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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/04/2013 08:54PM by lucky7s.

Ahhhh yes...very profitable in routes. I do them alot and don't love them, but don't loathe them either. I do my route get my 2 gal free gas and move on. Usually take me about 20 minutes on site and 10 on report.

Love these shops! Get the $3.00 vest at walmart...do enough of these to get self assign benefits, and then never pay for gas again.

I did one, and I haven't done one since. I live in one of the two states where you can't pump your own gas. It was very awkward for me to stand there and watch this guy pump my gas. Also, telling someone that I only want two gallons of gas is just weird. I realize that in today's crappy economy, a lot of people go in and put a small amount in their tank, but they ask for $5.00 or something not two gallons. Shell gas is more expensive than Arco, so while I could fill up at Shell, I'm not going to just so I don't feel weird about saying 2 gallons please. If it was just the audit part, I would probably do more of these shops, but there is a mystery shop part too.

I do more BP than Shell, but do my fair share of Shell shops. They're not bad at all. If you live in a state that you can't pump your own gas (there are a few stations here in IL that pump for you) I just say, "can you put in $8.00?" if gas costs $3.65. Yeah, I'm eating my own $0.60, but it's not horrible, and believable.

The first few times you do these (or any other gas station shop with this company, they do quite a few different brands) they will take probably 45-60 minutes on site, and probably 20-30 minutes input. By now it takes me less than 20 minutes, usually 16-18 minutes on site and 5-10 minutes of input. (If they would just fix their DAMN tab flow so it advanced properly I could probably shave one or two more minutes off it.) I usually do between 5 and 20 gas shops in a day.

You must have a really huge gas tank to hold up to 40 gallons of gas. We're not allowed to pump it into those little gas cans either. 2 gallons would make a lot more sense if we were.

I ranted about these at the first of the month
[www.mysteryshopforum.com]

I used to love them. The audit part is really not so bad after you have done a few they become fairly easy. What I don't like is the mystery shop portion. Also, it seems like every period they add more and more and more to it. I used to do about 20 or more a period, but this period, I cut down to only 8. I did just enough to make sure I had gas for my other, more profitable, shops.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/04/2013 08:55PM by lucky7s.

I like to do 5 to 6 a week to fill my tank.

I created my own cheat sheet to cut down on printing.

It takes me about 20 minutes on site and another 20 minutes to input. I take time to organize my pictures before reporting my route.

jschilz... I apparently have a 50/50 chance of being correct that you live in Oregon? I didn't realize it was only two states!

I've only done a couple (not Shell) gas stations where you get $2 gas. It does feel *really* stupid asking for $2 of gas, when you're having someone else pump it for you.

I've done a couple other gas stations where the $2 purchase could be anything. But those, for the $10, just took too much time and too much walking around... which my bad back & hip limit ~ otherwise I could probably have done them more quickly.

I also live in one of the two "no pumping your own gas" states. I always ask for at least $10 of gas and usually more. I sit in my car and use my DVR to time the pump, saying "1", "2", "3," as the gallons tick away. I usually do just 1-3 a week so my tank can hold the gas without a problem. I don't particularly enjoy doing them, but if you do at least 10 per month you're getting a nice check and I certainly can use the gas anyway. Here the stations are competively priced compared to others and I've found the attendants to be pleasant and most stations to be in good condition. Actually, I've learned to take the ones that I KNOW are in good shape so my time on site is the shortest possible. Only once that I remember did I have to only get the two gallons b/c my tank was full after doing several stations for other fuel companies the same day. I figure I'm getting over $8 in gas for each shop so it's not so bad. (I need premium gas and they pay for 2 gallons of it) This quarter the audit is not bad at all. Takes me about 20 minutes to do a fairly compliant station and a bit longer if there is a store and/or a lot of issues. The MSC used to send out the vests. I assume they have stopped doing that, but I have a nice net one that I can use over and over plus a few of the crappy plastic ones they used to send out. So, in summation, these are good shops once you get used to them. At the beginning of the quarter I will only take one or two until I see the forms and what the requirements are. A few quarters ago I was kicking myself b/c of all the additional work. I also am giving out next to no gift cards b/c of the new requirement for the attendant/cashier to be compliant.

Yes, I'm in Oregon.

