What are my rights buying second hand or from a private seller?
The large gap between buying from a trader and from a private individual, and how to protect yourself in each.
beginner20 min2 min read
Comparing & Buying
Making a decision you won't regret in a year.
75 guides in Money & Practical
What is a sunk cost, and how do I stop it driving my decisions?
Money and time already spent cannot be recovered by spending more. Why that is so hard to act on, and the one question that reliably strips it out of a decision.
beginner10 min3 min readHow do I choose insurance without overpaying?
Comparing insurance on cover rather than price, the exclusions that matter, and why auto-renewal costs money.
beginner1 hr2 min readHow do I compare prices properly?
How to make a genuine comparison — unit pricing, total cost of ownership, and the tactics that make things look cheaper than they are.
beginner30 min2 min readHow do I stop overthinking small decisions?
Small decisions consume disproportionate attention because nothing tells you when to stop. Setting the effort in advance, and defaulting the ones that recur.
beginner10 min3 min readShould I buy new or second hand?
Used is not simply cheaper — you trade rights, warranty and certainty for price. Where that trade is clearly worth making, and the categories where it is not.
beginner20 min3 min readWhat are my rights when something I bought goes wrong?
The difference between a warranty and your statutory rights, and who is responsible for what.
beginner30 min2 min readHow do I tell a reversible decision from one I cannot undo?
How much care a decision deserves depends far more on whether you can walk it back than on what it costs — and most decisions are more reversible than they feel.
beginner10 min3 min readHow long should a washing machine last, and when is it worth repairing?
Some washing machine faults are cheap parts and an hour of labour; others are effectively the whole machine. Knowing which is which before you book the call-out is the entire decision.
beginner25 min5 min readShould I buy it now or wait?
Waiting has a cost that people rarely count. How to price the delay, when a predictable price cycle genuinely justifies waiting, and when waiting is just deferral.
beginner15 min3 min readShould I insure something or carry the risk myself?
The test is not whether something might break — it is whether you could absorb the loss. How to decide which risks to transfer and which to keep, without under-insuring the ones that matter.
beginner20 min3 min readWhat if a repair has failed more than once?
The one-repair principle, and how to move from an endless repair cycle to a refund or replacement.
beginner15 min2 min readHow do I compare two products when their specifications do not line up?
One quotes capacity, the other quotes dimensions; one quotes annual cost, the other quotes cost per cycle. How to normalise both onto the same scale before you compare anything.
intermediate25 min3 min readHow do I decide whether to repair or replace something?
A framework for the repair-or-replace decision covering cost, remaining life, reliability and the things people forget to count.
beginner30 min3 min readHow do I work out what a second-hand item is actually worth?
Asking prices tell you what sellers hope for. Sold prices tell you what things are worth — how to find them, and how to adjust for condition, completeness and timing.
beginner20 min3 min readCan I return something I just changed my mind about?
The difference between a legal right and a shop's own policy, and where each one applies.
beginner15 min2 min readHow do I cut a long list of options down to a shortlist?
Forty options is not forty times better than four — it is worse, because nobody can compare forty things. The filtering sequence that gets you to a workable shortlist fast.
beginner20 min3 min readHow do I deal with unwanted gifts?
What your actual rights are on a present, the options that do not involve telling anyone, and how to reduce it happening next year.
beginner20 min3 min readHow do I buy second hand safely?
Checking listings, meeting safely, paying in ways that protect you, and what to inspect for the most-scammed categories.
beginner30 min2 min readHow do I decide whether an upgrade is worth the money?
Upgrading replaces something that works, so the comparison is against nothing changing. The test that separates an upgrade solving a real problem from one solving an advert.
beginner15 min3 min readHow do I get the best price on something expensive?
Timing, price tracking, negotiation and the protections worth paying attention to on a large purchase.
beginner1 hr2 min readHow do I test a big decision before I commit to it?
Almost every large decision has a cheap small-scale version. Hiring, sampling, trialling and borrowing turn an irreversible commitment into an experiment with a known cost.
beginner30 min3 min readHow do I choose a freezer for a garage or outbuilding?
Standard freezers stop working properly in a cold garage, and the reason is a thermostat that reads the room rather than the food. Climate class and a garage rating are what fix it.
beginner30 min4 min readHow do I choose a mattress?
What actually matters when choosing a mattress — firmness relative to your weight and sleeping position, construction type, and trial periods.
beginner1 hr3 min read
Going deeper: DecisionHQ
Product and option comparisons with explicit criteria, rather than a single recommendation.