# Things people buy and end up not using. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 15, 2019, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-people-buy-and-end-up-not-using/827822 "2019-01-15T20:49:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-people-buy-and-end-up-not-using/827822/41 "2019-01-16T16:28:44Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > I have a Starship Enterprise [pizza cutter](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/31lEp7tzNJL._SX466_.jpg) that I’ve never used to cut pizza. But then, I never really planned to use it. It’s just cool. I have one shaped like a bat’leth ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-people-buy-and-end-up-not-using/827822/42 "2019-01-16T16:50:07Z")
How about food? ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-people-buy-and-end-up-not-using/827822/43 "2019-01-16T18:06:26Z")
> [@Alpha\_Twit](#): > > That’s hardly limited to board games. I dropped several hundred dollars buying two of the Warhammer 40K [Ork Great Gargants](https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fi294.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fmm106%2FLinnear1701%2FApocalypse%2FOrcGargant2.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fapocalypse40k.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F03%2Fork-great-gargant.html&docid=08LkpIJ8cfHF6M&tbnid=6ixZN__YeLc1dM%3A&vet=10ahUKEwjf78Xjm_HfAhWM3oMKHRZhAtQQMwhWKAIwAg..i&w=540&h=386&client=firefox-b-1&bih=599&biw=1476&q=ork%20great%20gargant&ved=0ahUKEwjf78Xjm_HfAhWM3oMKHRZhAtQQMwhWKAIwAg&iact=mrc&uact=8) (produced by Armourcast). I never played a single game with them, never even painted them up. I wonder if I can get some of my cash back through eBay. That reminds me I have more 30 GURPS books and have never actually played the game itself. Though to be fair the books are still entertaining to read on their own. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List\_of\_GURPS\_books](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_GURPS_books) I also have numerous books from other role-playing games where I have never actually played the game. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-people-buy-and-end-up-not-using/827822/44 "2019-01-16T18:31:58Z")
A swimming pool. Thankfully, I have finally decided to have the darned thing filled in after living a couple of decades with it–this will be a major event in the springtime. The pool was probably 20 years old already when we go it, so it’s not a terrible loss. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-people-buy-and-end-up-not-using/827822/45 "2019-01-16T18:40:18Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > A swimming pool. > > Thankfully, I have finally decided to have the darned thing filled in after living a couple of decades with it–this will be a major event in the springtime. The pool was probably 20 years old already when we go it, so it’s not a terrible loss. We filled ours in a year ago. Only regret is not having done it a decade ago. When I was a bachelor, it was fun for parties, but once i got married, neither my wife nor I used it, so it was just a huge waste of time, effort and money. Now it’s a beautiful, useful patio. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-people-buy-and-end-up-not-using/827822/46 "2019-01-16T19:02:56Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > The thing is I actually play a lot of board games. I usually get together to play a couple of times each week. I checked my BGG log and I played 218 games in 2018. > > So my problem isn’t under-using; it’s over-buying. I play games regularly - it’s specific games that shelfwarm, some of which never got enough play to justify what was spent on them. I have other games (and expansions to games) which have literally never been played but I never intended to play them - sometimes the whole point was to simply own them. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-people-buy-and-end-up-not-using/827822/47 "2019-01-16T19:08:28Z")
I have indeed bought a used Treadmill from someone who never used it that I ended up never using only to then sell to someone else who never used it. Maybe it was cursed? I have also spent hundreds of dollars or more on videos games I have never played. ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-people-buy-and-end-up-not-using/827822/48 "2019-01-16T19:19:43Z")
Fine china dishes and sterling silverware. I’m talking about the sort of stuff that in generations past was passed down from grandmother to mother to daughter. 364 days a year it sits in a display hutch but gets reverently broken out for use on either Thanksgiving or Christmas. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-people-buy-and-end-up-not-using/827822/49 "2019-01-16T19:28:47Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > How about food? OP says moderately or very expensive, so that would exclude most food. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-people-buy-and-end-up-not-using/827822/50 "2019-01-16T19:33:23Z")
The vast, vast majority of guns. Even shooting enthusiasts tend to have a few they shoot a lot, some they shoot infrequently, and at least a few they shoot seldom or never. I have half a dozen or so in that last category. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-people-buy-and-end-up-not-using/827822/51 "2019-01-16T19:41:56Z")
