Survey Finds 43% of Black Friday Buyers Regret Purchases
A SweepsPulse survey of 2,000 U.S. adults links holiday impulse buying to roughly $19 billion in post-holiday waste.
Updated on Nov. 5, 2026 in Couponing
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A SweepsPulse survey found that 43% of Black Friday shoppers regret at least one purchase within a week of buying it. The average regretful shopper wastes $214 on items never returned, resold, or used.
Why it matters
Only 38% of shoppers who regretted a purchase returned it, meaning most unwanted holiday buys are kept, re-gifted, or left unused. Shoppers pointed to countdown timers, aggressive marketing, and the size of advertised discounts as drivers of their regrets.
Electronics and gadgets were the most regretted category at 34%, followed by clothing and shoes at 29% and kitchen appliances at 21%. Only 38% of regretful shoppers returned their purchases for a refund, while 27% kept the item and 12% left it unused with tags on.
The players
SweepsPulse
SweepsPulse is the research firm that conducted the consumer survey of 2,000 U.S. adults on holiday shopping regret.
Adobe Analytics
Adobe Analytics is a digital analytics firm that tracks online retail sales, and its data was cited for 2025 Black Friday and Cyber Monday totals.
The details
Respondents who regretted purchases most often kept the item (27%), re-gifted or donated it (14%), sold it online (9%), or left it unused (12%). Just 1 in 4 shoppers compares prices before buying during a flash sale, and over half of 18-34-year-old shoppers admitted to at least one regretted purchase within the first month.
Timeline
• December 2025: SweepsPulse conducted the online survey of 2,000 U.S. adults.
• 2025: Online Black Friday sales reached $10.8 billion and Cyber Monday added $13.3 billion, according to Adobe Analytics.
• Thanksgiving weekend 2025: Roughly 197 million Americans shopped the holiday weekend.
• Within one week of purchase: Shoppers typically report regret over holiday buys.
Market Landscape
Adobe Analytics' tracking shows online holiday sales rising into the tens of billions of dollars each year, with Black Friday and Cyber Monday now central to retail revenue. The SweepsPulse findings suggest that this volume growth is accompanied by a large share of purchases that shoppers later wish they had not made.
Shoppers who want to avoid regretted purchases can check final-sale terms and restocking fees before buying, since most regretted items were not returned. Comparing prices outside a flash-sale countdown gives buyers time to confirm the discount is real.
The takeaway
Pausing before checking out, comparing prices, and reading return policies can reduce the chance of holiday purchases ending up unused. Shoppers can treat countdown timers as a prompt to wait rather than a reason to buy now.
Further reading
Explore more money-saving strategies in the Couponing section to avoid holiday impulse buys.
Source note: This article includes information reported by The Manila times.
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