5-Star Reviews

by Wade Wiebe

I spend a lot of time reading reviews online. Whenever I consider buying something, one of the first things I do is check the internet to find out more about it: What’s the best brand? Where can I get it cheapest? And, inevitably – what do the people who seem to live to scrutinize the smallest details think about it? Deeper and deeper I go, into a rabbit hole. Hours later I emerge. Sometimes it’s been worthwhile: what I’ve learned makes me a better judge of quality, and I can avoid wasting time and resources on inferior purchases. But more often, something else happens. First, I spend two hours searching to save five or ten dollars in price. Think about that. That means I’m implicitly hoping to pay myself $2.50 - $5.00/hr for my trouble if I can find that lower price. And what if that lower price is only available from a manufacturer that beats the competition by compromising the environment or its workers? Am I willing to pay the higher price anyway after all my time spent? Second, the longer I spend researching a purchase, the more invested I become in making that purchase. And the more I read 5-star reviews, or watch head-to-head comparisons between brands, the more I confirm to myself: “That’s what I need!” But by making this single thing the object of my intense focus, it can be difficult to return to the question that must be answered before I make any choice at all: Do I need this?

Too often, I’ve started researching a purchase without first anchoring myself safely to this basic question. I begin by asking myself, reasonably, whether I should buy a specific tool, for example. Once online, I see that the general consensus agrees that what I had in mind is not the best option after all, so I start researching what is the best option and… there – did you miss it? Without even noticing it, my question changed from “should I buy?” to “what should I buy?” Two or four hours later, what are the chances that I’ll return to the first question? I’ve already spent all this time, and found the optimal product according to every opinion online, and found the lowest possible price… what’s left to do but buy it?

But in reality, the question “Do I need this?” must be answered first. That is: Does my need for this thing outweigh…

a)      the price in money,

b)     the environmental cost of creating and later disposing of it (including shipping and packaging),

c)       the possible use of unfair labour, and

d)      the storage and maintenance of it as long as it’s mine?

And if even if it does, is there a simpler, less “optimal” solution?

Fortunately, I’m slowly getting better at coming back to this basic question, despite my impulses. I still put myself through all the time and effort of researching a purchase, but I now consider it a successful “transaction” when I can complete it by making no purchase at all. In fact, I’ve found that successfully  not buying something has become as satisfying as a new purchase. And if I can answer, in part, the global problems of debt, pollution and fairness to workers by saving my money for better things, then… what’s a better deal than that?