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It has been shown in a number of studies that consumers not only buy because they need a certain product but also because the shopping experience and the act of buying itself serves needs like diversion, self-gratification, sensory stimulation, physical activity, and aesthetic enjoyment (eg, Kleine, Schultz-Kleine & Kernan, 1993; Levy, 1959; Sivadas & Venkatesh, 1995). A further aspect of shopping is its function as a compensatory instrumentality for satisfying immaterial needs. The present paper examines the compensatory function of buying and its extreme manifestation buying addiction. Despite often serious social, psychological and economic consequences, compulsive buying continues to be generally regarded as a somewhat marginal problem: 'Oh yeah, my neighbor, she is a bit crazy about shopping. She's a shopaholic.' Popular media portrayal of the issue has also tended to trivialize and sensationalize certain aspects of compulsive buying behavior. To dispel some of the myths surrounding this form of consumption behavior and to contrast it to 'normal' compensatory shopping behavior, the compulsive buying experience and the characteristics of the compulsive shopper are portrayed in more detailed. Quotes from in-depth interviews are used throughout to make the various aspects of the behavior more tangible to the reader. The findings presented are partly based on an extensive literature review and partly based on results from a research project conducted in the UK in the mid 1990s. The study included a survey with a total of 271 respondents and 55 in-depth interviews. Further, in order to explain the underlying mechanisms that motivate the behavior, the role of actual/ideal self-discrepancies and materialism are considered. The in-depth interviews add to these findings by providing examples of why certain groups of consumers become addicted to buying, how they came to rely on material goods as their preferred compensation mechanism and which ideal images they try to achieve via purchasing consumer goods. Overall, the paper is situated in the field of altruistic marketing that emphases the study of negligent or problematic consumer behavior, and the development of treatment and preventive methods to reduce the maladaptive actions of consumers.