find happiness at the bottom of your infinite scrolling feed. The algorithms on Shopee are just like on social media — they want to show you things that interest you, that you might like, that you might buy. You’re not seeking out these things intentionally, you are looking for things to buy. That is not in line with your values of intentional living.

The Kurt Vonnegut envelope story

https://twitter.com/thanatosinfurs/status/1602357659524812800

I’ve always thought of time as this linear, two-dimensional thing — you either have more time, or less time. You spend more time on something, or less time on something.

This simple envelope story reminded me that it’s not always about doing the easiest, or most convenient, or most practical, or most efficient thing, just to save time. What you do with that time, and during that time, is also worth investigating.

Online shopping, as it has manifested in my life, flattens my time, makes me lose time in a way that I don’t value, makes me lose sight of the present, makes me anxious, self-centred, and poor. I lose so much of the experience and dimensions of being human when I get sucked into my phone screen and the empty promises of consumerism.

And that’s why I’m doing this project.

I wish you all the best. xxx