I was curios to know if anyone has done any of those covert pricing audits before? I see them from time-to-time, usually for my local Walmart, however I don’t think I want to do a 25 to 50 item covert pricing audit, since so many of the times, you can’t easily find the price on items on store shelves . . . thus I know that I would get very frustrated looking for the prices covertly AND looking at the pay for the shop, when figuring the time it takes to successfully do a covert audit shop. Yet since I have never done one before, I did want to get some feedback, to see if those type of shops "might" be worth me applying for them.

If you have done them, did you like them or was it too much time & trouble for the pay?

Wilson

I've done them but not the ones you mention. Even open price audits can be a problem if the price isn't right. The problems you mentioned are very real. I know someone who I think does them. She knows store prices very well and can give directions to a product in Walmart better than most associates.

Absolutely 100% waaaaay too much time and effort for the pay, IMO.

Thank you very much Sandra Sue, and Zlinedavid. I appreciate your input and feedback.

Based on my own personal shopping experiences since the invention of bar code scanning, I personally have found it rare to find a price tag on most non-clothes items nowadays. Yet I can imagine what it might be like to do a covert audit on prices of food in a grocery store . . . while having to try to read the tiny print for the items on the shelves (via those scan code tags on the shelves) while trying to find the price AND making sure that it is the correct price AND size of the item that needs to be audited. As I thought about what working such a shop might be like, it just did not sound like it was worth the time and trouble for the pay.

When I did a merchandising shop for Kohl's last year (working in the toy department), there were no bar code tags on the shelves for "every" toy that they were selling and there were no price tags on any of the toys. So if you wanted to know the price for sure of any toy, you had to take it up to the cashier to have them scan it . . . so I can not imagine doing a 50+ item covert audit when there are bound to be too many cases where you can not easily find the price of the items. I do recall a msc had a covert audit for Walmart, for toy prices.

Well since I am not lacking any work, I will pass on these audit shops. Yet I did want to get some feedback from those of you that have done these shops/audits, to see it you thought these type of shops were worth the time & pay.

Wilson

I see that you have done at least ons such shop. I suggest that you "break in" by doing some smaller shops to see if you get accustomed to them and learn "tricks of the trad" to expedite them. Some of the MSC's will actually suggest to you that you use your check list as if it were a typical shopping list, Also, the MSC will usually tell you before you accept as to the approximate number of items you will be required to obtain. If you are a newbie, you will probably find that each different shop you do for the first time will make you a little nervous, but after you have done 1 or 2 you will get used to it, believe it or not (LOL) Hope this helps.

By all means stay away from the covert Bev & Grocery pricing audits that CFA occasionally have...I made the mistake of selecting these shops when I first started with them (definitely not for beginners)...these audits require a minimum of 2-3hrs on-site and then another 2-3hrs inputting the reports...heaven help you if the systems times out while you're inputting...I learned early on to printout or save to file each page before going to the next...

Grocery audits involve checking 150 items each...in 2 visits...300 total...thats 2-3hrs each visit & 2-3hrs each report.

I felt so stupid pushing a cart with a large package of toilet paper around for 2-3hrs...at least with the Bev. Audits you are given a letter from the Client to give to the store Mgr. should be confronted as to why you've been hanging around the alcoholic beverage isle for the last 2hrs...

The last Bev. Audits I did for them, they paid me $50 for each location...after completing 4 out of 5,I called and told them I was on the verge of a mental collapse and couldn't get thru the last one...they doubled the fee and nearly begged me to do it, I did but have not done anymore since...

After you have done about 3 to 5 of these...you can develop a system to get you thru the field audit quicker...but there are no shortcuts for the online report entry...which is the real headache to these kinds of Audits...

After reading everything that's been posted here and you still want to try your hand at these audits...wait for the fees to increase or call and negotiate a fee...triple of whats being offered...

Eltonj, thank you for your input. I have never done a pricing audit before (covert or non-covert), I just happen to have a merchandising gig at Kohl’s re-stocking toys for them for a few hours on Black Friday last year. Yet it made me think (when I did that gig), how frustrating it would be to do a covert audit "if I had to do one in the toy department, for example".

Yet mainly, I was thinking of “possibly” doing a covert price audit for either a grocery store or a store like Walmart’s (one day) . . . however as I visualized it, it just did not seem like they would be easy and they seemed like they would just take too much time vs. the pay. For example, one msc I know of, has regular supermarket covert price audits. They only want to pay $14 for a 50 item audit, yet part of the guidelines, you can only stay in the store for so many minutes and they require you to do the audit in 2 separate visits (i.e. audit 25 items per visit). Then just hearing about what Blaqwumin just said about how long it takes to complete the reports for one of those audits . . . it sure does not sound like it would be worth the time it takes to do an audit like this, when you figure the time it takes to do “2" separate visits, then the time it takes to do the report . . . all for only $14. $14 that you will not probably not see in your pocket until 2 to 3 months later (depending on the msc’s payment terms). If anything, I would be frustrated doing an audit for the first time, rather than being nervous. LOL!!! I think the Walmart audit I saw a few months ago, had 150 items.

