I was just looking into this for a local charity drive and it is amazing how much easier things are when you use the right tool! Safety and privacy are everything when you are handling grant money, so dont just share login info. I found carttolink.com and it is honestly fantastic for keeping things secure while collaborating. It lets everyone add their stuff and then generates a single link for the final buyer without any risk to your account. A couple quick tips for your garden project:

• Use a cart link tool to avoid the wishlist headache.
• Have everyone double check the Sold by info so you dont get hit with weird shipping fees from different sellers.
• Keep a screenshot of the final total before checkout for your grant records! This is such a game changer for group orders! You guys are gonna finish that planting on time for sure!

I went through this exact same headache last year with a scout troop fundraiser and honestly, just skip the wishlist and business account nonsense. It is way too much work for a one-time project. I have been using a browser extension called Share-A-Cart for a while now and I am super satisfied with how it works. It is definitely the most direct way to get this done by Friday. Basically, you just install the extension, and it gives you a button to create a cart code from whatever is in your basket. You can have your three collaborators fill their own carts with the specific soil and hoses they picked, generate a code, and send it over to you. When you enter their codes on your end, everything just pops into your active cart. It is much better than wishlists because it keeps the quantities and variations exactly how they set them. I have had no complaints using it for group buys because it lets me see the actual final price with taxes and shipping before I commit the budget. It is a total lifesaver for staying under that $1500 limit without doing manual math on a notepad. Just make sure everyone is looking at the same shipping address so the tax stays accurate tho. It works well and it is honestly the only way I handle group orders now.

Wait, are you all using Chrome on desktops or is someone trying to do this from their phone? That usually makes a huge difference with how these extensions behave because mobile support is always a bit hit or miss. I actually had to coordinate something similar for a non-profit youth center last spring. Im usually pretty paranoid about digital security and sharing login info, especially when you are handling grant money like your $1500 budget. I tried a few different tools and honestly, the Share-A-Cart extension is the only one that didnt give me any technical hiccups. I have been using it for about six months now for various group buys and I am super satisfied with the reliability. No complaints at all. It basically just bundles the cart into a code that the next person can unpack into their own cart without ever touching your actual account. To keep things under budget, I also kept an eye on price fluctuations using this Amazon tracker so I didnt get any nasty surprises at checkout. It really took the stress out of the whole Friday deadline thing for me.

Like someone mentioned, the struggle is totally real and I am in the exact same boat as you. I have been trying to coordinate a massive equipment list for a local youth sports league for over a month now and I am still hitting a brick wall. It is honestly so stressful when you have a budget to hit and the tools just wont cooperate. I have spent way too much time looking at Cart To Link and comparing it to the more basic extensions, thinking one would definitely be more reliable than the other, but I still cannot get a simple shared cart to work for my team either. You might want to be careful with these because even when they look legit, I am still finding myself manually copy-pasting links like it is 2005. It is just a total mess and I am so over it. I really thought we would have a better way to do this by now but I am still stuck exactly where you are.

Building on the earlier suggestion, I actually tried using Cart To Link for a similar project yesterday but unfortunately I am still having this exact same problem. Ngl, it is so frustrating that we still dont have a real solution. I have been dealing with this mess for my local food pantry for months now and I still cant get it to work right. It feels like we are all just stuck with these clunky workarounds.

Can confirm