By
Nicky Harley
PUBLISHED:
09:16, 4 May 2012
|
UPDATED:
15:29, 4 May 2012
It’s no secret that excessive drinking is harmful to our health. But it is not just our livers we need to be concerned about.
Our wallets can also be badly hit thanks to impulse purchases made while online shopping under the influence of alcohol.
One in seven Britons admits they have been drunk while internet shopping in the last year, a new poll has revealed. Shockingly during the recession, one in every hundred of those purchases made cost its regretful tipsy owner more than £500.
Shopping under the influence: One in a hundred of these tipsy shoppers got a fright the next day when they realised they’d spent over £500 online while drunk
The most common purchases are clothes and shoes, with DVDs, video games and books not far behind.
The poll commissioned by social sharing
website Have You Seen backs up an earlier study that discovered a massive
43 per cent of people had shopped online after a drink.
Kelkoo – a shopping comparison website – also discovered that the key time for drunk shopping is between 11pm and 1am.
Sarah
Johnson, 25, from London confesses that when she has been drinking she
can’t resist logging on to amazon.co.uk to buy DVDs.
The key time for drunk shopping takes place between 11pm and 1am
She says: ‘My library is huge now, and half of the films I can’t even remember buying. I’ve spent hundreds of pounds on DVDs while drunk. It certainly makes drinking a bottle of wine a much more expensive habit.’
Jeremy Carlton, 37, from Mortlake, admits he too has a dangerous spending habit that spirals out of control when he’s been drinking.
‘I come home late from my shift work and have a few glasses of wine to wind down,’ he says. ‘But because it’s the wee hours of the morning, I have no one to go out with – so I find myself surfing the net and buying the most ridiculous things.
‘Sometimes I don’t remember I’ve done it until the packages arrive a couple of days later. I’ve bought all sorts of things, from wetsuits to gardening equipment and dozens of books. It’s just too easy.’
A YouGov survey found that more than half of Britons have now cut out impulse buying because of the recession – but if willpower weakens after a drink, the best solution is to avoids logging on
to resist the temptation to spend.
Dan Pearce, director of Have You Seen, adds that strapped-for-cash Brits can use the internet to save money instead of wasting it, if they become more savvy at internet shopping.
Using voucher codes and registering with sites that earn you cashback on purchases are some ways to do this while sites like Have You Seen reward customers for recommending products and services to friends and family.
‘Online shopping need not hurt your wallet. You can shop online while still earning money,’ he said. ‘Shoppers can also benefit from the recommendations of others – which should help avoid any bad impulse buys before reaching the online tills.’
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Self inflicted bankrupcy? Are we supposed to feel sorry for these idiots?
- Jim, Worcester, 04/5/2012 15:53
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I bought a pair of Louboutins drunk once… worst hangover ever!!!
- Liv, London, 04/5/2012 15:41
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I once did the Tesco shop after a few glasses of wine once and ended up with 36 loo-rolls. And various BOGOF offers on things I would never have ordered if I was sober. At least the look on the delivery guy’s face the next morning was worth it, he looked very bemused as I took in a HUGE number of carrier bags full of food and muttered “That’s the last time I get drunk and do a food shop”
- Sarah, UK, 04/5/2012 15:39
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Hmm! not drunk but the last time I did this my finger slipped when ordering my baccy online and I got double the amount. Ninety quids worth.
- pipesmoker, Staffordshire, 04/5/2012 15:23
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Haha yes I did this too, about 15/20 years ago before the popularity of online shopping! After a (rare) boozy night out with friends I got home and turned the tv on. I then thought it was a great idea to order an exercise bike on QVC channel at the ‘Not-to-be-missed Astonishing Price of Just £99′, so I rang the hotline and slurred my address card number to the nice lady then went to bed. A few days later this bike turned up and I thought ‘What the heck is this?’ I’d completely forgotten about it!
I lived in a small flat at the time and was working two jobs to pay my mortgage so it wasn’t something I could afford, let alone have it taking up the whole of my living room. I rang QVC back, it had a 14 day money back ‘if not satisfied’ (translate ‘if drunk when purchased’) guarantee and thankfully they took it away and I got a refund. Needless to say I learned my lesson. Oh and I don’t drink at all these days 
- Mum of Two, East Anglia, 04/5/2012 14:53
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Ha ha ha I have done this 
- motherof2, Kent, 04/5/2012 14:45
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I am sooo guilty of this and not sure if I’m even ashamed. I once booked a weekend to New York! Only when I checked my emails when I woke up did I realise the deed. Needless to say I had a great time and some of the best (sober) shopping I’ve done though did have to call in “sick” on the Monday as the flight back landed in the afternoon, and am prob still paying for it. Hell yeah SUI!
- Seriously, Whoknows!?!, 04/5/2012 14:42
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had I not done this there wouldn’t have been a Christmas at mine
- splassher6, crackpot, Yorks, 04/5/2012 14:17
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I have got the most fabulous collection of CD’s and I never quite know what will be my next addition until my good old postie turns up! Thankfully my shopping seems quite tame and useful compared to some on here!!!!!!!!
- Mia, Midlands, 04/5/2012 14:08
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Some of these comments are hilarious – thanks for making me laugh hard!!!
- Freezing, North West, 04/5/2012 14:08
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