Things I Bought and Returned (TIBAR) | VOL. 1
Because the real thrill lies within getting your money back.
If you’re a red-blooded American woman, you’re more than likely familiar with the very popular Instagram page, Things I Bought And Liked (TIBAL). This woman—whoever she is because she has somehow remained completely anonymous for years now—has made a living off of buying things, liking them, then sharing what she likes with her audience. Is she a glorified influencer? Absolutely. But she approached the industry in a different way and became a disrupter.
Now, if you’re a red-blooded American woman who is very online, you’ve probably also heard about this new trend of “deinfluencing”; this is where influencers flip the script and share things they DON’T like in an effort to save you from making the same mistakes they did. I feel like I’ve been doing this for the entirety of my influencing, but realized this past week that I could be doing a lot more of it because my absolute favorite thing to do besides shop is
RETURN.
My mom has always loved to shop and instilled the same in my both me and my sister. Her taste is impeccable but never over-the-top, and I can’t tell you the last time she bought something full price. We learned the thrill of the bargain from Ellen but, more importantly, we learned the art of returning things you don’t love immediately.
I am a returning wizard. Items that are to be returned do not stay in my home for more than a day or two, ever. I’m either back at the store returning it or printing off my prepaid label, taping it to the box or package, and dropping it at USPS/UPS/FedEx the next day. When it comes to returning, I do not fuck around, and I 100% got this from my Mama.
I consider returning a sport. Once I’ve decided I don’t want something, it has no home in my house. It’s got to go back from whence it came.
I have friends who let returns sit forever. They never go back. I have a husband who is the same and was delighted (and honestly amazed) to meet someone who was more than happy to handle returns for him with a smile on her face. I joke that if my career were to ever fall completely to shit, I could probably start a return service and make mounds of money. That’s how much I love it.
All of this is why I’ve decided to start this paid newsletter series:
Things I Bought And Returned (TIBAR)
I shop and return almost weekly, so a monthly list of TIBAR feels like a no-brainer. Of course, some months may be lighter than others, but women be shoppin’ and Golden girls be returnin’, so I should always have something to share here. I had to dig back through my returning history for this first one, but found plenty so here are TIBAR in the last few months!