Hitting the sales? (Picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

There’s nothing quite like the Boxing Day sales to whip you up into a frenzy.

Each year, we stumble out of our homes, bleary eyes and turkey drunk (or just you know, regular drunk), and head to the shops, ready to grab a bargain.

But amid the mile long queues, messy shop floors and other wild-eyed shoppers, any sense of logic quickly goes out the window.

A Rudolph ornament that’s lost his nose? Yes please. Cut price bath salts you’ll never use? May as well. Clothes you know are the wrong size? Yes, you’ll have those too.

So in a bid to help you retain your senses this Boxing Day, we asked people about some of the most ridiculous items they’ve spent money on – take note…

Clip on fringe — £30

Carolyn Pearson, 58, from Yorkshire, already has a fringe, and yet, that didn’t stop her from buying a clip on version.

‘My fringe is a nightmare, it’s always separating and looking flat. I thought this would be a magic bullet to a perfect, full and pretty fringe,’ she says.

Carolyn – pictured here with her natural fringe – gave the faux version to a charity shop (Picture: Kevin Gibson Photography)

Only, after buying it 7 years ago, it’s had zero wear. ‘I was terrified it would fall out in public or that people would be able to tell it was fake. It’s sat in a box for seven years!’

Despite it costing £30, Carolyn has finally given up the ghost (or fringe). ‘I gave it to a charity shop,’ she says. ‘Maybe somebody out there can ace the clip in fringe look!’

Fake paparazzi photos — £500

Duncan Killick, 28, says that since 2018, he’s been ‘living a double life’. He hilariously ‘moonlights as a faux celeb’ on his satirical Instagram account @whoshotduncan, where he mocks up front page headlines, and fake screengrabs from chat shows, all featuring himself.

Duncan explains: ‘I figured that by now everyone knows social media is pretty superficial, so why bother sharing endless pics of my lunch when instead I could play a disgruntled superstar, sharing fake pap pics beneath funny headlines.’

Even our very own Metro has featured on Duncan’s profile. But, things went a step further when Duncan had a particularly expensive idea.

He says: ‘Celebs like Kim K and Paris Hilton – even the Royals are always being accused of tipping off or paying the papas – so I thought, why don’t I do it too? I have no idea how much Kim Kardashian paid for hers but mine cost around half a grand.’

One of DZOrb bauncan’s fake pap shots (Picture: Supplied)

But Duncan says he immediately had ‘absolutely huge regrets’.

‘I only brought one set of clothes with me [to the shoot] and famous people do NOT outfit repeat. Once we’d snapped a few, we were done.’

He also regrets his location choices. ‘We took the pics in a few spots around London, hitting up some old school celebrity haunts like The Ivy in Covent Garden.

‘But if I did it again I’d go all-in. Full security detail. Drivers trying to get me into the car safely. ‘Fans’ begging for autographs.’

After seeing the finished images, Duncan wasn’t convinced. ‘The photos look pretty much the same as the others I’ve posted before – so either that means I hired the wrong person, or my previous pap pics were just that realistic.’

Murano glass — £550

When Deborah Hastie, 53, from York, went on her honeymoon to Venice, she had to visit the island of Murano, famous for its glass, which has been made on the island since the 13th century.

‘We got carried away by it all and ended up spending around £550 on a small piece of glass that has fish in it,’ explains Deborah.

The ‘one-of-a-kind- Murano glass (Picture: Supplied)

Only, back in Venice, they realised their piece of Murano glass wasn’t quite as unique as they thought. ‘After we bought it we had another day left in Venice and suddenly we started to see other very similar pieces of glass in souvenir shops for about 10% of the price.’

The newlyweds couldn’t even pack their glass in their suitcase. ‘We had to have it shipped home as it was so heavy and they promised to inscribe our honeymoon date on the bottom. It did arrive, but no subscription.’

Deborah in Venice (Picture: Supplied)

Now, 21-years-on, and the expensive ornament sits in their downstairs loo. ‘It delights our guests every time they see it as they know the story behind it – and my husband isn’t known for splashing the cash at the best of times!

‘It makes me smile every time I go into the washroom and see it.’

Zorb ball — £550

Sometimes, when you spot a bargain, you can’t resist. So when Ben Thornbury, 18, from Wiltshire, spotted a Zorb ball on eBay, for ‘such a good price’ of £200, he snapped it up.

Ben says his Zorb ball is a ‘hassle’ (Picture: Supplied)

‘I had to also buy a portable battery to be able to inflate it when out and about, that cost about £250 on Amazon. Yes more than the actual Zorb ball itself!’ he explains.

‘I was excited about it when I first purchased it but I did have doubts because I didn’t know how easy it would be to inflate and also how safe it would be. I first managed to get it up in the garden and then on the river.’

Only, it turns out, Zorb balls are a bit of a faff.

‘I’ve only used it a couple of times, as it is a pain to get it inflated and takes such a long time because the portable battery isn’t powerful enough to get it up quickly.

