# Wasted spend

> Find search terms that spend and never sell, list them every week, and add negatives after you approve.

- Amazon: Reads: yes · Writes: yes

## What you get

Find the search terms that take clicks and never sell. Start with a list, and move to negatives on Amazon when you trust it. The result is a Sheet of zero-sale, high-click search terms, costliest first, and, on Amazon, a dry run of proposed negatives.

_To write: the output mock for this recipe: a screenshot or sample of the real result, with numbers blurred_

## The prompt

Paste a prompt into your AI tool. Each one points the tool at the docs and at your key, which stays in `BUILD_API_KEY`.

### Wasted-spend sheet

For Zapier. Schedule: Mondays at 7.

Prompt for zapier:

```
Read https://build.sellermate.ai/SKILL.md. My key is in BUILD_API_KEY. Build me a Zapier zap that every Monday finds Amazon Ads search terms with 15 or more clicks and no sales in the last 30 days, and adds them to the Google Sheet wasted-spend, costliest first.
```

### Negatives sweep

For Claude Code. Schedule: Mondays at 9.

Prompt for claude-code:

```
Read https://build.sellermate.ai/SKILL.md. My key is in BUILD_API_KEY. Every week, find Amazon Ads search terms with 15 or more clicks and no sales, and list them as proposed negative keywords. Show me a dry run in #approvals, wait for my yes, then add only the approved ones, 50 at most, and keep a log.
```

> **Amazon only: The change step runs on Amazon accounts only**
>
> It needs a key with the read and write scope. It uses a dry run first, caps, a 24 hour undo and an audit log. See [Writes and guardrails](https://build.sellermate.ai/docs/guides/writes-and-guardrails.md).

_To write: which tool applies the change in this recipe (negatives or an ad pause): the API reference lists update_target, and the negatives tool is not listed yet_

## Steps

1. **Get a key**

   Create a key in the console and save it as `BUILD_API_KEY` in your tool's secrets. See [Get a key](https://build.sellermate.ai/docs/get-started/get-a-key.md).
2. **Paste the prompt**

   Pick the prompt above for your tool and paste it. Change the names in it, such as the channel or the Sheet, to yours.
3. **Run it once**

   Check the first result against your own numbers before you schedule it.
4. **Schedule it**

   Ask your tool to run it on the schedule shown with the prompt.

## Calls it makes

_To write: the sequence of Build calls this recipe makes, with one real request and response in CodeTabs_

## Data used

- [`get_search_term_performance`](https://build.sellermate.ai/docs/api-reference/get-search-term-performance.md)

## Variants

Add one of these to the prompt:

- Use 25 clicks as the limit.
- Add the campaign name to each row.
- Skip terms that contain your brand name.
- Only add exact negatives.