How Expensive Is Your Drunk Shopping Habit?

A night of heavy drinking can lead to more than just nausea and a killer headache the morning afterward. It can also leave you with a credit card bill for some taxidermied alligator head you don't remember buying on Amazon. This is all thanks to tipsy shopping, which, according to a recent survey conducted by the Archstone Recovery Center, may be more expensive than you think.

Drunk Americans may be spending as much as $30 billion annually while shopping online, The Daily Dot reports. A separate survey conducted in February 2018 by the website Finder suggests as many as 46 percent of people have made a purchase while under the influence. Those drunk purchases add up: According to Finder’s research, Americans spend an average of $447.57 per year shopping while buzzed.

Gin is apparently the most dangerous alcohol for your wallet, according to the Archstone Recovery Center. Gin drinkers in Archstone’s survey spent the most on Amazon shopping sprees—an average of $82.40—and they were also likely to splurge on more expensive items (an average of $235.10 for the most expensive purchase). Whiskey drinkers, on the other hand, spend the least amount of money when they’re drunk ($38.84 on average), but they’re right behind gin drinkers in terms of splurging ($204.70 for the priciest Amazon orders).

But who spends more while drunk shopping on Amazon? Women, says Archstone, who spend an average of $45.39 on a drunk shopping spree (men spend an average of $39.87). Men spend more than women on their most expensive splurges, though ($198.27 and $154.81, respectively).

People regret some purchases more than others, Archstone says. Almost 67 percent of people in the survey regretted purchasing cell phones and phone accessories, and 34 percent regretted purchasing books. On the other hand, nobody regretted buying musical instruments, and a full 93 percent said they enjoyed their purchases of pet supplies.

Archstone’s survey wasn’t exactly scientific. According to the center’s methodology report, the study surveyed 1094 people, and the only qualifier for participation was that subjects had to have purchased an item on Amazon while drinking alcohol.

But the results are fascinating, and it’s a good reminder that shopping—like driving, texting, and exercising—is better left for when you’re sober.

[h/t The Daily Dot]