• The Gold Box Trick
In my search for the best price on my new TV, I stumbled upon an awesome little trick in the slickdeals.net forums. The Gold Box Trick exploits the Amazon recommendation system and the daily Gold Box deals for recommended items. As far as I can tell, there’s nothing in the terms of service to disallow this behavior, but don’t be shocked if Amazon eventually catches on. Also, there’s no telling which items this will work for and which will lead you on a fool’s errand.
Step 1: Create a New Account.
Amazon uses your order history and other data to build a massive list of recommended items. For our purposes, we need that list to be very small. A brand new account accomplishes this very well.
Step 2: Search for the Item You Want
In my case, I wanted the Samsung LN46A650 46″ Television.
That’s a pretty good price, but let’s see if we can get it a little bit cheaper.
Step 3: Go to the Product Page and Find Related Items
You’re looking for “Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought”.
Remember, the idea here is to make Amazon recommend the item you really want, so be sure to pick something close. An HDMI cable probably won’t do the trick.
Step 4: Click the Similar Item and Rate It
Search the page for “Rate This Item to Improved Your Recommendations”. Check “I own it” and give the item five stars. This is the only thing Amazon knows about you now, and will be the basis for its recommendations.
Step 5: View Your Recommendations
Scroll to the top of the product page. You should see, “Hello, YOURNAME. We have recommendations for you. (Not YOURNAME?)” Click this link.
Step 6: View ALL of Your Recommendations
Clicking into the full view gives you a quick and easy way to tell Amazon which recommendations work for you, and which ones you’re not interested in.
Step 7: You’re Not Interested in Anything
Anything but the item you started out to get, anyway.
See the “Not Interested” checkbox? That little guy is your best friend. Click him on every item you see except for your desired item (don’t worry if you don’t see your desired item on the first page). When you’ve checked everything off, click the refresh link at the bottom.
Repeat this process until the only recommended item is the one you’re after.
Step 8: Your Treasure Awaits
At the top of the page is a Gold Box icon with the text “Today’s Deals”. Click it. On the Gold Box page, scroll down to the section that says “YOURNAME’s Quick Picks”. See anything you like?
From $1,410.52 to $1,339.99, a savings of $70.53. Plus free shipping.