Building an Amazon Wishlist

*Originally published on 11/18/09



Amazon has become a titan in the online shopping industry. It's one of the most reliable sites to purchase from, they have a wide variety of products, and you can usually get what you're looking for at a significantly lower cost.

If that isn't enough to convince wary newcomers to sign up, they also have a "wish list" function. On the page for every item, just above the "add to cart" tab, there is a button that says "add to wish list". This will save the product in a list of your making so that you can purchase it later without having to go through the hassle of searching for it again.

It's a fairly simple set up and there's no pressure really. If you decide you don't want an item on your wishlist, you can easily delete it from the page. There is no time limit, there are items on my list that have been there for years. You can take all the time you need to buy the items that you want.

It also makes gift giving much easier for your friends and family as you can post links to your amazon wish list on your webpage or send it via e-mail. For people who are hard to shop for, you can't ask for a better way to get ideas about what to buy said person.

In a lot of ways, the wish list is a double edged sword. It's fun to browse the site and look for things to buy. It is also convenient and interesting to see what products you find yourself adding. The downside is that there is a ton of stuff available so you find your list piling up quickly.

I've been browsing for more trades to boost my collection and it honestly got to the point where my Amazon wish list was 8 pages long, containing over 180 items. Through some careful editing, I've cut it down to about 170, but it's still quite daunting. I still peruse the list, just to see how many items are there, and it does motivate me to get to work so that I can raise the money needed to buy said items, but it is pretty overwhelming.

If you come across an item that you can't afford, it's fun to add it just to dream about having the money to buy it. In fact, it could be a motivator for you to try and put in a little extra time on the job or cut back on other expenses in order to raise the funds to purchase the item.

A frustrating aspect of the wishlist is the fact that once you start to make progress, chipping away at the items over time, you'll find a ton of new stuff that you want and the item count will skyrocket back up.

All in all though, I enjoy it. Even if you're not big on shopping through the internet, it's fun to construct a list of items that you would like to buy in the future. While you will find that the list will never truly deplete itself, it makes the challenge that much more exciting.