Can a shopping trip to Claire’s be a teachable money moment?
If you’ve ever taken your child into Claire’s Accessories, you know how quickly a “just browsing” trip can turn into a basket full of glittery, scented, “must-haves.” Their prominent promotions for “Buy 1, Get 2 Free,” make it feel like the deal of a lifetime. While it seems like a generous discount, it's actually a common retail pricing strategy based in behavioral psychology and designed to increase total spend, move inventory, and trigger emotional buying—particularly among young, impulsive shoppers. It’s easy for kids (and honestly, adults too) to get swept up in the excitement of a deal without really understanding what they’re spending.
However, it’s not all bad news. Claire’s can be a perfect real-world opportunity to teach your child how to think critically about money. Next time you're shopping with your kids (at Claire’s or anywhere else), try pausing to talk through a cost-benefit analysis together: “Do you really want three items, or are we adding extras just because they’re ‘free’?” In my own experience, I have found that the item my daughter really wanted was actually one of the lower-priced items, but she was only adding something more expensive to her basket just to get the “deal.”
It’s also a great time to practice basic math skills: Add up the original prices, calculate how much is actually being saved, and factor in tax. Ask questions like, “If this bracelet is $9.99 and these earrings are $12.99, how much are we really spending at checkout?” You could even hand them the calculator on your phone to use while they are shopping and let them add everything up themselves. Having a visual of the total cost before getting to the cash register can help avoid that “I’m already here, so I might as well pay for all of this” feeling.
By walking through these steps before you hit the register, you’re not just shopping—you’re giving your child lifelong tools to spot marketing tactics, make thoughtful choices, and understand the real value of a dollar.
Next time you’re at Claire’s, think twice about the impulse buy and turn the moment into a money lesson that sparkles with real value.