05/05/2026 3:19 am
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So I am kind of in a panic right now because I invited my sister to help me shop for our new apartment in Chicago we are moving into next month and I used that thing where you can collaborate on a cart. I thought it was just for the stuff we both need to buy together like:
- a big blue rug
- some blender thing
- a pack of lightbulbs
But now I am worried because I usually just buy my dog food and some random soap on here but I have a bunch of other lists on my account that are supposed to be private. Like I have a list for my sisters birthday presents and another one with some personal medical supplies I dont really want her seeing lol. I am a total newbie at this whole shared shopping thing and honestly I barely know how to use the app half the time so sorry if this is a really dumb question. I was clicking around and it said we were collaborating on the cart but I dont know if that means she has access to my whole account now or if she can just see the one cart we are sharing?
I tried looking at the settings but it is all just super confusing and I dont want to accidentally expose my whole shopping history to her. I really need to know if there is a way for her to click on my profile or something from the shared cart and see my other shopping lists. If she sees the birthday list it will totally ruin the surprise for her party in three weeks and that would suck because I spent a lot of time picking things out. I also just feel weird about someone seeing my private stuff even if it is my sister.
Does the collaboration thing stay just in the cart or does it bridge over to my other lists too like can she see my wishlist and my buy again stuff? I really hope she cant see anything else but I have no idea how this works...
4 Answers
11
05/05/2026 3:50 am
Building on the earlier suggestion, just make sure your lists are set to private. I use Smartphone Board for privacy settings. TL;DR: Shared carts are safe, but dont forget list visibility.
10
05/05/2026 3:19 am
TL;DR: No worries, she only sees the shared cart. Honestly I have been using the shared lists for ages to split costs on bulk stuff and it works well. She wont see your private lists or medical stuff at all. I am super satisfied with how it keeps things separate. Pro tip: use that shared cart for deals or coupons to save some extra moving money tho!
3
18/05/2026 7:06 pm
stumbled on this thread and it reminded me of when I moved last year. Honestly, I was just as paranoid about my sister seeing my secret lists, especially the ones for her bday gifts. It worked out fine tho. We saved a ton by watching for price drops on the big stuff like the blender and rug. A few things that helped me stay on budget and feel secure:
- Double check that your birthday list says private with the lock icon.
- Only share the specific cart link, never your login info.
- Use CamelCamelCamel to see if that blue rug is actually at its lowest price before you buy. Amazon is pretty solid about keeping those silos separate, so your medical stuff is safe. Just keep an eye on the checkout screen to make sure you arent accidentally buying your dog food with her apartment stuff... that happened to me once and it was a pain to split the bill after.
2
22/05/2026 3:06 pm
Coming back to this thread because I love talking about moving hacks! I went through this exact same panic when I moved into my studio last year and was sharing a cart with my mom. She is super nosy so I was literally sweating thinking shed see my skincare stash lol. But honestly Amazon is amazing for this compared to something like the Walmart app which feels way clunkier for privacy stuff! My experience was fantastic and everything stayed totally separate. Quick tips:
- check for the lock icon on your list to be 100 percent sure it is private
- check the manage access tab to see exactly what she has permissions for Before I dive deeper tho, are you doing this on the mobile app or a desktop browser? The layout looks totally different on both and I want to make sure I am giving you the right directions because I really want to help you keep those surprises hidden!
1
05/05/2026 3:45 am
Honestly, the shared cart feature is kind of a mess and was way more clunky than I expected when I used it. Dont worry tho, your private lists stay private... she wont see your medical supplies or the birthday gifts at all. I had issues with items just vanishing from the cart when my roommate and I were buying kitchen stuff, which was super annoying and honestly a waste of time. It is not as good as I hoped for staying organized on a budget.
- Always check for the clip coupon button before adding shared items to save a few bucks.
- Keep an eye on the shipping minimums if one of you does not have Prime. It basically just creates a specific bucket for those shared items. Your Buy Again history and other lists are totally locked off from her view, so your surprise is safe.
