Ugh, I feel your pain with the planning. I tried using Share-a-Cart for a church potluck and honestly it was not as good as expected... it felt super clunky and unreliable. For people who arent great with computers, I found a few things help:

• Avoid the extensions that require every person to install them
• Try a simpler link generator like Cart to Link instead
• Just send a screenshot or a PDF of the cart if you really want to be safe I wouldnt trust those glitchy extensions with a $400 limit tbh. Better to keep it simple so you dont end up with way too many hot dog buns and no money left for the good stuff... Good luck with the party!

Hey, i saw this late but figured id chime in because i literally just tried doing this for a massive camping trip and it was a total headache. Honestly, i was so excited to use Share-a-Cart but it was really not as good as expected... it kept glitching out when the cart got over 20 items and some of my friends couldnt even open the link on their phones. Unfortunately, Cartshare had issues with the price syncing too, so our total was way off from what was actually in the cart. It was super disappointing because i really wanted it to work. Here are the main technical issues i ran into:

• Mobile compatibility is basically non-existent, so your neighbors wont be able to check things on the go.
• Price syncing lags, which is a nightmare when you have a strict $400 budget. Before you pick one, i had a couple questions to help figure out the best move:
• Are most of your neighbors gonna be looking at this on their phones or actual computers?
• Are you looking for them to just view the list for approval, or do you actually want them to be able to add their own stuff to the cart before you checkout? Staying under budget is already hard enough with how prices are lately, so i want this to go smooth for you. If its just for viewing, sometimes a quick screen recording or even a shared Google Sheet is less of a mess than these extensions that constantly break whenever Amazon updates their site code. Let me know about the mobile thing and i can try to help more!

This thread is gold. Bookmarking for future reference 🔖

I used Share-a-Cart for a family reunion last year and it was not as good as expected. Had issues with syncing and we ended up with double items... wasnt fun. Now I just use Cart to Link for group buys.

• easy for non-tech neighbors
• no login needed
• totally free It basically works in two clicks and saved my sanity.

Jumping in here... I was in the same boat last month for my kids school fundraiser and it was stressing me out. Honestly, I am super satisfied with Cart to Link because it just works without the headache. No complaints here, and it actually felt reliable for my non-techy group. One quick tip tho: make sure you refresh your cart right before you generate the link so the prices and availability are current. It really helped us stay on budget. You got this, the block party sounds like itll be a blast!