The APE I Wrestle 12 09 2025
After-Sales experience is a well-known concept in the commercial world, but in my personal life I have to confront an APE, After Purchase Experience. My problem is of a compulsive buyer unable to resist bargains. My two weaknesses: inexpensive clothes and often expensive books give me very different After Purchase Experience (APE). After buying clothes, I feel stupid and have a sense of remorse which is rarely the case when I buy books. I wonder why. Is it because books are “durable” and hence not a waste, or is it because books can be used by more than one and hence not a personal indulgence, or is there something more to it. Could it be that with books my effort starts after the purchase, in reading it?
The APE bug latent in my mind was triggered and came to life when I was reading the works of the 20th century English philosopher Alasdair Macintyre. Studying pursuit of excellence in professions, Macintyre differentiates between internal goods and external goods. He studied intense practice that is seen in individuals seeking mastery in their chosen profession. Arts, sports and professions involving skills are the most visible spheres. These practioners undergo significant pain in realizing their goals. Their primary aim in improvement, accomplishment and mastery of their skills is personal satisfaction or what we can call internal or intrinsic goods.
In contrast, purchase of goods like clothes, beyond the essential required for living is for meeting external or extrinsic needs. The unstated need is to look and feel better, or the desire to adorn ourselves to look better than we think we are. Here most of the effort is made prior to the purchase with very little afterwards.
On reflection, I feel remorse on purchase of goods like clothes comes from the little effort required after the purchase. While with books or musical instruments and the like, major effort is required afterwards. The classification of goods is not a watertight division, as I can see movements both ways. Purchasing external goods for gifting or for value-add before use like painting or embroidery is rarely followed by a sense of guilt, likewise while we see professional athletes pursuing their sports as a career often turn to other sports for recreation, showing that commercialisation of internal goods can make it an external good.
I fervently wish that I win this wrestling match with my APE. My victory will be visible when I give up buying external goods, except when it is a necessity. Do you have similar APEs?
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