# What was the first thing you purchased on Amazon? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 8, 2016, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-thing-you-purchased-on-amazon/751600 "2016-04-08T20:56:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-thing-you-purchased-on-amazon/751600/81 "2016-04-11T19:01:53Z")
September 16, 1998 Color Scanning Handbook : Your Guide to Hewlett-Packard Scanjet Color Scanners (Hp Professional Books) still got that book somewhere. All my orders in 1998 were for books. 1999 was books and three movies on vhs. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2016, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-thing-you-purchased-on-amazon/751600/82 "2016-04-12T00:40:16Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > Was Half Life: Blue Shift any good? It actually was. You play as a security guard caught in Black Mesa when the breach opens and you have to work your way out of the facility past the aliens and military. I remember thinking that it was too short, but that seems to be the way of DLC. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2016, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-thing-you-purchased-on-amazon/751600/83 "2016-04-12T01:55:59Z")
September 2002 - [Kindred the Embraced - The Complete Vampire Collection](http://www.amazon.com/Kindred-Embraced-Complete-Vampire-Collection/dp/B00005Q4DS?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00). From the date it was clearly a birthday gift for my mom. ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2016, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-thing-you-purchased-on-amazon/751600/84 "2016-04-12T02:17:08Z")
The earliest it’s showing is two wedding books ordered in December 1997 (I got married in June 1998, so that fits). But I don’t think those were really my first purchase from Amazon. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2016, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-thing-you-purchased-on-amazon/751600/85 "2016-04-12T05:28:15Z")
The earliest my account shows is from August 1, 2000: _The Annotated Alice: The Definitive Edition_, Lewis Carroll, et al. (Martin Gardner) I don’t remember if there was anything earlier. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2016, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-thing-you-purchased-on-amazon/751600/86 "2016-04-12T12:27:35Z")
The first thing I ordered on Amazon were…fumetti (italian porn comics from the 60s-80s) that I had enjoyed reading during my childhood (stolen from elder brothers), half out of nostalgia, half out of curiosity (I wanted to know when exactly I was reading those). I was surprised to see how tame and badly drawn they were. I never bought anything else on Amazon, so it was easy to remember. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2016, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-thing-you-purchased-on-amazon/751600/87 "2016-04-12T15:43:58Z")
[The FairTax Book](http://www.amazon.com/The-FairTax-Book-Neal-Boortz/dp/0060875410?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00) by Neal Boortz in 2005. I bought nothing via Amazon in 2008. My order history has picked up since then. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2016, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-thing-you-purchased-on-amazon/751600/88 "2016-04-12T15:51:19Z")
May 31, 2000: HTML 4 for the World Wide Web, Fourth Edition : Visual QuickStart Guide ---
**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:** [April 12, 2016, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-thing-you-purchased-on-amazon/751600/89 "2016-04-12T16:21:14Z")
It was November 8, 2003. I ordered two books of poetry by **Billy Collins** , _Sailing Alone Around the Room: New and Selected Poems_ and _The Best Cigarette_. ---
**Author:** ![Epimetheus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c4cdca/32.png) [@Epimetheus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epimetheus)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2016, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-thing-you-purchased-on-amazon/751600/90 "2016-04-12T17:34:52Z")
My current account only goes back to 2006. I’m pretty sure I was shopping Amazon a few years before that. I really wasn’t really brave enough for ecommerce until something like 2003 at the least. I bought “Microsoft Office Access 2003 Step by Step” for an job in Feb 2006. I’m certain I bought and sold a few books on Amazon well before that though. It was probably an old account. I do that a lot. Like this account, I took some time off, forgot about it, had the info written down somewhere and chanced upon it. (edit: not to say that I used a different account, because I didn’t, I just took off multiple years before logging back in) ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2016, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-thing-you-purchased-on-amazon/751600/91 "2016-04-12T18:21:49Z")
According to the list, August 29, 1999 - a VHS copy of Duran Duran’s Greatest Videos but I’m fairly certain I bought used books from them before that. I can’t seem to run any reports on orders from before 2006. Bummer. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2016, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-thing-you-purchased-on-amazon/751600/92 "2016-04-12T18:35:41Z")
