amazon on S Anand

Vibe Shopping

Fri, 26 Sep 2025 08:30:28 +0000

I’ve started vibe shopping, i.e. using ChatGPT to shop for small, daily items and buying without verifying. For example:

“A metal rack for the floor: at least 2 ft * 1 ft * 2 ft, small gaps, popular options on Amazon.in.” https://chatgpt.com/share/68d61d68-7040-800c-936b-354749539308
“An optical wired mouse that’s smaller than usual, 4*+, popular, Prime-eligible for Chennai by the weekend on Amazon.in.” https://chatgpt.com/share/68d61e0d-420c-800c-bc71-821b9f9296a9

The best use is when I don’t know the right terms. In this case, the terms were wire rack and mini mouse.

This is also useful when I don’t know what to buy. For example:

“A Diwali gift for a Taiwanese colleague.”
“Useful travel items under Rs500.”
“A harmless ‘annoying’ gift for a friend who never returns stuff.”

But last week I found a new use: deep product research.

In The Mentalist (S5E4), Jane asks Grace to deliver “anything, as long as it’s large and heavy,” at an address.

If I were Grace, I’d ask ChatGPT: ‘What are the cheapest things to buy per kg?’"

It turns out that the cheapest thing I can order from Chennai is compost: ~Rs 13,500 for 1 ton. https://chatgpt.com/share/68d61d0e-cfc4-800c-a562-6c9d07edfc69

Here are some products I’m “deep researching” on Amazon:

What can I buy that’s technically edible but shouldn’t be?
What has the weirdest warning label?
What product has the longest name?
What’re individually innocent but together make the checkout very suspicious?
What’s the heaviest thing that fits in a 1x1 foot box?
What’s the most over-engineered kitchen gadget?
What’s the most ridiculous “office supplies” I can expense?
What’s the most useless thing that still has 4+ stars?
What’s the quietest product? Stealth > silent.

Dear Tesco, your books are expensive

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 19:53:58 +0000

Dear Tesco,

I do like you. Really. Your products are invariably cheaper than I can find at most other places. I am a methodical, crazy gadget freak, and I find your gadget pricing impressive. I don’t always find what I want, but you often have the items I finally pick as the best value for money, and at very low prices.

But.

Your books are expensive.

Of Amazon’s bestsellers, just 2 out of the 100 books are cheaper on your site. And this is apart from the fact that I’d get free delivery from Amazon on 37 of those books (over £5), while you’d give me free delivery on 5 (over £15).

On average, that book list costs £5.66 on Amazon. With you, it’s £7.20. I don’t fancy paying 27% more. (36% if I include delivery.)

I’m not making this up. You can check: the books in red are cheaper at Amazon. (as of 6pm on a cold, rainy Tuesday the end of March.)

