Shopping
AI automation for a purchase decision
Compares a shortlist with how you will actually use the thing, lists the complaints that show up after months of use, and waits before you buy.
Level: Assist.
Trigger
Before a large purchase
Setup
about 25 min (estimate)
Before you start
- An AI chat — https://help.openai.com/en/articles/6825453-chatgpt-custom-instructions
- A cool-off reminder — https://support.google.com/calendar/answer/72143
Steps
Write the use, the musts, and the ceiling
Say what you will use it for, two things it must do, and the most you will spend as a plain number. No account details.
Pick three real options
Name three you could actually buy. Open their pages. Copy the claims, not the ads around them.
Ask for a weighted table
Paste your musts and the three descriptions. Custom instructions: https://help.openai.com/en/articles/6825453-chatgpt-custom-instructions
Compare the three options I paste. Score each of my musts from 0 to 3. Use only the descriptions I paste. End with one verdict: buy, wait, or skip, and one sentence why. If a must is missing from a description, score it 0 and say missing. Do not invent a price, a review, or a fourth option. Do not tell me to check out.
Ask for the late complaints
Paste review text you copied, or pages the chat can open. Reject any line you cannot find.
From the review text I paste, list complaints that appear after months of use. Quote the short phrase and say which option it is about. If the text does not say it, write not in the text. Do not invent a complaint.
Set a two-day reminder
Create an event two days from now titled Decide. Do not buy in this sitting. Create an event: https://support.google.com/calendar/answer/72143
Decide with the musts in front of you
When the reminder fires, keep the option that meets the musts. If none does, the verdict is skip.
Example output
Use: weekday cooking for four, one small kitchen. Must: a timer you can read from across the room. Not required: an app. Verdict: wait. The model you liked has a repeated complaint about the door seal after half a year. The plainer model meets the must. Cool off for two days, then decide.
Power move
Ask for the complaints people repeat after months of use, each with the phrase they use, and only from pages you paste or that the chat can actually open. Then add a reminder two days out so you do not buy in the same sitting.
What to check
- Every complaint is a sentence you can find on the page.
- The verdict follows the musts you wrote, not a sponsored list.
- You have not paid, and the two-day reminder exists.
What it can't do
It does not buy, book, or take a card number. It does not know today's price unless you type it. Review quotes go stale. You open the page and check the words are really there. Do not paste a card number or a full address.
Privacy
Paste only the text a chat tool needs. Leave out passwords, account numbers, and identity numbers. The steps link to each tool's own help page when a setting matters.