Shopping with Claude: How to find quality brands, automate returns, and buy things that last 100 years | Nicole Ruiz

Nicole Ruiz is a writer and parent who has built a comprehensive AI-powered shopping system to help her family buy high-quality, long-lasting items while avoiding the noise of drop-shipping brands, paid ads, and poorly made products. She writes an interview series on Substack about how technology is changing the household.

What you’ll learn:
• How to build a Claude Project with custom instructions for vetting brands based on heritage, craftsmanship, and return policies
• The shopping criteria that help surface century-old manufacturers over trendy direct-to-consumer brands
• How to use Claude to search through trusted vendor websites that have terrible UX
• Why AI actually helps small artisans and heritage brands compete against Amazon’s infrastructure
• How to use Claude Cowork to automate returns by finding receipts in your email and drafting refund requests
• The technique for getting Claude to analyze whether a brand is legitimate or just a drop-shipping operation
• How to shop within a specific budget or with gift cards using AI assistance
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Brought to you by:
Orkes (orkes.io)—The enterprise platform for reliable applications and agentic workflows
Metaview (metaview.ai/home/how-i-ai)—The agentic recruiting platform for winning teams
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In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Introduction to Nicole and AI-powered shopping
(02:29) The problem
(04:55) Building a Claude Project for household purchasing
(07:44) The “anti-to-do list” concept for reducing mental overhead
(10:30) Shopping for a can opener: the system in action
(15:53) How AI helps century-old brands with terrible websites
(18:45) Processing returns with Claude Cowork
(25:06) Using gift cards strategically
(26:33) Vetting brands
(29:40) Recap, lightning round, and final thoughts
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Tools referenced:
• Claude: claude.ai
• Claude Cowork: anthropic.com/product/claude-cowork
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Other references:
• Boston General Store: bostongeneralstore.com
• L.L.Bean: llbean.com
• Manufactum: manufactum.com
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• From a $6.90 newsletter to $3M API: How a non-coder built Memelord | Jason Levin: lennysnewsletter.com/p/from-a-690-newsletter-t…
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Where to find Nicole Ruiz:
X: x.com/nwilliams030
Substack (The Third Oikos): thirdoikos.com
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Where to find Claire Vo:
ChatPRD: chatprd.ai
Website: clairevo.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/clairevo
X: x.com/clairevo
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Production and marketing by penname.co. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email jordan@penname.co.