Book	Amazon	Tesco
⚪ The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest	3.86	3.86
🔴 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo	3.48	3.86
🔴 The Girl Who Played with Fire	3.79	3.86
⚪ Wolf Hall	3.86	3.86
⚪ 61 Hours	9.49	9.49
🔴 Solar	8.90	13.00
🔴 One Day	3.79	3.86
🔴 Mums Know Best: The Hairy Bikers’ Family Cookbook	8.98	13.00
⚪ The Lovely Bones	2.98	2.98
🔴 Breaking Dawn (Twilight Saga)	7.49	14.99
🔴 Eclipse (Twilight Saga)	3.99	6.99
🔴 New Atkins for a New You: The Ultimate Diet for Shedding Weight and Feeling Great	3.99	5.99
🔴 The Return: Nightfall (The Vampire Diaries)	3.49	6.99
🔴 New Moon (Twilight Saga)	2.98	6.99
🔴 Twilight (Twilight Saga)	3.44	6.99
🔴 The Struggle: Bks. 1 & 2 (The Vampire Diaries)	3.48	6.99
⚪ Brooklyn	3.86	3.86
🔴 Vampire Diaries: Bks. 3 & 4 (The Vampire Diaries)	3.49	5.99
⚪ Hamlyn All Colour 200 Slow Cooker Recipes (Hamlyn All Colour Cookbooks)	2.48	2.48
🟢 Shutter Island	3.98	3.59
⚪ 101 One-pot Dishes: Tried-and-tested Recipes (Good Food 101)	1.97	1.97
🔴 The Secret Ingredient: Delicious, Easy Recipes Which Might Just Save Your Life	5.97	5.98
🔴 Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters	3.48	6.99
🔴 Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian	3.99	6.99
⚪ The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society	3.49	3.49
🔴 The Double Comfort Safari Club (No 1 Ladies Detective Agency)	7.99	12.00
⚪ The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook	8.49	8.49
🔴 The Gruffalo	2.96	5.99
⚪ Percy Jackson and the Titan’s Curse	3.99
⚪ Percy Jackson and the Battle of the Labyrinth	3.48
🔴 The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine	12.50	17.50
⚪ The Secret	4.55	4.55
🔴 The Time Traveler’s Wife	3.82	3.86
🔴 Miss Dahl’s Voluptuous Delights	11.50	13.00
⚪ Ching’s Chinese Food in Minutes	9.98	9.98
⚪ The Little Stranger	3.86	3.86
🔴 ReWork: Change the Way You Work Forever	5.50	7.69
🔴 Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief	3.48	6.99
⚪ The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest	9.49	9.49
⚪ Dead and Gone: A True Blood Novel (Sookie Stackhouse Vampire 9)	5.20	5.20
⚪ The Forgotten Highlander: My Incredible Story of Survival During the War in the Far East	9.48	9.48
🔴 Room on the Broom	2.98	5.99
⚪ Lord Sunday (The Keys to the Kingdom)	3.49	3.49
⚪ The Official Highway Code	1.65	1.65
🔴 The Gruffalo’s Child	2.94	5.99
🔴 The Return: Shadow Souls (The Vampire Diaries)	3.50	5.24
⚪ Three Cups of Tea	4.98	4.98
⚪ The End of the Party	12.50	12.50
🔴 The Very Hungry Caterpillar [Board Book]	2.97	5.99
⚪ Annabel Karmel’s New Complete Baby and Toddler Meal Planner	8.69	8.69
⚪ Bad Science	3.57	3.57
🔴 The Snail and the Whale	2.96	5.99
⚪ True Blood Boxed Set (Sookie Stackhouse Vampire)	19.95	19.95
⚪ Gone Tomorrow	3.86	3.86
⚪ The Italian Diet	6.98	6.98
🔴 The Snowman	6.48	9.09
⚪ Wedlock: How Georgian Britain’s Worst Husband Met His Match	3.86	3.86
🔴 Little Darlings	4.89	8.00
⚪ Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything	3.98	3.98
⚪ 101 Meals for Two: Tried-and-tested Recipes (Good Food 101)	1.97	1.97
🔴 The Immortals: Blue Moon	3.48	6.99
⚪ The Host	3.82	3.82
⚪ The Catcher in the Rye	4.48	4.48
🔴 The Final Fantasy XIII Complete Official Guide	11.24	14.24
⚪ The Book Thief	3.95	3.95
⚪ Mexican Food Made Simple	9.99	9.99
⚪ Tea Time for the Traditionally Built: The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency: The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, Book 10 (No 1 Ladies Detective Agency10)	3.86	3.86
🔴 The Oxford Companion to Food (Oxford Companions)	20.00	28.00
⚪ Sacred Hearts	3.86	3.86
🔴 A Squash and a Squeeze	3.00	5.99
⚪ Pokemon HeartGold/ SoulSilver Official Guide	9.74
⚪ Cutting for Stone	3.86	3.86
⚪ Trespass	8.98	8.98
🔴 Wheels on the Bus (Pre School Songs)	2.44	4.76
⚪ Alone in Berlin (Penguin Modern Classics)	4.98	4.98
🔴 The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ (Myths)	7.50	10.00
🔴 Twenties Girl	3.85	3.86
🔴 The Last Straw (Diary of a Wimpy Kid)	3.48	6.99
🔴 Rodrick Rules: Diary of a Wimpy Kid (Book 2)	3.48	6.99
🔴 The Natural Navigator	7.48	10.49
🔴 The White Queen	3.99	6.39
⚪ The Shack	3.95	3.95
🔴 Good Food, 101 Cakes and Bakes	1.97	3.45
🔴 Faces (Baby’s Very First Book)	2.48	4.99
⚪ Lustrum	6.38	6.38
⚪ Blacklands	3.86	3.86
🔴 The Lost Symbol	8.78	9.00
🔴 A Touch of Dead (Sookie Stackhouse Vampire Myst)	5.20	9.09
⚪ The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better	4.96	4.96
⚪ Jamie’s Ministry of Food: Anyone Can Learn to Cook in 24 Hours	15.00	15.00
🔴 Ottolenghi: The Cookbook	12.50	16.25
🔴 The Ice Cream Girls	5.89	9.00
🔴 The Best of Times	3.79	3.86
⚪ Whoops!: Why Everyone Owes Everyone and No One Can Pay	11.50	11.50
⚪ The Children’s Book	3.86	3.86
🔴 Twilight: v. 1: The Graphic Novel (Twilight the Graphic Novel 1)	6.49	12.99
🔴 Too Big to Fail: Inside the Battle to Save Wall Street	7.48	7.49
🔴 Dark Days (Skulduggery Pleasant - book 4)	5.84	12.99
🟢 It’s Only a Movie: Reel Life Adventures of a Film Obsessive	6.00	5.98
🔴 The Smartest Giant in Town	3.00	5.99

