# How did this strange item show up in my Amazon shopping basket? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 28, 2010, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-this-strange-item-show-up-in-my-amazon-shopping-basket/565631 "2010-12-28T18:43:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![xanthous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/53a042/32.png) [@xanthous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xanthous)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-this-strange-item-show-up-in-my-amazon-shopping-basket/565631/1 "2010-12-28T18:43:31Z")
My mom showed me this paw washer thing that she got for her dog (the actual physical item) She had looked it up on [amazon.com](http://amazon.com) a week or so prior but bought it from another internet retailer. The same day (totally unrelated), I got on her computer and signed her out of Amazon and then signed myself in on Amazon to look something up, and that paw-washer was in my shopping cart! My mom says that at no time was it ever in her shopping cart- that she had only researched the item on Amazon. And besides- when she did this research a week prior, she was logged in as herself. How in the hell did that item get in my shopping cart under my account?? ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-this-strange-item-show-up-in-my-amazon-shopping-basket/565631/2 "2010-12-28T19:46:43Z")
Regardless of what your mom said it was in her shopping cart. People do make mistakes. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-this-strange-item-show-up-in-my-amazon-shopping-basket/565631/3 "2010-12-28T20:56:11Z")
And there’s probably a glitch in the Amazon site that didn’t clear the cookie when you signed out as your mom and signed in as you. If you’d closed the browser after signing out, it probably wouldn’t have ended up in your cart. ---
**Author:** ![xanthous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/53a042/32.png) [@xanthous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xanthous)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2010, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-this-strange-item-show-up-in-my-amazon-shopping-basket/565631/4 "2010-12-29T01:51:39Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > Regardless of what your mom said it was in her shopping cart. People do make mistakes. I think you’re right- there’s no way it could have magically appeared in my cart if it hadn’t been in _somebody’s_ cart! > [@TroutMan](#): > > And there’s probably a glitch in the Amazon site that didn’t clear the cookie when you signed out as your mom and signed in as you. If you’d closed the browser after signing out, it probably wouldn’t have ended up in your cart. No, I didn’t close the browser before I signed in. Thanks, guys- mystery explained! ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2010, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-this-strange-item-show-up-in-my-amazon-shopping-basket/565631/5 "2010-12-29T02:59:25Z")
Now if someone can explain a book I got from Amazon that I never ordered, never paid for, yet came to my work address, correctly addressed to me? Not that I care. It happened months ago. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2010, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-this-strange-item-show-up-in-my-amazon-shopping-basket/565631/6 "2010-12-29T03:08:03Z")
> [@SeaDragonTattoo](#): > > Now if someone can explain a book I got from Amazon that I never ordered, never paid for, yet came to my work address, correctly addressed to me? > > Not that I care. It happened months ago. Elves. ---
**Author:** ![BorgHunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@BorgHunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BorgHunter)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2010, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-this-strange-item-show-up-in-my-amazon-shopping-basket/565631/7 "2010-12-29T03:22:38Z")
> [@SeaDragonTattoo](#): > > Now if someone can explain a book I got from Amazon that I never ordered, never paid for, yet came to my work address, correctly addressed to me? > > Not that I care. It happened months ago. Was it at least an enjoyable book? ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2010, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-this-strange-item-show-up-in-my-amazon-shopping-basket/565631/8 "2010-12-29T03:24:37Z")
Was it a mystery novel? ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2010, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-this-strange-item-show-up-in-my-amazon-shopping-basket/565631/9 "2010-12-29T03:36:45Z")
It was Michael Pollan’s “Food Rules.” What a waste of time. While I enjoyed “Omnivore’s Dilemma,” this one was just a contract fulfillment or something. It’s not really even a book except it’s paper with minimal printing on it with a front and back cover. Amazon didn’t even want it back! ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2010, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-this-strange-item-show-up-in-my-amazon-shopping-basket/565631/10 "2010-12-31T04:13:07Z")
> [@SeaDragonTattoo](#): > > It was Michael Pollan’s “Food Rules.” What a waste of time. While I enjoyed “Omnivore’s Dilemma,” this one was just a contract fulfillment or something. It’s not really even a book except it’s paper with minimal printing on it with a front and back cover. > > Amazon didn’t even want it back! I’d assume it was a gift, maybe even from the writer who saw that you’d purchased the other one, and needed to pimp his book out. But I’d more suspect someone you know.