I'm not a fan of any of the gas station shops out there. Even the non-audit Chevron shops. I just find them all incredibly time consuming for the pay. That could be due to the fact that I compare every shop to what I would make if i stay home and edit.

StormCloud Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> jschilz... I apparently have a 50/50 chance of
> being correct that you live in Oregon? I didn't
> realize it was only two states!
>
> I've only done a couple (not Shell) gas stations
> where you get $2 gas. It does feel *really*
> stupid asking for $2 of gas, when you're having
> someone else pump it for you.
>
> I've done a couple other gas stations where the $2
> purchase could be anything. But those, for the
> $10, just took too much time and too much walking
> around... which my bad back & hip limit ~
> otherwise I could probably have done them more
> quickly.

I compare what I make shopping to what I make watching TV, which is what I usually would be doing if I weren't MSing. If I compared it to what I make per hour sub teaching or petsitting (which can be lucrative during the summer) it would be too depressing, but I had to tell myself, "Nobody pays you for watching TV," and I focus not on what I make per hour but on what I hope to make PER MONTH. If I can make $200 a month (my goal) for watching less TV -- in this economy I'll do the cheap shops as long as it's not costing me gas.

If I get a chance, I'll try a gas station shop because free gas is a nice bonus, and when you have more time than money like I do, every little bit helps.

itsasecret Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I compare what I make shopping to what I make
> watching TV, which is what I usually would be
> doing if I weren't MSing. If I compared it to
> what I make per hour sub teaching or petsitting
> (which can be lucrative during the summer) it
> would be too depressing, but I had to tell myself,
> "Nobody pays you for watching TV," and I focus not
> on what I make per hour but on what I hope to make
> PER MONTH. If I can make $200 a month (my goal)
> for watching less TV -- in this economy I'll do
> the cheap shops as long as it's not costing me
> gas.
>
> If I get a chance, I'll try a gas station shop
> because free gas is a nice bonus, and when you
> have more time than money like I do, every little
> bit helps.


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That's what I did too before the editing gig. I would take the BestBuy shops even though they sucked and were so not worth the pay, but I would remind myself that if I wasn't doing that, I would be sitting on the couch not getting paid.

galct Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I like to do 5 to 6 a week to fill my tank.
>
> I created my own cheat sheet to cut down on
> printing.
>
> It takes me about 20 minutes on site and another
> 20 minutes to input. I take time to organize my
> pictures before reporting my route.


I have been doing these gas shops and it takes me at least 20 minutes to resize my pics because they want a specific size pic! Is there a faster way to do these? I would do more if I could cut the time down some.

Two thought about the pictures.

1 - They aren't really that picky, trust me. It says a specific size, but as long as it's anywhere close they'll take it.

2 - There IS an easier way. [www.rw-designer.com] Download that program. Drag the folder you have all the pictures in (or drag them one by one, or drag a group of them) onto the program, it does them all in about 10 seconds!

treydawgmt Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Two thought about the pictures.
>
> 1 - They aren't really that picky, trust me. It
> says a specific size, but as long as it's anywhere
> close they'll take it.
>
> 2 - There IS an easier way.
> [www.rw-designer.com]
> Download that program. Drag the folder you have
> all the pictures in (or drag them one by one, or
> drag a group of them) onto the program, it does
> them all in about 10 seconds!


Thanks! I will try that!

I saw it for 6 bucks...take a gazillion pictures....um...no thanks....

It's never $6 for this particular shop.


And...for the photos...I've NEVER seen a digital camera where you can't adjust the size of the pics. Are you sure you have checked your camera carefully?

I have checked my camera and it does have those settings!! Thanks!

Hhmmm...haven't found any gas shops in my area yet....can anyone mention MSCs without mentioning specific clients?? I would love to try a couple...

excelrn Wrote:
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> Hhmmm...haven't found any gas shops in my area
> yet....can anyone mention MSCs without mentioning
> specific clients?? I would love to try a
> couple...

The client is already mentioned on this thread, so no go!

LOVE these shops. Schedule 5 or 6 in the same area for the same day. They are easy and because they are audits you don't have to remember alot of detail because you have a check list in front of you. After you have done a few, it's like second nature. Scheduling other shops in between makes it a good profitable day. My tank is filled free to do other shops. The quantity of shops available in my area keeps me busy for a month. I have done 34 of these shops this month and still have 2 weeks to go (12 more). