Robo-Satan... I mean Santa
December 24, 2019 10:21 AM Subscribe
How can I outsource the responsibility for buying things from my Amazon wishlist/shopping list?
I want to send money out of my bank account at a rate of $10-20/week and have packages with things I need/want show up at my door without me having to make decisions about when to buy what.
Also, it's easier for me to budget regular amounts for housewares/gifts for myself than to suddenly drop $50-150 on a shopping cart.
Does this kind of service exist?
I want to send money out of my bank account at a rate of $10-20/week and have packages with things I need/want show up at my door without me having to make decisions about when to buy what.
Also, it's easier for me to budget regular amounts for housewares/gifts for myself than to suddenly drop $50-150 on a shopping cart.
Does this kind of service exist?
You might be able to hire a virtual assistant to do this but it would probably be expensive.
What if then you "send" money, you just buy gift certificates for yourself every week. Then when you want to shop, you only spend the money available as credit from the gift certificates. If you don't have enough, just mark it "save for later" and then come back and buy it when you have the money (or delete it if you don't need it any longer)
posted by metahawk at 11:44 AM on December 24, 2019 [3 favorites]
What if then you "send" money, you just buy gift certificates for yourself every week. Then when you want to shop, you only spend the money available as credit from the gift certificates. If you don't have enough, just mark it "save for later" and then come back and buy it when you have the money (or delete it if you don't need it any longer)
posted by metahawk at 11:44 AM on December 24, 2019 [3 favorites]
You can auto-reload your Amazon Gift Card balance.
posted by zamboni at 11:51 AM on December 24, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by zamboni at 11:51 AM on December 24, 2019 [1 favorite]
You could do the gift card thing and every so often roll a die or use a random number generator and buy the Xth thing on your wishlist.
posted by Flannery Culp at 12:14 PM on December 24, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Flannery Culp at 12:14 PM on December 24, 2019 [2 favorites]
have packages with things I need/want show up at my door without me having to make decisions about when to buy what.
You may have a need that this fulfills (needing some kind of surprise in your life, maybe), but for people reading this thread who may not have as urgent a need: please do not automate consumption of unnecessary goods. We are making and shipping and throwing away enough useless materials.
But you know your individual needs better than I do, what kinds of stuff you're including, what emotional needs you're taking care of, and what other ways you've tried to address them -- I trust you as an individual to make this choice.
As for how to do this: Maybe set up a separate Amazon account, set up a credible payment method there, and set up your own address as the shipping address -- Amazon will probably message you if another shipping address is added. Then you could conceivably hire someone as a virtual assistant (ideally someone who isn't hurting for material goods or money) and have them operate the account to have stuff shipped to you and paid by your preferred payment method. Plus you can log in to check the history when you wish.
posted by amtho at 2:57 PM on December 24, 2019 [3 favorites]
You may have a need that this fulfills (needing some kind of surprise in your life, maybe), but for people reading this thread who may not have as urgent a need: please do not automate consumption of unnecessary goods. We are making and shipping and throwing away enough useless materials.
But you know your individual needs better than I do, what kinds of stuff you're including, what emotional needs you're taking care of, and what other ways you've tried to address them -- I trust you as an individual to make this choice.
As for how to do this: Maybe set up a separate Amazon account, set up a credible payment method there, and set up your own address as the shipping address -- Amazon will probably message you if another shipping address is added. Then you could conceivably hire someone as a virtual assistant (ideally someone who isn't hurting for material goods or money) and have them operate the account to have stuff shipped to you and paid by your preferred payment method. Plus you can log in to check the history when you wish.
posted by amtho at 2:57 PM on December 24, 2019 [3 favorites]
I'm just registering my frustration that this does not seem to exist; I've looked for it for years. People always suggest Bobcat in a Box to me, but don't grasp that I want what I want, not random crap...
posted by metasarah at 10:35 AM on December 27, 2019
posted by metasarah at 10:35 AM on December 27, 2019
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by COD at 11:27 AM on December 24, 2019 [3 favorites]