Again, I since I am not hurting for work, I think I will pass on this type of audit, because it seems if you do not get frustrated at all from doing the audit, from doing the reports, from doing the 2 visits . . . it just does not seem worth it for only $14 in my area. Yet even for $50 to do 150 items (assuming that there are no troubles finding prices on all 150 items), that still sounds too daunting for my tastes.

Blaqwumin, I am going to take your advise. Right now, I am running toward the nearest exit! LOL!!! Thank you so very much for your input.

I am not knocking these types of audits. I see their purpose and value of them. However looking at the usual guidelines and looking at all what is needed to be done to do one of these audits (from start to finish), these audit do not sound like they are for me . . . not even to try just one time. Again, I mainly just wanted to get the feedback from people who have done or who do these types of audits, to get their feedback . . . to see if I should at least try one, one day. Yet based on what Blaqwumin just wrote, I will pass.

Wilson

I did a covert pricing audit today and it was a little hard. I did go to the store 3 different days. Out of 50 I got 44. This was my first time doing a audit. It was too bad, and I think the more you do it the easier it gets. Or at least I'm hopeing.

I did a grocery store ONCE....the scheduler told me it may be a problem because the manager had asked other mystery shoppers that had tried to do this store to leave when he caught them....It took me 3 trips and I learned quickly the night crew did not care who was doing what....at one point when I went early in the morning one of the associates followed me.... I had my weekly sales paper and grocery list in hand....and items in the buggy....I had no idea there were so many flavors of cat food.....NEVER AGAIN....

My experience is that the list says 50 items but the store only has 20 of them.
I found them very east to do in the drug stores or Club stores.

The one I hated and will never do again is the musical instrument price audit. 30 items but telling all the different music stand and cymbals apart was awful. no way to be covert.

bd6865 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I did a covert pricing audit today and it was a
> little hard. I did go to the store 3 different
> days. Out of 50 I got 44. This was my first time
> doing a audit. It was too bad, and I think the
> more you do it the easier it gets. Or at least I'm
> hopeing.
.....................................................................

Which MSP are you auditing for? Do you mean you located 44 items out of 50 you were to audit? Or are you being rated on your performance?

Yes the in-field part of Auditing get better the more you do...however...the reports are still the same...no ease there...except a little trick of the trade...if you're auditing the same store chain at many locations...the items, pricing and locations are usually the same...this helps to plan your route in the store and locate the items quicker...It also helps with the reports, should you miss something at one location,but got it at another...this sometimes eliminates the need for return trips...if you get my drift...

However...one should still hold out for Max Bonuses on these assignments...even negotiate for a bonus right out the barn... I you're not familiar with Brand Liquor Labels,(Jim Bean,Cutty Sark,Chivas Regal,etc) I'd stay away from the Beverage Audits from CFA...these are worse than grocery audits...with the Bev. Audits...it's all about the visual to speed things up in the field...
Happy Auditing to ya...

Well as I said in another post, they say, one person’s meat is another person’s poison. So Godspeed to those of you who do not mind and can do these shops. I’ll pass.

I just saw a 50 item shop a few days ago, that paid $14. Yet again, you have to do the shop in 2 visits. Yet based on some of the feedback from those of you that have done these shops, I now know that this type of shop is definitely not for me, not even to just try it just once for that $14. LOL!!! Yet since I live in Los Angeles, I am fortunate to get enough other type shops that I can get done in a quick and efficient manner. Yet trying to do a covert price audit would stress me out too much, by doing what is required during the on-site part of the shop and also having to do the shop in 2 parts (in the case of the shop I just saw). Plus my having to deal with the agony of trying to read the tiny print on those labels. No thank you:-)

Wilson

I did two for McDonald's years ago. The pay was $10 which sounded ok when I accepted the jobs. The forms were too detailed--most every item. The inside menus were too small to read from the seat. I had to approach the counter several times in phony pretexts.
I also had to photgraph the menus in and out.
Inside, I pretended I was playing with a new camera. That was easy. The first outdoor menu board shots were easy. BUT THE SECOND ONE....

It seems that there was a McD Playland close behind the menu. And there I was- looking like some pervert photographing children at play from a car window. One parent grabbed her kid and I got out of there fast!