Golf Clubs I’ve seen so many dusty bags in the back of closets. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-people-buy-and-end-up-not-using/827822/52 "2019-01-16T19:46:54Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > I play games regularly - it’s specific games that shelfwarm, some of which never got enough play to justify what was spent on them. > > I have other games (and expansions to games) which have literally never been played but I never intended to play them - sometimes the whole point was to simply own them. I justify it to myself by the selling cycles of current board games. In a lot of cases, you have to buy a game when it’s first published or you’ll never get a chance. There was like a three day window, for example, when you could buy a copy of Root. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-people-buy-and-end-up-not-using/827822/53 "2019-01-16T20:35:16Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > I have also spent hundreds of dollars or more on videos games I have never played. Me too, but very few of the unplayed games in my collection individually cost more than $50, which I decided was a decent lower bound for a “moderately or very expensive” item. Rather than 10-20 $60 unplayed games, I have 300 $5-$10 unplayed games. …Which isn’t to say it hasn’t been a large waste of money en total. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-people-buy-and-end-up-not-using/827822/54 "2019-01-16T20:40:35Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I justify it to myself by the selling cycles of current board games. In a lot of cases, you have to buy a game when it’s first published or you’ll never get a chance. There was like a three day window, for example, when you could buy a copy of Root. That’s not my experience (and Root appears to be currently pre-orderable on Amazon, assuming that’s the same Root). In my case the unplayed games tend to be ones that got played a couple times and for one reason or another got bumped to the reject pile. At the moment I only have one dude I play with and his tastes don’t match a lot of my collection, so I’m collecting a lot of dust. The sad cases are games that cost $50+ and were essentially supplanted by a similar but better game, so there’s really no reason for them to ever be played again. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-people-buy-and-end-up-not-using/827822/55 "2019-01-16T20:55:47Z")
I think a large percentage of computer books over the years were basically untouched. I am amazed they still sell paper ones. Who uses a “Teach Yourself Java in 5 Days” book? [In my subsection of computer life as a Computer Science prof I’d get free “evaluation” copies of textbooks a lot. Very few were even looked at. If someone wanted to borrow one of those the condition was that the borrowing was permanent. OTOH, I didn’t buy those.] Re: Bread machines. **Mrs. FtG** uses ours. I think it’s the 3rd one we’ve gone thru. But now is the time of year they somehow show up at the thrift stores. Don’t buy new, get a ~unused one for \<$15. (She only uses it for the knead/rise phase. Then she transfers it to a real bread pan for the baking. Makes a “real” loaf. Also for buns, pizza, etc.) Pasta machines are just too much of a pain. Get used some, but eventually stowed away. If **Mrs. FtG** thinks they’re a waste of her time, that’s not good. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-people-buy-and-end-up-not-using/827822/56 "2019-01-16T21:20:05Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > The vast, vast majority of guns. Even shooting enthusiasts tend to have a few they shoot a lot, some they shoot infrequently, and at least a few they shoot seldom or never. I have half a dozen or so in that last category. A friend of mine is like this. He has a large gun safe that is full, the ammo contraption and all the fixings, containers full of ammo. I think he goes to the range maybe once every quarter. Maybe. He also has a collection of bicycles. He is an enthusiast for sure, but how many bikes can a person ride? - you only have one ass. He has around a dozen bikes, many of them are same purpose (e.g. road bikes, gravel bikes, etc.), and when I suggest he make room in his garage by selling a few of them he is not using any longer, he gasps at me and says “n+1!” A couple of the bikes are older Italian models that he spend $1,000s on, and cannot bear to “loose money” on them. There are also 2 motorcycles in his garage hooked-up to trickle-chargers. I have never seen or heard of him riding those in the time I have known him well (about 10 years). I guess he just likes having his “things”. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-people-buy-and-end-up-not-using/827822/57 "2019-01-16T21:22:51Z")
I heard once from a swimming pool pro that half of all swimming pools get filled in less than 10 years after being put in. Two houses ago, one of my neighbors sold his to his next-door neighbor. They filled in the old hole with the dirt from the new one. That’s a pretty nifty deal. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-people-buy-and-end-up-not-using/827822/58 "2019-01-16T21:51:51Z")
High school class rings and annuals. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2019, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-people-buy-and-end-up-not-using/827822/59 "2019-01-17T03:41:51Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > High school class rings and annuals. High school rings appear to be used primarily for beer money (after being pawned) at some point during the freshman year of college. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2019, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-people-buy-and-end-up-not-using/827822/60 "2019-01-17T17:06:09Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > I think a large percentage of computer books over the years were basically untouched. I am amazed they still sell paper ones. This a good one. Like 15 years ago I bought three of them and each was close to $100 and ended up using them as a platform for my mouse pad to keep my wrist straight. I only got rid of them a few months ago when I moved. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-people-buy-and-end-up-not-using/827822.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-people-buy-and-end-up-not-using/827822.md?page=4)