e-commerce 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.

Phone Rage and an OTP Flood

Tue, 29 Apr 2025 10:25:30 +0000

I called a few movers in Chennai, including “Unicorn Packers & Movers”, listed at 7015580411.

He couldn’t understand what I said. I said, “We’re shifting to a house in Mylapore,” and he asked, “Shifting house where in Hyderabad?” (The reason became clear later.)

It seemed I had the wrong number, so I said, “No, sorry, we need someone else,” and hung up.

His phone rage began. He called back and said, “Why did you wake me up and waste my time?” From his tone it was clear I couldn’t say anything helpful. From the quality of my signal it was clear I couldn’t have a meaningful conversation. So I just put the phone down without cutting it.

He called me again. I answered and left the phone on the table.

That’s when the phone rage began. He called me 5 times from 9467186002 and twice from 7015580411. I answered and left the phone on the table.

Then the SMS flood hit. Between 2:47 pm and 2:55 pm, he sent me 40 OTPs:

6 from KukuFM: An Indian audio app for podcasts, audiobooks, and short lessons.
5 from Hyundai: A global car maker that sells vehicles in India.
4 from Zepto: A rapid-delivery startup for groceries and essentials.
4 from ZestMoney: A finance app that lets you buy now and pay in EMI, no credit card needed.
3 from Samsung Shop: Samsung’s online store for browsing and buying its electronics.
3 from Confirmtkt: An online service for booking train tickets via IRCTC.
3 from My11Circle: A fantasy-cricket game where you build virtual teams and win cash prizes.
3 from Aakash Institute: A coaching center for medical and engineering entrance exams.
2 from JioCinema: Jio’s OTT service with movies, shows, and originals.
2 from NetMeds: An online pharmacy for medicines and health products.
2 from AJIO: A fashion and lifestyle e-commerce site by Reliance Retail.
2 from Jar: A savings app that rounds up your spend and saves the extra.
1 from RummyCircle: An online rummy card game.

After a break, he tried again at 3:17 pm with less energy:

1 from ZestMoney
1 from Samsung Shop

To me, it was instructive. I learnt about KukuFM, Jar, Ajio, My11Circle and many others. I also know which services to annoy people with OTPs. If you want to prank-spam OTPs, here’s your hit list!

My apologies to the man I awoke – hope he gets some sleep. And thanks for teaching me something new!

PS: The featured image was generated using the prompt: Edit this image so that this photo of me looks at a smartphone as a surreal storm of OTP notifications rains down around me.

Here’s ChatGPT’s version of that. Yes, that’s vaguely like me.

Cool abused amazon images

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

Cool abused amazon images.

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.

Buy Jet Airways tickets online

Wed, 28 Apr 2004 12:00:00 +0000

You can buy Jet airways tickets online.

Mathematical American from Scientific American

Thu, 08 Apr 2004 12:00:00 +0000

I was trying to buy the Mathematical American but the server seems to have some problem.

Indian Railways site

Thu, 10 Apr 2003 12:00:00 +0000

The Indian Railways reservation site is among the largest e-commerce sites in Asia-Pacific.

Froogle

Fri, 13 Dec 2002 12:00:00 +0000

Froogle. A product search from Google. The way Google is going, I don’t think there’s any point in most sites bothering about design. Google will just offer it to customers the way they want to see it. via Kiruba

Accenture technology research

Fri, 22 Nov 2002 12:00:00 +0000

There’s some good tech stuff at Accenture’s R&D page. via andersja

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!

Orbitz

Thu, 07 Jun 2001 12:00:00 +0000

Orbitz, the travel site backed by Delta, Northwest and American, is online. It cuts through travel agents and lets passengers book flight tickets directly with the airlines. (I tried booking a flight from Mumbai to Bangkok, but for some reason, it kept giving me an error.)

Online payment risks

Fri, 16 Mar 2001 12:00:00 +0000

Better be a bit careful about online payments. A Russian hacker stole from 40 companies. Amazon’s subsidiary was hit. And IBM’s Net.Commerce is buggy.

Taxing the Internet

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

With the Internet economy booming despite the collapse of dot-coms, the OECD countries are getting ready to tax the Internet.

Amazon honor system

Sat, 24 Feb 2001 12:00:00 +0000

You can make a tip on the Web using Amazon’s honour system.

Dotcoms go bust but ecommerce thrives

Thu, 01 Feb 2001 12:00:00 +0000

Dot-coms go bust, but e-commerce initiatives in companies still thrive.

Layoff calculations

Thu, 01 Feb 2001 12:00:00 +0000

I did some quick layoff calculations. It appears that

Layoffs have been increasing over time
The dominant reason for layoffs is cost-cutting
E-Commerce companies have laid off the most
If the NASDAQ or S&P 500 fall, layoffs increase
If the Dow Jones falls, layoffs fall !

Auction prices

Fri, 22 Dec 2000 12:00:00 +0000

Strong numbers searches through auctions and tells you what the fair price of any product is. Now, that’s market information!

inc.com

Thu, 17 Aug 2000 12:00:00 +0000

inc.com has lots of good articles on anything to do with business – business plans, customer service, e-commerce, law, strategy, etc. Especially their guides.

Joke on Amazon.com

Fri, 04 Aug 2000 12:00:00 +0000

A neat joke on Amazon.com.