How to quickly share an Amazon basket link using a browser extension?

Question

Look I have been ordering stuff on Amazon for my various businesses since like 2010 so I usually know my way around the UI pretty well but this is driving me absolutely insane today. I am trying to finalize a big quarterly office supply run for our small startup here in Chicago – we have about a $2,000 budget to get through before the end of the day Friday – and I have like 45 items sitting in my cart right now. My business partner needs to review everything before I hit the buy button because of some specific tax stuff we have to track on his end but Amazon makes it literally impossible to just send a link to the whole basket.

I remember back in the day there were these simple browser extensions where you could just click a button and it would generate a temporary link or a landing page with all the items so someone else could just 'Add all to cart' on their end. I tried searching the Chrome Web Store this morning and everything looks like total bloatware or just doesn't work with the current Amazon layout. I even tried those 'Share my cart' sites but they feel super sketchy and I dont really want to give some random third party access to my account data or session cookies or whatever. It feels like such a security risk.

Does anyone actually have a reliable extension for this that isnt broken or full of ads? I tried one called Share-a-Cart or something similar a few months ago but it kept glitching out on the multi-pack items and some of the bulk printer paper we need. I just need something fast and clean where I can click once, get a URL, and slack it over to my partner so he can see the total with shipping and taxes included before we pull the trigger on the company card. We are on a super tight timeline and I really dont want to spend my whole afternoon manually adding 45 separate items to a public wishlist just to share it... that feels so archaic and it takes forever. Is there a better way to do this now or am I just stuck with the old school methods?

JeremyMoisa · Accepted Answer

Man, I feel your pain. I used to rely on these types of tools all the time for office supplies too, but honestly, the state of browser extensions lately is just depressing. Most of what I find now is either bloated with trackers or just flat-out doesnt work with the way Amazon updates their site every five minutes. I had a nightmare experience last year where an extension I used for years suddenly started asking for permissions that basically gave it access to my entire browser history... immediately uninstalled it. Its just not worth the security risk for a startup, especially with your company card on the line. I tried a few of the sharing tools and they either missed items or messed up the quantities on bulk stuff like the printer paper you mentioned. It feels like we are moving backwards sometimes. Found this extension called Cart To Link recently and it's been a lifesaver for group buys with my friends.

AbstractAlias · Answer

^ This. Also, those security risks are no joke when youre handling company cards. If youre doing a $2,000 run, you definitely want something that doesnt scrape your whole browser history. Most people ignore how these extensions handle session cookies, which is honestly kinda terrifying.

Stick to tools that generate unique, non-indexed URLs to keep your data private.

Consider the cost of your time; sometimes a paid tool is worth $5 to avoid manual entry.

Check this cart sharing guide for a few vetted options that wont leak your tokens. That should save you from doing the manual wishlist thing... 45 items is a total nightmare.

eastnewyorker · Answer

@Reply #1 - good point! honestly, i have been doing procurement since around 2012 and the security landscape has changed so much. it is crazy! i actually had a massive scare a few years back when a legacy extension i was using started acting like malware. i almost got our corporate account locked during a huge sale! talk about stressful! definitely avoid anything that asks for full permissions to your browser history... that is a massive red flag. i finally switched to a more streamlined approach because i value my peace of mind. i love it when a tool just works without the bloat. for my recent office upgrades, i started using CartToLink.com and it was such a breath of fresh air compared to those old buggy plugins. it is clean, fast, and handles those annoying multi-packs perfectly! good luck with the quarterly run, sounds like a lot of work but you got this!