Why we built sharing at all
Because people kept doing it badly. Screenshots of the item screen, photos of a photo, long messages retyping what the app already knew. The question behind all of them is the same one: is this the pressing I think it is, is this worth keeping, would you buy this off me.
A link answers that better than a screenshot, so we built one. The interesting part was deciding what a link is allowed to say.
What does the public page show?
A short allowlist, and the reason it is short is worth explaining. Rather than making your item document publicly readable and hiding fields in the interface, samla.ai copies a named list of fields into a separate public document. Anything not on that list stays private by default, including fields that get added to the app years from now.
The value shows, because "what is this worth" is half the reason people share an item, and it carries the same disclaimer it carries everywhere else: an estimate for informational purposes, never a professional appraisal.
How to share an item
1. Open the item and choose Share a link
It is on the share control in the item app bar, described as "Publish a page anyone can open". Only the person who added the item can publish it, which matters in a family space where several people can edit the same item.
2. Send the link
You get a samla.ai address that works in any browser with no account and no app. The item screen then shows "Shared on the web" so you can tell at a glance which of your things have a public page.
3. Check what the page says
Open your own link once. It takes ten seconds and it is the only way to be sure the page says what you expected before you send it to a stranger.
4. Revoke it when you are done
Turning sharing off deletes the public copy. The link stops working immediately, and nothing about revoking touches the item itself.
Is the page findable in Google?
No. Shared item pages carry a noindex directive, so they do not turn up in search results. A shared page is a link you hand to somebody, and that is deliberately all it is.
What does it cost?
Nothing, on any plan. Sharing was a paid feature until August 2026 and now sits on the free plan, because sharing one item is how people show a friend a find, and slowing that down was slowing down the exact thing that makes a catalog worth building.
FAQ
Can I share something before I add it to my collection?
Yes. A Look up result can be shared from the staging detail screen through the same pipeline, which is useful when you are standing in a shop deciding whether to buy it.
What happens to a shared link if I sell the item?
It keeps working. Selling or otherwise marking an item as departed does not unpublish it, on the grounds that a link somebody already has should not break by surprise. Deleting the item does remove the page.
Does the page show my name?
It shows your display name and the line "Collected with samla.ai". There is no link to a profile, because there is no public profile.
Can somebody find my other items from a shared page?
No. The page is a standalone copy of one item, with no link back into your collection and no way to enumerate anything else.