I do like you. Really. (Despite trying to stop me scraping via user agent detection.) I don’t mind that you don’t have every book. I trust you to pick what I’d most likely want. You’re good at that.

Please make your books less expensive?

Comments

The scary Internet | s-anand.net 3 Jun 2013 7:29 am (pingback): […] was working on a project at Tesco, and was scraping bestsellers lists from most sites. (Here’s a blog post about it.) We were putting together a prototype to see how real-time competitive pricing could […]

Lazy bargain hunting

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 12:00:00 +0000

I’m thinking of buying a digital keyboard with touch sensitive keys and MIDI support. (The one other thing that I thought off – a pitch bend – puts the keyboards out of my budget.)

I’d like a good deal. (Who doesn’t?) But I don’t like to spend time searching for one. (Who does?)

So here’s the plan.

Firstly, I’ll restrict my search to Amazon.co.uk. For electronics items, I haven’t found anyone consistently cheaper. Tesco has some pretty low prices, but not the range. eBuyer is pretty good, but not often enough. Google Products is the only other one that gets me consistent lower prices, but I’ve had my credit card identity stolen once before while shopping online, so I’d rather not pick any random seller listed on Google.

Amazon has a secret discount. You can search for electronics items with 30% off or more. And then you can narrow it down to Sound & Vision > Musical Instruments > MIDI Keyboards. Further cap a 100 - 200 GBP restriction. That leaves us with one product:

While that matches my criteria, I’m in no hurry and can wait for more offers to come up. But I don’t want to keep checking this page every day. So, RSS to the rescue. You probably think I can’t get enough of RSS feeds. And you’d be right. The thing is, as an attention mechanism, it is incredibly powerful, and I never cease to be amazed that the things it lets me do.

Using my XPath checker and a bit of trial and error, I figured all product links link to “amazon.co.uk/dp/…” with a <span> inside. So this XPath gets all the links:

//a[contains(@href,'/dp/')][span]

And I made an RSS feed out of that using my XPath server and subscribed to it on Google Reader.

Combining a bunch of such searches, I have a shopping folder on Google Reader has all the items I’m searching for. Now that’s lazy bargain hunting.

Which is all very fine. But given that I’m buying a car in a hurry right now, and I’m not doing any bargain hunting, it’s a classic case of being penny-wise and pound-foolish. Sigh…

Comments

Oracle 4 Jan 2008 12:00 pm: Alternate way is to set-up a google alert for the specific item in the chosen sites. Do you see any disadvantages with that?
Rajesh 11 Nov 2008 7:58 am: Never had someone’s personal website kept me so drawn in. You are smart and very articulate (u probably know this already) and it shows in each intersting and very often informative article you write. you can even try writing columns in magazines, websites or papers. i’ve learnt a lot from your site already and haven’t finished reading them all. i also see you play the keyboard and maybe interested in midis. i’ve sequenced some midis. u can can find them at

http://rajesh.annamalaisamy.googlepages.com/rajeshmidis

if u’re interested. The best tamil song midis in my opinion are done by kishmu. His midi works can be found at

www.geocities.com/kishmu/

Eagerly anticipating your next article.

Regards

Rajesh

Cool abused amazon images

Tue, 03 Oct 2006 12:00:00 +0000

Cool abused amazon images.

A9.com Maps

Tue, 23 Aug 2005 12:00:00 +0000

A9.com Maps. Provides photos of building elevations of location!

