CHICAGO, Nov. 05, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --
Americans will spend record sums this Black Friday, but a significant share of that money is effectively being thrown away. According to a new SweepsPulse survey of 2,000 U.S. adults, 43% of Black Friday shoppers regret at least one purchase within a week of buying it - and the average regretful shopper wastes $214 on items they never return, resell, or use.
Extrapolated across the roughly 197 million Americans who shopped the Thanksgiving weekend last year, the findings point to an estimated $19 billion in post-holiday waste - money spent on discounted products that buyers themselves admit they shouldn't have purchased.
Most Regretted Purchases Never Make It Back to the Store
The survey found that the problem isn't just remorse - it's inaction. Only 38% of shoppers who regretted a purchase actually returned it for a refund. The rest kept the item (27%), re-gifted or donated it (14%), sold it online (9%), or admitted the purchase is still sitting unused with the tags on (12%).
Consumer advocates say the assumption that returns fix buyer's remorse doesn't work all the time. Final-sale fine print, restocking fees, and inconvenience lead to the point that most purchases people regret are not returned and stay in their house, thrown in the closet. What seemed like the deal of the year a week ago quietly becomes clutter and that money is gone.
What's Driving the Waste
Electronics and gadgets are on top of the list of most regretted categories (34%), followed by clothing and shoes (29%) and kitchen appliances (21%). When asked what pushed them into purchases they later regretted, shoppers pointed to countdown timers and aggressive marketing messaging (36%), the size of the advertised discount (31%), and gifts that missed the mark (14%).
The survey also found that just 1 in 4 shoppers compares prices before buying during a flash sale. Retail analysts have long warned that this leaves shoppers exposed to inflated "original" prices and derivative product models - electronics manufactured specifically for sale events, with model numbers nearly identical to better-reviewed versions.
Younger shoppers reported the highest regret rates, with over half of 18-34-year-olds admitting to at least one purchase they regretted buying within the first month.
Retailers Post Record Sales as Returns Lag
These findings land against a backdrop of record-breaking spending during the last Black Friday period.. Online Black Friday sales hit $10.8 billion in 2025, while Cyber Monday added $13.3 billion, according to Adobe Analytics. Industry data suggests holiday return rates are about 15-17%, but the problem is that the majority of regretted purchases are not returned, so the true scale of buyer's remorse can't be analyzed in full.
Behavioral economists say that this gap is built into the economics of discount events: scarcity messaging and countdown clocks are aimed at shortening decision-making, and quicker decisions often lead to more mistakes.
Advice for This Year's Shoppers
Experts recommend three steps you need to take before the sales start: build a shopping list with current prices one or two weeks before Black Friday, check if discounts are real with price-tracking tools, and check how you can return your purchase before the checkout.
The consensus among consumer advocates is clear: the shoppers who come out ahead are not those who find the biggest discounts. They're the ones who decided what they want and need before the countdown clocks started and make clear decisions.
About the Survey
All results above are from the survey that was conducted online in December 2025 among 2,000 U.S. adults aged 18 and over, and was weighted to approximate the U.S. adult population by age and gender. The margin of error is +/- 2.2 points, as the confidence is 95+%.
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Maria Cruz Head of Media Relations Sweepspulse.com maria@sweepspulse.com
