Amazon Question from a Reader
Wendy F. asks:
Hi,
I’ve been trying to start my amazon sessions via you. Does everything in the basket count, or just the initial search?
Wendy,
Thanks for thinking of me when you shop at Amazon. I pay $150 per month to keep the site going and have enough bandwidth to withstand big links (which rarely come any more, but you never know!). So your using the search box is much appreciated.
I’m told that any purchase you make after accessing the site through the search box on the right sidebar will benefit my site. However, I’m also told that only purchases made within 30 minutes result in a credit for the site. So you can browse all you like, and everything you buy within 30 minutes helps me out.
Thanks again.
Did exactly that the other day. Should put at least $15 in your pocket.
Comment by Karl — 12/15/2011 @ 7:35 am
Oops. Sometimes I buy right away but am guilty sometimes of searching, then keeping other windows open and not buying for more than 30 min.
Good to know to do it right away. And nice to have this option. Thanks.
Comment by no one you know — 12/15/2011 @ 8:04 am
Just got Amazon Prime the other day. Sure beats shopping at the mall, other than the lack of an MLK statue (too subtle?).
Comment by Dustin — 12/15/2011 @ 8:21 am
I make all of my media Amazonm purchases through Kindle. Any way to help you with those?
Comment by Bugg — 12/15/2011 @ 8:28 am
Full disclosure–what I’m saying comes from use of an Amazon portal at a classical music forum. Sorry, Patterico, but I think they need my support more.
Also, I actually don’t buy that much from AmazonUS–they seem to have the worst customer service and relatively slow shipment of the various sites I use (as in, received stuff from Europe more quickly than from AmazonUS), which have included AmazonUK and Amazon.it, so you’re not actually missing that much money off my purchases.
1)If you enter through Patterico’s portal, and then return to Amazon through another link (including Amazon’s main link), Patterico does not get the credit, even if it’s within the 30 minutes.
2)The portal should credit anything you buy on AmazonUS’s site, including stuff bought from Amazon Marketplace vendors.
What you might want to do, to ensure that Patterico gets the proper credit, is to prep your shopping cart (or at least identify the item(s) in advance so you can pop them in the cart rapidly), exit Amazon, re-enter through Patterico’s portal, log back into your account and make the actual purchase.
I should add that I’ve not heard of the 30 minute limit in relation to the portal I use, and that I can use that portal without going to the forum site; I have it bookmarked as a permanent link, and the forum still gets the credit. You might want to check on that possibility. The forum also gets credit when someone enters Amazon from an Amazon ad on the site, and when posts include a certain version of the CD images (it involves a link in the post using the ASIN number–format is [asin] number [/asin]) that would not be relevant here–although Patterico might be able to do it in a main post if he wanted to recommend a book.
Comment by JBS — 12/15/2011 @ 9:02 am
Of course, if you want to make Patterico really happy, use his portal to search for and purchase an item that can be found with the terms “Digital Bach IPOD”. (I have the plain vanilla 170 CDs in a box version.)
Comment by JBS — 12/15/2011 @ 9:04 am
Glad to be contributing via Amazon to one of my favorite sites.
Comment by Karen Hilda — 12/15/2011 @ 11:19 am
30 minutes is not long enough. Especially if you are combining items. It can take maybe 5 minutes even to check out.
Comment by Sammy Finkelman — 12/15/2011 @ 11:48 am
Can you check if what somebody did resulted in a opruchase you were credited with?
What if somebody finds somethinbg on Amazon and then goes again through you?
Comment by Sammy Finkelman — 12/15/2011 @ 11:50 am
Didn’t know about the 30 minute limitation.
So if I add everything I want to my cart, exit Amazon, come over here and use your link to go back to Amazon to finish my purchase, you’ll get credit for everything?
Comment by malclave — 12/15/2011 @ 12:46 pm
Sammy,
I can’t tell who bought what. If you tell me the date ordered and the item, I can look.
Thanks to all for thinking of me. Using the portal whenever you shop at Amazon really helps a tremendous amount. Even ordering small items helps bump up the percentage I take from the whole, as that percentage increases as the number of items ordered increases.
Comment by Patterico — 12/15/2011 @ 12:53 pm
malclave,
No, I don’t think so.
I think you have to access the site through the portal before adding the items.
Comment by Patterico — 12/15/2011 @ 12:58 pm
OK, I just bought a puzzle called ‘Candy Wrappers’ after using the search tool on this blog.
I already had a documentary called “Nazis: A Warning from History” in my cart. It’s been in my cart for a few days.
I think whether Patterico gets credit for the documentary answers Malclave’s question.
Comment by Dustin — 12/15/2011 @ 1:01 pm
Dustin:
I don’t see either one reflected.
Comment by Patterico — 12/17/2011 @ 8:50 pm
Fred Armisen does a spot-on impersonation of Obama IMO.
Comment by Dohbiden — 12/17/2011 @ 9:24 pm