Needing to match the stain on wood flooring in a house built in 1999, a Hacker News user uploaded a clear photo taken in bright sunlight. ChatGPT searched online, found a matching stain colour and showed ordering options, and a quart was delivered.
Here's a photo of my [WOOD TYPE IF KNOWN] floor, taken in daylight. It was laid around [YEAR]. Suggest stain colours from brands available in [COUNTRY] that are the closest match, explain why, and tell me where I can buy small tester sizes. Also tell me how to test the stain on a hidden spot before doing the whole job.
Replace the [PLACEHOLDERS] with your own details before you send it.
How to try it
- Photograph the floor in natural daylight, with no flash, close up and from a little further away.
- Upload it to ChatGPT with the prompt and ask for a shortlist of colours.
- Buy the smallest tins and test them on an offcut or hidden corner first.
More shopping use cases
Find savings in a year of grocery receipts with ChatGPT
One shopper had ChatGPT analyse a year of online grocery orders. It worked out the household could save hundreds a year by switching to equivalent own-brand products and buying specific items from specific shops.
Here is my online grocery order history for the last [PERIOD]: [PASTE OR UPLOAD]. Analyse it and tell me: 1) my top 20 items by total spend, 2) where a cheaper own-brand equivalent exists, 3) which items are cheaper at [OTHER SHOPS], and 4) a realistic estimate of yearly savings. Present it as a short table.
Plan a year of outfits from clothes you already own with ChatGPT
A blogger photographed her wardrobe and dictated each section into the ChatGPT app, which turned it into a categorised inventory. From that she had it build seasonal capsule wardrobes and 90-day outfit calendars, so she shops her own wardrobe instead of buying more.
Here is an inventory of my clothes, shoes and accessories: [PASTE OR DICTATE YOUR LIST]. I live in [CLIMATE OR TOWN] and my week usually involves [WORK, SCHOOL RUN, GYM, ETC.]. Group these into a capsule wardrobe for [SEASON], then give me a 30-day outfit calendar using only these items, with a different bag or accessory suggestion for each day.
Sanity-check Black Friday deals with Perplexity
Which? asked ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity for the best Black Friday air fryer deals. Only Perplexity found the experts' top pick and a working discount code, but it misquoted the deal price, so Which? suggests AI as a starting point, not the final word.
I'm thinking of buying [PRODUCT AND MODEL] for [PRICE] at [RETAILER]. Using current sources, tell me: the typical price over the last six months, the lowest recent price, other UK retailers selling it now and their prices, and any valid discount codes. Link every price to its source so I can check it.
Reference: Hacker News