Amazon concordance

Fri, 22 Jul 2005 12:00:00 +0000

Amazon has a new feature called concordance that shows the frequently used words in a book like a tag list.

Amazon image abuse

Wed, 01 Jun 2005 12:00:00 +0000

Amazon image abuse. How you can change Amazon images in practically every way that Amazon itself can.

Amazon Zuggest

Thu, 07 Apr 2005 12:00:00 +0000

Shanahan’s Amazon Zuggest. It searches Amazon live.

100 Amazon Hacks

Thu, 31 Mar 2005 12:00:00 +0000

100 Amazon hacks.

AmazType

Thu, 17 Mar 2005 12:00:00 +0000

AmazType is a typographic book search based on Amazon. I didn’t understand what that meant either, until I searched for Six Degrees. Try it. Then click on a few of the book images.

Comments

Jetru 17 Mar 2005 7:56 am: Cool :D

Final Frontier of Science

Mon, 14 Feb 2005 12:00:00 +0000

We are the final frontier. The Guardian asks leading scientists what they think will be the next revolution in science. (It’s almost a trend, spawning books like The Next Fifty Years.)

First came the Copernican revolution in the 16th century. The Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus argued that the Earth was not at the centre of the solar system. Charles Darwin got personal more than 300 years later by implying that humans weren’t special either. With the publication of On the Origin of Species, Darwin promoted his theory of evolution via natural selection. Nearly a century later, two Cambridge-based scientists, James Watson and Francis Crick, unravelled the structure of DNA. So what’s next? What will be the fourth revolution?

‘We will invent our successors’ – Seth Shostak
‘We will understand the human mind’ – John Sulston
‘The existence of parallel universes’ – Michio Kaku
‘We will change our genetic makeup’ – Norbert Gleicher
‘We will find out if we are alone’ – Colin Pillinger
‘Humans become a collective intelligence’ – John Barrow
‘We’ll understand thoughts and feelings’ – Steven Pinker
‘The end of the individual’ – Susan Greenfield
‘What if God lives in a part of our brain?’ – Nancy Rothwell
‘What it means to be a person’ – V S Ramachandran
‘Conscious machines’ – Igor Aleksander
‘Higher dimensions’ – Lisa Randall
‘Humans are less miraculous than we thought’ – Stephen Wolfram

Amazon enters blogging

Thu, 10 Feb 2005 12:00:00 +0000

Amazon enters blogging.

Comments

Navneet 10 Feb 2005 12:00 pm: Whoa! Hee-uu-ge Geocities popup on page. Thought it was temp. Apparently not..
S Anand 10 Feb 2005 12:00 pm: Can’t seem to avoid it…
Dhar 8 Mar 2005 8:08 am: Amazon India Center’s blog: i-5.blogspot.com
S Anand 8 Mar 2005 8:24 am: That was a good one! Didn’t know corporate blogs were getting along in India.

Woodward Bernstein papers

Fri, 04 Feb 2005 12:00:00 +0000

The Woodward and Bernstein papers.

Woodward and Berstein of the Washington Post wrote a series of stories leading to the resignation of Richard Nixon. Their novel All The President’s Men has a gripping account of their adventure. Now, their original papers are available at the University of Texas.

Amazon Best of 2004

Wed, 02 Feb 2005 12:00:00 +0000

Amazon’s Best books of 2004, All consuming, and Daypop Amazon Wishlist are good places to look for books to read.

A9

Thu, 15 Apr 2004 12:00:00 +0000

Amazon’s A9 search leverages what they’re good at – offering reviews of sites, related entries, and recent history.

Top reviewers on Amazon

Sat, 16 Nov 2002 12:00:00 +0000

Stars of Amazon – Anita’s article on book reviewers at Amazon. via Anita

Why history unfolded differently across continents

Mon, 30 Sep 2002 12:00:00 +0000

Broad and insightful talk by Diamond on why history unfolded differently across continents. Note that he’s talking about why and not how. Based on his book: Guns, Germs and Steel.

Linux saved Amazon

Wed, 07 Nov 2001 12:00:00 +0000

Linux has saved Amazon $17 million.

Red Cross Fund

Fri, 14 Sep 2001 12:00:00 +0000

Amazon’s Red Cross Fund has collected over $3.6 million as of today. The Internet’s proving a great way to mobilise funds!

Top ranking books

Wed, 29 Aug 2001 12:00:00 +0000

Amazon’s top ranking books is a heavily tracked index.