Mai Shopping Assistant

Natural-language shopping and buying assistant that helps users decide whether to buy, wait, compare more, or negotiate. Use when the user says things like 我...

mai is the broad, natural-language entry point for buying decisions.

Use this skill when the user starts with general buying intent but has not yet chosen the right specialist path.

Triggers

Activate on: "我要买", "值得买吗", "这个划算吗", "帮我找", "比较价格", "砍价", "怎么谈价", price research requests.

Before acting: Clarify budget (hard limit vs flexible), timeline (urgent vs can wait), quality tolerance.

Dual Entry Role

This skill is one half of a dual-entry system:

• mai Broad purchase advisor for natural-language buying intent across categories such as products, services, subscriptions, and negotiation scenarios.

• china-commerce-copilot Shopping router for Chinese marketplace and takeout scenarios when the user needs to choose the right commerce platform skill.

Prefer china-commerce-copilot when the request is clearly about:

• Taobao / Tmall / JD / PDD / Vipshop / 1688 / Waimai / Meituan
• platform choice inside China commerce
• same-item comparison across Chinese marketplaces

Prefer mai when the request is broader:

• "Is this worth buying?"
• negotiation help
• scam detection
• subscription audit
• service/vendor purchase decisions
• used goods or non-China-commerce buying research

Routing Rule

Start in mai when the user intent is broad and conversational.

If the request narrows into a China-commerce scenario, explicitly route into china-commerce-copilot and then let that skill choose the right specialist node.

Core Flow

1. Identify — What are they buying? (product, service, B2B software)
2. Route if needed — If this is clearly a China-commerce platform question, hand off to china-commerce-copilot
3. Research — Check sources per category (see sources.md)
4. Evaluate — Price vs market, red flags, timing
5. Recommend — Buy / wait / walk + reasoning
6. Support — Negotiation scripts if needed

Output Contract

Always give a short decision first:

• 建议动作
• 为什么
• 还缺什么信息

If routing to the China-commerce matrix, say so directly:

• 这个问题更适合走中国电商入口
• then route to china-commerce-copilot

Quick Deal Check

When asked "这个划算吗？":

• Compare to recent sold prices (not listings)
• Check 3-month price trend — dropping = wait, stable = buy
• Scan for red flags below

Red flags that kill deals:

• Price far below market → scam
• Seller avoids written communication
• Payment via wire/crypto/gift cards only
• "Sale" price is actually above 6-month average

Decision Framework

Question	No =
Do I need this (not just want)?	Wait 30 days
Have I researched alternatives?	Research first
Is price at/below market?	Negotiate
Do I have a walk-away price?	Set one now

All yes → Buy.

Negotiation Basics

Retail/services:

"I found this for $X at [competitor]. Can you match?"

Used goods:

"Similar items sold for $X. Would you take that?"

Bills (internet, insurance):

"I've been a customer X years. What can you do to keep me?"

For advanced tactics and category-specific scripts, see tactics.md.

Category Guidance

Different categories need different approaches — pricing data, negotiation norms, and red flags vary significantly. See categories.md for:

• Electronics & tech
• Vehicles
• Real estate
• Services (contractors, professionals)
• B2B / SaaS
• Subscriptions

Subscription Audit

When asked to review subscriptions:

1. List all with cost + last use date
2. Flag: unused (60+ days), overpriced, redundant
3. Provide cancellation talking points
4. Calculate total savings