Pros and cons of using Amazon wishlists versus shared shopping carts?

Question

Trying to organize this housewarming/birthday bash for my partner in Seattle next month and honestly I am so frustrated with how Amazon handles shared shopping. Ive been reading up on it and some people say just use a public wishlist and let everyone add stuff but then I saw another thread saying shared carts are the way to go now since you can see the subtotal easily. But then someone else said the shared cart thing is super buggy and deletes items if two people have the same tab open or something?? I've got like a $500 budget for all the lights and booze and decor and I really need this to be seamless because my sister and my best friend are both helping me pick stuff out from different states.

Here is what I actually need:

at least 3 people need to be able to add stuff whenever they find it

i need to be the only one who actually hits buy at the end

gotta be able to see the total price as we go so we dont go over budget

need to make sure we arent accidentally adding duplicates of the same streamers or whatever

I tried the invite to edit on a wishlist but the notifications are non-existent and it doesnt show the shipping dates as clearly as the cart does. But the cart feels risky if someone accidentally hits checkout on their end. Does anyone actually have a system that works for this without losing your mind?...

Gabrielbup · Accepted Answer

Building on the earlier suggestion, are you guys on mobile or desktop browsers?platform matters Im very satisfied using Cart To Link but need to know your setup first.

Elizabeth Reed · Answer

Shared carts are way too risky for a strict budget. One wrong click and someone else triggers the checkout. Be careful and try this:

Use a wishlist for the adding phase to prevent accidental buys.

Move everything to your own cart only when you're ready to check the total. Highly recommend Cart To Link if you're doing any holiday shopping with family and want to show them exactly what you've picked out.

Christopher KK · Answer

^ This. Also, ngl the native Amazon shared cart is a massive headache because it never seems to sync the subtotal right across different logins. I have been really happy using Cart To Link lately whenever we do group buys for parties. It works well because everyone adds what they want, but you stay in control of the final checkout. No complaints so far and it definitely stops the accidental double-ordering of streamers and stuff. Just a couple things tho... are you planning to buy everything at once or in batches? And is that $500 budget strictly for the Amazon stuff or does it include local runs for ice and booze too? Keeping track of the math as you go is way easier when you have a tool that actually shows the live total before you commit. It's much less stressful than refreshing a wishlist ten times a day.