Sets a hard bid ceiling for an auction lot after fees, tax, shipping, and your margin.
Tested in Museskillinstructionsworkflowcalculator
by Muse Skills editors · Written for this directory
Open Box Hunter
Hunts open-box, refurbished, and clearance deals on the exact product you name, and ranks them by real savings over new.
by Muse Skills editors · Written for this directory
Ready to copy.
Before you install
- A shared skill carries somebody else's instructions. Read the source before you install it.
- Never paste an API key, password, or token into anything a skill asks for. Legitimate skills use Muse's own secure flows.
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What it does
Paying full retail for electronics and appliances is often optional. Retailers and manufacturers quietly sell open-box returns, certified refurbished units, and clearance stock at real discounts, and the gap between a smart buy and a regret is the fine print: what is missing from the box, how long you have to return it, and what warranty you actually get. Open Box Hunter does the comparison you would not do yourself. Name the product, and it hunts those discounted channels, prices the fine print, and ranks every offer by true savings against the current new price.
The skill starts by pinning the baseline: the price you would pay for the item new right now, from a major retailer. Then it checks the open-box shelves, manufacturer refurbished stores, clearance pages, and warehouse deals for that exact model. Each candidate gets recorded with price, shipping, condition grade, included and missing accessories, return window, and warranty. Savings are computed against the live new price, never the list price, so a “40% off” tag on an inflated number cannot fool it. Any deal whose missing charger or two-week return policy eats the discount gets flagged as borderline or skip, with the reason in plain words.
What it includes
- A baseline step: the current new price, measured at a real retailer
- Candidate checks across open-box, certified refurbished, and clearance channels
- A condition and fine-print checklist: accessories, return window, warranty
- True-savings math against the new price, ranked best to worst
- One-line verdicts: worth it, borderline, or skip, with the reason
Example
Input: “Find an open-box deal on the Sony WH-1000XM5. Good condition or better, full box preferred, budget under $280.”
Output:
Baseline: $328 new, Best Buy (live listing, verified today).
Offers are ranked by true savings versus the baseline, after
shipping and the cost of missing items.
1. Marketplace seller, like new, $199 plus $12 shipping ($211
total) plus tax. No box, 14-day returns only, no warranty.
Link: [marketplace listing]
Savings: $117 (36%). Verdict: skip. The return window and
missing warranty erase the price edge.
2. Best Buy open-box, excellent, $259 plus tax. Free shipping.
Full box, all accessories. 60-day return, full manufacturer
warranty.
Link: [Best Buy open-box listing]
Savings: $69 (21%). Verdict: worth it.
3. Amazon Warehouse, good, $241 plus tax. Free shipping. Case
included, no cable. 30-day return, 90-day refurbished warranty.
Link: [Amazon Warehouse listing]
Savings: $62 (19%) after about $25 to replace the cable, down
from $87 (27%) at sticker price. Verdict: borderline. The
thinner warranty and missing cable cut the discount.
Unverified: none. All three offers were checked against live
listings.
What this one touches
Researches prices only. It never buys anything or places an order; you click and pay yourself. It never hides missing accessories, shorter return windows, or warranty gaps; every verdict shows them. It never shares your personal data or location in any search, and it never recommends an offer it could not verify with a live listing. It never pushes you toward a condition grade you said was unacceptable.
Install
Copy this block and paste it into your Muse chat. Muse does the install and confirms when it's done.
Install prompt
Full source
This is the exact text Muse installs. Read it. That's the whole trust model.
SKILL.md
---
name: open-box-hunter
description: Finds open-box, refurbished, and clearance deals on a product you name: compares retailer prices, checks condition grades, and ranks offers by real savings. Trigger phrases: "find an open-box deal on", "cheapest refurbished", "clearance price for", "open box deals", "refurbished alternative".
---
# Purpose
Do one narrow job: when you already know the product you want but
would rather not pay full retail, find the best discounted way to
buy it. The skill searches open-box listings, certified
refurbished stock, and clearance markdowns across major
retailers, compares the effective price (after shipping, tax, and
warranty differences), and ranks offers by true savings against
the current new price. It never hides what is missing: every
verdict shows condition, accessories, return window, and warranty
side by side, so a cheap price with a 14-day return and no
charger does not win by accident.
# Workflow
1. Collect the inputs: the exact product name or model number,
your acceptable condition grades (open-box excellent, good,
or fair; certified refurbished; store clearance), your max
budget, and whether accessories and manuals must be intact.
2. Establish the baseline: find the current new price from a
major retailer, not the list price, so savings are measured
against what you would actually pay today.
3. Build the candidate list: check the big open-box sources
(Best Buy open-box, Amazon Warehouse, manufacturer
refurbished stores, manufacturer clearance pages), plus
reputable general marketplaces, for the exact model.
4. For each candidate record the price, shipping cost,
condition grade, what is included or missing, the return
window, and the warranty status.
5. Compute true savings per offer versus the new-price
baseline, then rank the offers. Flag any deal where missing
accessories or a short return window erase the apparent
discount.
6. Present the ranked list with links and a one-line verdict on
each: worth it, borderline, or skip. Ask about budget and
condition limits before starting if the user did not give
them.
# Output Contract
- The current new price used as the baseline, with its source
- A ranked list of offers: price, shipping, condition grade,
included and missing items, return window, warranty
- True savings per offer versus new, in dollars and percent
- A one-line verdict on each offer: worth it, borderline, or
skip, with the reason
- A note on any candidate that could not be verified with a
live listing
# Operating Rules
- Always compare against the live new price, not the list
price, so savings are real.
- Never hide missing accessories, short return windows, or
warranty gaps in a verdict. Show them next to the price.
- Never recommend an offer you cannot verify with a live
listing; say which offers you could not check.
- Never push the buyer below the minimum condition grade they
set.
- Never share the buyer's personal or location data in any
search you run.
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