Thursday, 18 January 2007

Subscription shopping

Here's the idea: I set up a wish list and a budget (say, $25 per month). Then whenever my budget covers a purchase or two (including shipping) the package is wrapped up and sent to my door. It's the same kind of model as Quickflix where I only care about the eventual content, not the immediacy of delivery. It also helps limit spending on books (or other items) by setting aside a budget for the purpose and automatically sticking to it. If I go on a sudden online shopping spree, I can rest assured that it won't break my bank because it will all be portioned out at spending rate I have deemed acceptable.

Of course the charges won't go to my credit card immediately every month - only when a purchase is made. Also, if I happen to request a book that costs more than my monthly budget, I have the option of my subscription automatically "saving up" for it by shipping nothing for a month or two.

The best part of all this is that it can be built on top of Amazon as a third-party service. We don't need to wait for Amazon to do it for us.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - I haven't checked whether this service has been proposed before.
PPS - With my track record for inventions, someone's already done it.

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