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This was available long before the Facebook button.

If I'm not mistaken this has been around a lot longer than facebooks like button.

Correct. At least three years as a concept.

Yes, I considered adding it to my bookmark bar and then I thought about how it would make me want to buy a lot more things, so I didn't.

I find that it has the opposite effect. When I see something on the internet I want to buy, I add it to my wishlist instead of buying it. Then I forget about it until I look at my wishlist again, usually weeks later.

The best part is the added perspective and context the wishlist gives me. I can't buy that Old Smokey grill, for example, because the cast iron skillet is still in my wishlist and I want that more. And I didn't buy the skillet yesterday, so I probably won't buy it today -- sometimes status quo bias works in my favor.

I think in the short-term wishlists stop you buying things, but, because they persist you end up buying things that you would normally have forgotten about in the longer-term.