resist THE TEMPTATIONS OF STORE EMPLOYEES

Some say that hate and love aren’t that different from each other. That’s right. At least when it comes to shopping. There’s little that is more fun than buying new clothes, but at the same time there’s also little worse than stores.

When you think about it, shops are often hellish. Moaning store employees, THE dress but not in your size, fitting rooms that are too small and have bad lighting, endless queues, and pushy store employees. Especially the latter is such a source of annoyance. I hate it when I leave a fitting room and the lady asks me whether I managed. What’s the best possible answer to such a question?! Yes, I managed putting on clothes and no I’m not buying them — I usually just mumble something and walk past them. Another thing I hate is when store employees seduce you into buying things you don’t really want, I’ve got a closet filled with bad buys. I’ve spent good deal of my time shopping and so I discovered how they manage to do this. So grab a piece of paper and a pen and take note, these are their tricks that convince you to leave the shop with white leggings and a purple dress.

1. They force you to experience the piece, which makes you want to buy it immediately. You have to try the dress, or spray that perfume, or wear that bag. You’re then parked in front of a mirror (which has a subtle thinning effect) and showered with compliments. It’s so pretty on you, the colour matches your skin perfectly, you can always wear it, in short, you’re crazy to pass it up.

2. The clothing is presented with the drama of Vegas magician. Not a folded piece of cloth or a stupid hanger, the dress/coat/trousers/skirt/whatever just appears before you with a swoosh and a puff of wind, which makes you think you’re dealing with something quite extraordinary. Bags are unwrapped with two hands, a dress is presented by holding hanger with one hand and subtly moving the lower part of the dress with the other hand. It’s like a professional cocktail shaker, make some impressive moves and convince the person that the cocktail is now actually worth 25 euro.

3. They promise mountains of gold. Be careful when they say things like “I’ve got the perfect shoes to match” or “you look so fabulous in those trousers, and I’ve got the perfect top to go with them.” You only wanted those trousers? Ignore the top. Only wanted the dress? Ignore the shoes. Don’t fall for it. As soon as you had to wait 10 minutes, you feel as though you can’t say no any more because “he already went to such great lengths.”

4. They make sure you’ll get attached to the piece. Instead of saying that the fabric’s really soft, they make you feel it. Convincing you that the leather of the bag is incredibly special comes across better when you smell or touch it. Before you know it you experienced the piece with all your senses and you’ll think it’s a really great buy even though you weren’t at all looking for leather trousers or a bag.