Try to buy dog treats on Amazon with ChatGPT agent (blocked), then on PetSmart (worked)
- Posted
- by Eric Hal Schwartz (TechRadar)
- Last checked
- Method:
- How we verify
Evidence: Article or interviewA newsletter, journalist or interview account of what happened.
PartialThe source says it only partly worked, or had a significant problem a person had to deal with.
What went wrong: Amazon blocked the agent with repeated 503 errors; the same purchase worked at PetSmart.
Outcome
TechRadar's Eric Hal Schwartz asked ChatGPT agent to buy Purina dental chews for his new puppy on Amazon. It hit a 503 error page every time and finally said network restrictions made interacting with Amazon impossible. Asked to buy the same treats at PetSmart, it navigated the store and the multi-step checkout with no problem.
Agent
Prompt Recreated prompt
The source didn't share its exact prompt, so we wrote this from what it describes.
Run this task now, exactly as written below. Everything you need is here, so start straight away and only stop if something required is missing or a rule below tells you to. Goal: Buy a specific product online for me, trying a second store if the first one blocks you, and stop at checkout. Fill in before running: - Exact product, size and quantity: [PRODUCT] - First-choice store: [STORE] - Backup stores: [STORE 2, STORE 3] - Max price including delivery: [AMOUNT] - Delivery address: [ADDRESS] Rules: - If a store shows error pages or blocks you twice, stop retrying and move to the next store. - Match the exact product and size; ask before substituting. - Show me the basket and total before checkout. - If a site asks for a login, a CAPTCHA or payment details, stop and hand control back to me. - Ask for my OK before you pay, book, send, submit or cancel anything. - Check facts that can change (prices, opening hours, dates, availability, rules) against the official source, and tell me anything you couldn't verify. Output: Which store worked, the basket and total, ready for me to confirm and pay. You'll know it worked when: the right product is in a basket under my max price and I only need to pay.
Optional stronger version
Our rewrite with extra checks. The poster didn't test it.
Run this task now, exactly as written below. Everything you need is here, so start straight away and only stop if something required is missing or a rule below tells you to. Goal: Buy a specific product online for me, trying a second store if the first one blocks you, and stop at checkout. Fill in before running: - Exact product, size and quantity: [PRODUCT] - First-choice store: [STORE] - Backup stores: [STORE 2, STORE 3] - Max price including delivery: [AMOUNT] - Delivery address: [ADDRESS] Rules: - If a store shows error pages or blocks you twice, stop retrying and move to the next store. - Match the exact product and size; ask before substituting. - Show me the basket and total before checkout. - If a site asks for a login, a CAPTCHA or payment details, stop and hand control back to me. - Ask for my OK before you pay, book, send, submit or cancel anything. - Check facts that can change (prices, opening hours, dates, availability, rules) against the official source, and tell me anything you couldn't verify. - Tell me which stores blocked you so I know to use them myself next time. Output: Which store worked, the basket and total, ready for me to confirm and pay. You'll know it worked when: the right product is in a basket under my max price and I only need to pay. Before you finish: re-read my goal and constraints, check your answer against each one, and list anything you assumed or couldn't confirm.
Source
Related cases
Sky Canaves tried OpenAI's example 'plan and buy ingredients to make Japanese breakfast for four'; ChatGPT agent shopped her local H-E-B through Instacart, needed her to take over to log in, filled a roughly $130 cart with things she already had, asked before paying and the trimmed order arrived on time. 'It worked, yes', she wrote, but with plenty of friction.
ChatGPT agent · Shopping · Source date:
- Pick back-to-school supplies a daughter actually likes, with Target links, using ChatGPTRecreated promptEvidence: Described by posterBeginner-friendly
A parent gave ChatGPT the school's supply list for her daughter; because it already knew the girl's tastes from past chats, it picked specific items and gave direct Target links. She says her daughter, who usually dislikes whatever she chooses, didn't change a single item, only a few colours, and everything arrived within a few days.
ChatGPT · Shopping · Source date:
- Fill a back-to-school supply cart from the teacher's list with Gemini and InstacartRecreated promptEvidence: Article or interviewBeginner-friendly
Tom's Guide's Amanda Caswell gave ChatGPT, Gemini and Alexa+ the same school supply list: follow it, stick to required quantities, pick reasonably priced items and skip optional ones. Gemini built an Instacart cart, skipped optional items, asked her to approve colours and totalled about $60-$90 ($105 with the optional water bottle). ChatGPT, on her Walmart account, followed the list carefully but slowly for $92.55; Alexa+ added the optional items and reached $251.48.
Gemini, ChatGPT · Shopping · Source date: