# Is your Amazon "Wish List" on Public? That seems to be the default setting... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 6, 2015, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-amazon-wish-list-on-public-that-seems-to-be-the-default-setting/711948 "2015-02-06T05:19:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-amazon-wish-list-on-public-that-seems-to-be-the-default-setting/711948/1 "2015-02-06T05:19:36Z")
I was shocked to find my “Wish List” on Amazon on “Public.” Yeah. Since I’d never even thought about this issue before, I have to assume this is the default setting. I’m glad I didn’t have anything embarrassing in there, such as “Ultimate Guybrator” or “Zombie Fleshlight.” You might want to check your setting! And I gotta say it’s pretty sad of Amazon to make that default. It’s not a goddamn wedding registry! ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-amazon-wish-list-on-public-that-seems-to-be-the-default-setting/711948/2 "2015-02-06T05:25:41Z")
My Amazon wishlists are all changed to private. It would be embarassing if they were public because there’s literally thousands of items accumulated over the past decade. It would make me look extremely materialistic. I’m just waiting to win the lottery at this point. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-amazon-wish-list-on-public-that-seems-to-be-the-default-setting/711948/3 "2015-02-06T05:56:22Z")
> [@GreenElf](#): > > My Amazon wishlists are all changed to private. It would be embarassing if they were public because there’s literally thousands of items accumulated over the past decade. It would make me look extremely materialistic. I’m just waiting to win the lottery at this point. Good for you, you understood the settings! Yeah, how much do we want to proclaim to the world, “I want I want I want I want…” ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-amazon-wish-list-on-public-that-seems-to-be-the-default-setting/711948/4 "2015-02-06T12:15:15Z")
I don’t recall ever setting mine multiple lists to private, but they are. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-amazon-wish-list-on-public-that-seems-to-be-the-default-setting/711948/5 "2015-02-06T12:34:58Z")
Mine is public. I don’t really give a shit. If some random stranger wants to buy me that $300 Le Creuset dutch oven, I won’t complain. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Accident](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Mr.Accident](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Accident)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-amazon-wish-list-on-public-that-seems-to-be-the-default-setting/711948/6 "2015-02-06T13:09:18Z")
Yep, it’s set to public, but I wanted it that way. I got tired of people always asking me what do I want for my birthday, Christmas, etc. I told them if they couldn’t think of something to like, just get something off my wish list. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-amazon-wish-list-on-public-that-seems-to-be-the-default-setting/711948/7 "2015-02-06T13:26:15Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > Yeah, how much do we want to proclaim to the world, “I want I want I want I want…” But I _do_ want. My lists are set to public, intentionally. Birthday coming up and all. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-amazon-wish-list-on-public-that-seems-to-be-the-default-setting/711948/8 "2015-02-06T14:00:28Z")
I do see the value in a public Wish List. However, I think Amazon should make that very clear in the interface and make it maybe “Wish List (Public–unless you set otherwise)” and “My Buy Later List” (Private–unless you set it otherwise). My guess is that there are a _lot_ of people with embarrassing items on public lists (however, are those crawled by Google, I wonder? or would people be unable to find them without the link?). ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-amazon-wish-list-on-public-that-seems-to-be-the-default-setting/711948/9 "2015-02-06T15:32:25Z")
I do believe you can use their system to search for your friends’ and family’s wish lists, which is what they mean by “public.” (But then again you can search for anyone’s wish list, friends or family or not) I don’t believe it’s indexed by Google. One time I logged in and found a new item on my wish list, which was an item my mom had just purchased for herself days before. Somehow my mom managed to put the item in my wish list instead of in her cart (but eventually managed to put it in her cart). Moms. smh ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-amazon-wish-list-on-public-that-seems-to-be-the-default-setting/711948/10 "2015-02-06T16:19:50Z")
I have one public and one private. Guess which one has the guybrators and fleshlights. ---
**Author:** ![boozilu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4da419/32.png) [@boozilu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boozilu)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-amazon-wish-list-on-public-that-seems-to-be-the-default-setting/711948/11 "2015-02-06T16:53:28Z")
I have a public list and another I call “potential” with private items I may want to buy for myself later. And I don’t put anything embarrassing on the public list. ---
**Author:** ![Mithras](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mithras](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mithras)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-amazon-wish-list-on-public-that-seems-to-be-the-default-setting/711948/12 "2015-02-06T17:00:02Z")
My wife has a public Amazon wishlist. A little after we found out she was pregnant but waaaay before we were ready to tell our families about it, she made a private wishlist to bookmark a crib that caught her eye. The next weekend, while she was away visiting her family one state over for completely unrelated reasons, I got a phone call from my parents… She had accidentally set her old list to private and left the new, baby one public. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2015, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-amazon-wish-list-on-public-that-seems-to-be-the-default-setting/711948/13 "2015-02-07T02:11:06Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > I do see the value in a public Wish List. However, I think Amazon should make that very clear in the interface and make it maybe “Wish List (Public–unless you set otherwise)” and “My Buy Later List” (Private–unless you set it otherwise). My account shows default options for a “Wish List” (public) and a “Shopping List” (private). ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2015, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-amazon-wish-list-on-public-that-seems-to-be-the-default-setting/711948/14 "2015-02-07T02:28:44Z")
Public? _Need to check that_ You mean if Bill Gates ever read here, tracked me down, and decided to send me a gift, I’d get a bread machine that I was pricing (and bought as a gift) last Christmas??? _Yikes!_ \*Hint: Dear Bill Gates, if you Really Do Exist, read this and sometimes smile, I’ve a Damn Smart young man who’d make you Mint should you help him some with college costs. … Don’t You Dare Spend One Penny On Me… ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2015, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-amazon-wish-list-on-public-that-seems-to-be-the-default-setting/711948/15 "2015-02-07T06:43:17Z")
I sometimes wonder if somewhere in the deep, dark recesses of Amazon, someone is having a chuckle reading through my wishlists. I also wonder if my Ebay watch list is displayed on dozens of large screens in some kind of “situation room” like Wolf Blitzer has, especially when I have adult films on my list. When I worked at a medical office, my coworkers would be beside themselves with laughter over certain medical issues involving a patient’s anal cavity, so I know that privacy policies don’t preclude workplace humor. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2015, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-amazon-wish-list-on-public-that-seems-to-be-the-default-setting/711948/16 "2015-02-07T12:22:50Z")
So, just two more weeks till my bd. I’ll happily pm a link to my wish list to anyone who requests it. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2015, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-amazon-wish-list-on-public-that-seems-to-be-the-default-setting/711948/17 "2015-02-07T18:06:44Z")
I’m a bit surprised at all this. It would never occur to me that a list called “wish list” wasn’t public. You’re wishing for things that you want someone to get for you. You can, and I have, change your settings so that your “buying list”, which is by default private, is also the default list that items are added to when you click “add to wish list” button. That way you can maintain a public wish list and simply add birthday, Christmas, etc. suggestions to it. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2015, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-amazon-wish-list-on-public-that-seems-to-be-the-default-setting/711948/18 "2015-02-07T21:54:22Z")
> [@OldGuy](#): > > I’m a bit surprised at all this. It would never occur to me that a list called “wish list” wasn’t public. I do feel a bit dumb (altho, I don’t think anyone saw the list, and there was nothing crazy on it). I do think Amazon could make things a bit more clear, however. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2015, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-amazon-wish-list-on-public-that-seems-to-be-the-default-setting/711948/19 "2015-02-08T12:50:57Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > So, just two more weeks till my bd. I’ll happily pm a link to my wish list to anyone who requests it. OK, this is getting ridiculous. Offer limited to the first 200 responders.