According to the website, it was a boxed set of season 1 of the Simpsons in 2001, but I remember when I bought books on Amazon before they really had anything else. I must have had a different account then. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2016, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-thing-you-purchased-on-amazon/751600/93 "2016-04-12T19:23:20Z")
Apparently it was “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” in 2000. Which I’m slightly dubious about, because I thought I’d bought from them earlier. But, like so many of my Amazon orders that I’ve reviewed, my primary reaction is “Holy crap, it’s been \*16 years \*since Goblet of Fire came out?”. It’s surprisingly dismaying to see 15 years of purchases compressed into a list and realize how long ago they were made and how recently it seems. For half the orders, I would have sworn that I made them like, yesterday. Also, sort of surprising how few orders I made in the first few years. I’d make maybe two Amazon orders per year – some tools and four or five books. Then it stabilized at around seven or eight – probably after I got Prime. ---
**Author:** ![Zyanthia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Zyanthia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyanthia)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2016, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-thing-you-purchased-on-amazon/751600/94 "2016-04-12T19:42:58Z")
I guess I’m a relatively late bloomer. My first order with Amazon was in April 2011, and it was to buy Heroes of Might & Magic 3 Complete. One of my all-time favorite games still today. I tried the HD version on steam, but so much is still missing that I still fall back to the version I bought in 2011. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2016, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-thing-you-purchased-on-amazon/751600/95 "2016-04-12T19:48:50Z")
A copy of _The Gashleycrumb Tinies_, evidently. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-thing-you-purchased-on-amazon/751600/96 "2016-04-13T17:10:08Z")
According to my order history, my first order was on [May 11, 2011](http://www.amazon.com/Professional-Responsibility-Problems-Materials-University/dp/1599413817?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00): _Professional Responsibility, Problems and Materials_ (University Casebook Series) 10th Edition, by Morgan and Rotunda. I know that’s not it because that was my third semester of law school, and I bought at least one of my first/second semester casebooks on Amazon. I don’t have any previous order confirmations in my e-mail either, though they might be in my now-closed student e-mail inbox since I used that one to sign up (free Prime!) ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-thing-you-purchased-on-amazon/751600/97 "2016-04-13T17:40:09Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > According to my order history, my first order was on [May 11, 2011](http://www.amazon.com/Professional-Responsibility-Problems-Materials-University/dp/1599413817?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00): _Professional Responsibility, Problems and Materials_ (University Casebook Series) 10th Edition, by Morgan and Rotunda. > > I know that’s not it because that was my third semester of law school, and I bought at least one of my first/second semester casebooks on Amazon. I don’t have any previous order confirmations in my e-mail either, though they might be in my now-closed student e-mail inbox since I used that one to sign up (free Prime!) Ah hah! Turns out I had another account under my student e-mail, so my first order _was_ back in 2010. > [@](#): > > August 12, 2010 > > Total > $419.33 > > Order Details > > Legal Writing and Analysis > Linda Holdeman Edwards > Sold by: [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com) LLC > $63.26 > > Problems in Contract Law: Cases and Materials > Charles L. Knapp, et al > Sold by: [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com) LLC > $144.41 > > Civil Procedure > Stephen C. Yeazell > Sold by: [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com) LLC > $143.52 > > Rules of Contract Law 2009 Statutory Supplement > Nathan M. Crystal, Harry G. Prince Charles L. Knapp > Sold by: [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com) LLC > $35.19 How I hated those books. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-thing-you-purchased-on-amazon/751600/98 "2016-04-13T18:57:40Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > A copy of _The Gashleycrumb Tinies_, evidently. I forgot to add, this was in 1998. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-thing-you-purchased-on-amazon/751600/99 "2016-04-13T21:41:55Z")
2002 - the Collector’s Gift Set of the Extended Edition of _The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring_, with the Argonath bookends. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-thing-you-purchased-on-amazon/751600/100 "2016-04-14T15:33:29Z")
I thought I was an early adopter, but not compared to many other posters in this thread. My first purchase was August 2003, 3 Johnny Cash albums. At Folsum Prison, American Recordings, and Unchained. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-thing-you-purchased-on-amazon/751600.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-thing-you-purchased-on-amazon/751600.md?page=6)