How to Use Claude to Purchase Quality Goods

I like purchasing quality goods. Especially quality goods that are handmade, in small batches, and are made from quality materials that are made to last and made to repair. I like purchasing these goods from businesses that have been around for a while and have great reputations.

The biggest hurdle I have found to purchasing these goods, is in searching for them. Sites like Amazon or stores like Target guarantee I’ll find what I need with their large inventory — even when I compromise on item quality. Sites of legacy businesses and small businesses, or sites of handmade good purveyors, often have fewer items and are significantly harder to search.

Until recently, I kept names of these stores in my Apple Notes for various categories of goods and searched them one by one. Even then, businesses I love that only sold one or two types of items often went forgotten when it came time to make a purchase.

Now, I use Claude to search efficiently for quality goods from smaller businesses.

If you’d like to try the same, here’s what I do:

I save a list of shops, makers, and quality aggregators over time. I throw their name and website into Apple Notes when I shop with them in person or a trusted friend highly recommends them.
1. For example, Boston General Store sells products that they test in person rigorously, from businesses that have a long history of craftsmanship. Anything they sell already has a high signal that it’s a quality item from a great businesses.
I have a “project” in Claude for “Household Management.” Under the instructions for the project, I give the LLM instructions to search the websites of all of the listened businesses when I ask for a product recommendation. This is what I have saved:
1. “When I mention that I’m searching to purchase an item, or for what places sell an item I’m looking for more generally, I want you to look through this list of stores’ websites to see if any of the places have the item I’m looking for first, and mention those items before any others. These are generally companies that have decades worth of business under their belt so I’m looking at them for a pre-vetted high quality product made to last and made to repair.
  1. American Blossom Linens — https://americanblossomlinens.com/ · High Quality Linens
  2. Blue Quail — https://bluequail.com
  3. Boston General Store — https://www.bostongeneralstore.com/
  4. Home goods Bürstenhaus Redecker — https://www.redecker.de/en
  5. Buly 1803 — https://buly1803.com/en-us · Bath products and more
  6. Fog Linen — https://www.shop-foglinen.com/collections/kitchen-etc · Kitchen goods
  7. Front General Store — https://frontgeneralstore.com/
  8. Hand and Fire — https://www.handandfire.com/
  9. Iris Hantverk — https://www.irishantverk.se/en
  10. Lee Valley — https://www.leevalley.com/en-us · Cabinet & furniture hardware (via Simon Sarris)
  11. Lodenfrey — https://www.lodenfrey.com/ · German clothing, especially kids (via Rajiv)
  12. Loghouse Craft Gallery – https://www.bcloghousecrafts.com/ · Hit & miss but all handmade goods
  13. Mama Owl — https://mamaowl.net/en-us · Kids clothes & toys
  14. Manufactum — https://www.manufactum.com ·Broad home goods (via Rajiv)
  15. Manufactus Italy — https://www.manufactus.it/ · Leather goods
  16. Nalata Nalata — https://nalatanalata.com/ · Homewares
  17. Psalter House — https://salter.house · Homewares & hit & miss
  18. Schuster — https://www.sport-schuster.de/ · Wool biking socks (via Rajiv
  19. VanDyke’s — https://www.vandykes.com/ · Hardware
  20. Vintage Hardware — https://www.vintagehardware.com/· Vintage & Victorian hardware
  21. WM Sco Shop — https://wmscoshop.com/ · Desk goods: stamps, calendars, pencils, pens (weekly planner source)
b. When I ask you to search through these brands for an item, I want the list you surface to be concise and in bulleted format with a photo of each product, product name, price, list of the materials it’s made of out, and any notes on maintenance or caring for the item and why the brand manufacturing the item has a trustworthy history.”
When I’m searching for an item, for example, a new can opener, I just open a new chat and ask it to help find me one.

Immediately, two of the sites I have above recommend the same product, a high trust signal. When I read more, Nogent, the manufacturer, is a business that has 150+ years of craftsmanship legacy, with many reviews noting that it works well and lasts well. An instant purchase!

If you don’t find what you’re looking for on the pre-saved list you have, a list like the one above will still help Claude extrapolate and find similar businesses that may have the right item. Some other notes I’ve added for Claude in the past:
- “I am looking to buy from businesses with several years of history, perhaps ones that still manufacture in small batches. I want you to vet the items through positive product and businesses reviews on various sites but take care to not include reviews that sound AI generated. Please avoid trendy direct to consumer business that spend a lot on marketing and haven’t been around for a while.”

This process has helped me bridge the gap between admiring small-batch, quality goods from craftspeople and actually being able to integrate purchasing them into an effective routine for our household.

Let me know if it works for you or what other instructions you use!

​How to Use Claude to Purchase Quality Goods