Don't Back Down

After some more use of it, I've decided that I don't like the Wal-Mart wish list as much as the Amazon one. On an ongoing basis it might be okay, but trying to stock it with the contents of the Amazon list is becoming a bit of a pain. I really shouldn't blame that on Wal-Mart, so here are some other reasons.

I have found that prices seem better at Wal-Mart in almost every instance. However, Amazon in most cases will give you free shipping (if you send more than $25 worth), so that might equalize the prices a bit. For usability, I've got to give it to Amazon. Wal-Mart's registries look like someone trying to replicate a real-world list online, while the ones at Amazon are great for shopping the web site.

I also like the priority feature of Amazon's list. I don't use it much, but I do like to have the option. The sort options are better, and Amazon's presentation and selection features are nicer. I do like that Wal-Mart offers the option to create multiple different lists, and I like that they keep track of which items have been purchased. It appears that you still have to remove them manually, but at least you know what's been ordered. Amazon doesn't seem to care, potentially creating duplicate orders (as if I receive that much off my lists).

Wal-Mart's customer service is bleak. I asked a question about the date of the registry - specifically, I wanted to know if I could create a list without a date, as I wanted a general wish list and not a date-specific event registry. They sent me a rather lengthy reply about how to create a registry. I'm sure that's because some automaton is reading the request, sees the word "registry" and fires off the standard reply. It may not even be a person. Still, it didn't help, and I'm not likely to ask again.

The registries at Wal-Mart are printable and scannable at the store, which means you could print them and send them to people who don't have an Internet connection - or that don't care to order online - and they could go to the store themselves. Nice feature, but for my use I don't think it's terribly important.

As far as items, I have found that for books, Wal-Mart does reasonably well. There are a few exceptions for newer and out-of-stock items (see DVD info). For DVDs, I'm finding lots of things that they don't have. Many are older videos. Many are newer, not-yet-released videos. Lots of the videos they do have are full frame only (no widescreen). It also seems that out-of-stock items often can't be added either. Still, I'll likely keep both for the time being - but the Amazon list is likely the most complete (if you're concerned).

I've added a button to the header for my Wal-Mart wish list. The buttons look pretty good in Firefox. They look pretty bad in Internet Explorer. Sorry. I'm still not interested in catering to IE. I also changed the email address presentation. Now it just tells you the address to use. Send it to the domain you're viewing. This is also reflected in a tool tip when you hover over that text. I'm beginning to suspect that the scrapers are looking for "written out" email addresses such as the one I was using, so I am trying a new way of presenting it. Humans should be able to find their way to it, robots may take a while to figure it out. Those reading via RSS shouldn't care about any of these changes, as none of this matters.