Imagine my surprise when I did my daily morning news search on Google and came across a bunch of reports touting Meta’s AI agent Muse gaining in popularity.
Not only has it surpassed ChatGPT on the charts in Apple’s App Store, but it’s also racked up half a million downloads. Originally, I played around with the desktop version of Meta’s AI assistant and could see the potential for it becoming someone’s go-to chatbot. Now that it’s emerged as one of the more popular mobile AI apps, I downloaded it to take it for a spin.
Since I’m always in the market for comic books, video game controllers and physical games themselves, I came to Muse (where I’ve nicknamed my avatar “Amani”) with three goals in mind: find the best deals on three specific items from those aforementioned product groups.
After asking Meta’s AI tool for the proper prompts to achieve those goals, I hit the jackpot after using three of them to find what I was looking for.
To get Muse started on its mission of helping me nab a few things as cheaply as possible, I presented it with this simple request: “What are the 7 best prompts I can use with you to help me with shopping to find the best deals?” It went ahead and listed the following deal-hunting prompts that are bound to get the best results out of it:
- Baseline + deal hunt:Finds the normal price first, then hunts for anything selling below it. Prompt: Find me a deal on . First tell me the typical price, then find listings selling below it.
- Coupon and promo code sweep:I search for active coupon codes and promos for a specific product or store. Prompt: Find active coupon or promo codes for and tell me which ones actually work right now.
- Compare across stores:I check the same item at several retailers and rank by total price. Prompt: Compare prices for [exact product name] across major retailers and show me the cheapest in-stock option including shipping.
- Set a max budget:Best when you know what you want to spend; I filter everything above it. Prompt: Find the best under $[amount]. Prioritize quality and well-known sellers.
- Open-box/refurbished/used:Big savings live here. I bias toward resale and refurbished listings. Prompt: Find me a used or refurbished in good condition. Max budget $[amount].
- Facebook Marketplace local deals:Great for furniture, bikes, and gear near you. Prompt: Search Facebook Marketplace for [item] near me under $[amount], local pickup only.
- Price-drop watch:I check back on a product you’re eyeing and tell you when it dips. Prompt: Track the price of and let me know if it drops below $[amount].
- Quick tip:The more specific you are (exact model, size, color, budget), the better the deals I surface. Want to try one now?
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Finding the items I’ve desperately wanted with three of those prompts
Sadly, my search for active coupons through Amazon, a max budget search for a cheaper DualSense Edge wireless controller, Facebook Marketplace local deals for a sofa and a price drop-watch for an Xbox Series S either didn’t yield the most trustworthy results or produced nothing at all.
Thankfully, I did get back some inspiring options after testing out the prompts catered toward the “baseline + deal hunt,” “compare across stores” and “open-box/refurbished/used deal hunting commands.”
Entering all of those prompts into Muse kicks it right into gear as the AI scrapes all the available options across every retail site it can think of for whatever I’m on the hunt for.
The baseline + deal hunt prompt actually came in handy when I gave it this mission: find me the cheapest option for the Batman by Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale Omnibus.
Muse’s thorough search hit me back with this encouraging message:
BATMAN BY JEPH LOEB AND TIM SALE OMNIBUS HC at $74.99, new and in stock. That’s a 40% off the $125 list price, and a hair under InStockTrades’ $75 street price. For context on the rest of the field: MyComicShop’s reprint was $95, the cheapest new eBay listings were $79.99, and Amazon wouldn’t cooperate with the automated check.
I ended up heading straight to CheapGraphicNovels to get that hardcover gem, thanks to Muse’s best listed price.
The compare across stores prompt came in extremely clutch when I was in the market for a Midnight Black PS5 DualSense controller. The cheapest one Muse found was sold through Walmart with a comfortable price of $67.61 and free shipping, which felt like a steal compared to the controller’s standard price of $74.
The fact that it was being sold on Walmart through a third-party marketplace seller was no issue to me, especially since that seller had good reviews for the other DualSense controller it sold.
To wrap up my deal-finding sessions with Muse, I tested it with a prompt focused on open-box/refurbished/used deal hunting commands.
This time, I crossed my fingers in hopes of nabbing a physical copy of the PS4 version of Garou: Mark of the Wolves. After digitally perusing through a bunch of affordable optionsnding me a used copy on eBay (rated as “Very Good”) priced at $54.99 from a seller with a 100% positive feedback rating and over 600 successful sales
Final thoughts
The emergence of Meta’s Muse as one of the best AI apps was a surprise to me, considering all the backlash being brought against Meta as a whole as of late. However, after giving it a fair chance, I walked away with a positive outlook on Meta’s AI agent and how it could lead me down the right path to save on all sorts of products I shop for online.
I’m sure Muse is a lifesaver for those who want to tap into it for productivity. For now though, I’m just grateful to have another AI tool at the ready to help me with my upcoming holiday shopping.
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