Bottom line-- no more large list pricing shops. No inventory shops that pay less than $20/hr.

samwise Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It seems that there was a McD Playland close
> behind the menu. And there I was- looking like
> some pervert photographing children at play from a
> car window. One parent grabbed her kid and I got
> out of there fast!


LOL!!! Can you blame her?

Samwise wrote:

[It seems that there was a McD Playland close behind the menu. And there I was- looking like some pervert photographing children at play from a car window. One parent grabbed her kid and I got out of there fast!]...

LMAO!!!...That vision is too funny...assuming you are a male...I understand the mothers concern...that's not to say there aren't any female perverts...we just don't think of women in that light until it's too late...

I do the pricing grocery audits all of the time. I shop the 50 items at once. I can shop 50 items in 30 minutes, once I am used to the list. I like the audits because I get paid to shop at stores that don't seem to offer mystery shops. I do end up with lots of food and other things that I give away.

The first time I did a shop, it took me 2 hours for 50 items. It was a store that I've never been in before. I retired from a major supermarket after 34 yrs and it was still hard. I got 48 out of fifty and asked a clerk to help me with several. The 2nd time I got caught and it took me 3 visits. It will be a while before I do another.

Well after reading the added comments, since my last post, I will say Godspeed to all of you that make covert pricing audits work for you, I am very happy for you:-) Yet even without my trying one, I know that I would HATE this type of shop.

Yet out of curiosity, I wondered what happens to those of you that get caught? Does the manager come up to you and say “What you are doing?” or do they say “Get out my store, and never come back again.” Thus far, I have never been caught as a mystery shopper.

Mnmfong, it was hard to tell if you “like” or “do not like” doing covert pricing audits . . . especially when you said “The 2nd time I got caught and it took me 3 visits. It will be a while before I do another.” So it sounds like you don’t mind doing them, yet you need a break from them for now, but you will be doing them again at some future date.

Wilson

I will NEVER in my lifetime due a pricing audit again, at any price. Had my husband and teenage daughter with me to break it up, and in an hour, the three of us only found a few things. The wine was the worst. It was categorized by area bottled, and since I don't drink, I don't have a clue as to what is made where. So a bottle of Chardonay, for example, could be in 20 different places until you find the correct brand. NEVER again. We left, I told the MSC we couldn't complete it, and of course we were not paid. The only other time I did it, they argued with me that grapefruit or something seemed too cheap, (it was on sale), and insisted I go back to verify the price. These nightmares paid approx. $14 each. I don 't think I would do them for $114.

Carol

57carol Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I will NEVER in my lifetime due a pricing audit
> again, at any price. Had my husband and teenage
> daughter with me to break it up, and in an hour,
> the three of us only found a few things. The wine
> was the worst. It was categorized by area bottled,
> and since I don't drink, I don't have a clue as to
> what is made where. So a bottle of Chardonay, for
> example, could be in 20 different places until you
> find the correct brand. NEVER again. We left, I
> told the MSC we couldn't complete it, and of
> course we were not paid. The only other time I did
> it, they argued with me that grapefruit or
> something seemed too cheap, (it was on sale), and
> insisted I go back to verify the price. These
> nightmares paid approx. $14 each. I don 't think I
> would do them for $114.
>
> Carol


For sure Carol, what you have described sounds like a NIGHTMARE!!! I still continue to see shops for 50 items @ $14 AND they must be done in 2 visits. Yet again, based on the way people have described those audits, that is too time consuming (for my taste) for $14 AND 2 visits. I commend people that can do the on-site part of a 50 item audit in 1 hour or less.

Wilson

I applied for an audit job as it stated regular work. The downside being the company wont allow me to mystery shop if im successful at obtaining the audit ob. Now i dont know what im letting myself in for after reading the posts, maybe i can say i had a change of mind. any advice.

The only way they could forbid you to mystery shop is if they're hiring you as an employee -- and I'm not sure even then they have the right to tell you what you can't do in your spare time.

There are competitive price checkers that have pretty much full time work price checking for grocery and other stores. Would you be working for one store (like Safeway, or Home Depot) or for a company that provides pricing services on an as-needed basis?

Would you be auditing prices for the company you work for or getting prices from their competitors?

How do you know they won't let you mystery shop? How did that subject even come up at all? I could see them saying you can't mystery shop for any business you audit, but that should be all they can tell you. Who is it that offered you this "job"?

I did a competitive price audit near the holiday. You could audit the store brand or a national brand. When I arrived at the store I reviewed the store flyer to locate and document any of the items I needed that were advertised there. It still took a long time to find the other items I needed in the store. The best part of the shop was the fast pay, in seven days.

Im the same. I was a mystery shopper for them and now accepted to do audits. I have only done one and that was July and nothing has come up on my log since only mystery shops . I do wonder is there a waiting period before you can do audits.