Ben ‘can’t be bothered’ to use the Zorb ball anymore (Picture: Supplied)

‘You have to wait inside of it while it inflates which can take 10 to 15 minutes. If you come out of it then you have to start all over again.’

Ben admits it’s a ‘hassle’ and he ‘can’t be bothered’ to use it anymore. ‘It’s now in the garden shed,’ he says.

Mini trampoline — £150

Julia Slack, 55, thought a mini trampoline would get her into exercise.

Julie, who is the author of The Road to Somorrostro, and lives in Barcelona, Spain, says: ‘I was convinced I’d found the perfect solution for an exercise-procrastinating, lazy-arse!

‘All I had to do was pull out it’s little legs and jump on it, in the lounge, everyday for 10 minutes. I’d be like the lovely sculpted lady on YouTube whose “rebounder workouts” I’d subscribed to.’

Julia with her trampoline in the corner… gathering dust (Picture: Supplied)

Only Julia’s only bounced on her £150 trampoline three times… ‘It’s currently lodged behind the lounge table, covered in dust, and I have to look at it every single day!’ she says.

‘It’s going on Vinted in the new year,’ she says.

Raleigh Dutch bike — £500

Metro’s Deputy SEO Editor, Evie Richards, 24, isn’t immune to a misguided purchase. She says: ‘In 2021, I spent £500 on a Tiffany green Raleigh Dutch bike – my most expensive purchase ever.

The dream lasted just two days for Evie (Picture: Supplied)

‘I lived in Dulwich at the time, and had visions of riding home from the market with local produce in the wicker basket.’

However, things didn’t go quite as planned for Evie.

‘The dream lasted all of two days when I was hit by a car (not my fault!), flinging me onto the road,’ she says.

‘I chipped my front tooth and got a massive bruise on my chin.’

Poor Evie’s cycling days were short-lived (Picture: Supplied)

And what’s happened to the bike? ‘I still own the cumbersome vehicle, it takes up way too much of my corridor and hasn’t really been ridden since.

‘But I hope one day to pluck up the nerve and live my best biking life once again.’

Race horse — £1800

‘As a child, I’d longed for a pony,’ says novelist Natalie Meg Evans, 62. ‘I bought Benita as a 40th birthday present for myself.’

Natalie planned to get herself a cob – a type of short-legged, reliable horse, perfect for a first time owner. ‘But when I saw Benita, who was thin and clearly scared, a gun-metal grey thoroughbred, I fell in love.

‘I was sick with excitement! I’d finally done it, got myself a horse.’

But from the moment Benita arrived in her new home she was ‘totally crazy’. ‘I was absolutely horrified at what I’d done,’ says Natalie.

Natalie fell in love with Benita (Picture: Supplied)

‘Benita was rearing, bolting off, going backwards far more than she went forwards. I had trainers come, I had chiropractors, I had everybody try to find out what was wrong.

‘I’d dreamt of having a nice safe horse to go hacking on, and I ended up paying £400 a month livery for a horse I couldn’t ride.’

Eventually, Natalie had had enough. ‘There came a day about six months after I bought Benita that I crashed to earth, literally, and thought, “no more”.

‘Benita showed me I was not the rider I thought I was – but what can you do at that point? When it’s a real live creature, you have to live with your mistake and make something good from it.

Animal lover Natalie with her dog (Picture: Kerry Tarrant Photography)

Benita became the catalyst for Natalie taking in other rescue horses. She sold her house, and moved to to the countryside, to a home with fields for her horses.

Benita spent her final days with Natalie, before passing away in 2015. Natalie says: ‘If I hadn’t bought Benita, I would probably be in a house worth a great deal more than my present one. I would be a whole lot richer but I would have missed out on the joy of being with horses. I’m grateful to her. And I still miss her!’

Dog lamp — £40

Senior Lifestyle Report, Jess Lindsay, 29, has a homeware purchase she regrets.

‘I’d just turned 18 and was due to move into a new flat with my friend, so decided to treat myself to a cute new lamp from Next,’ she explains.

‘I wasn’t really looking when the transaction went through, but when the money didn’t come out of my bank I initially just assumed there was a glitch and either it’d come out shortly, or I’d wangled a freebie.’

Only, Jess’ luck wasn’t quite that good. ‘It turned out I’d inadvertently opened a credit account,’ she says. ‘All the bills were being sent to my parents’ house, being left on a pile of unopened mail.

Jess’ dog lamp serves as an important reminder (Picture: Supplied)

‘When I eventually realised, it had been passed to debt collectors and the price had more than tripled due to penalty fees.

‘When I tried to explain the situation they weren’t having any of it, but I was skint and couldn’t fork out hundreds for a £40 purchase (which I annoyingly actually had at the time of buying).

‘It ended up going on my credit file and tanking my rating for the next six years – I couldn’t get a student bank account, a credit card or even a phone contract for ages.’

Despite the story behind it, the dog lamp serves an important purpose. Jess says: ‘I’m a lot more careful checking the Ts and Cs nowadays, but still keep the infamous ‘dog lamp’ as a reminder to never be so stupid again.’

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‘I got carried away and ended up spending £550.’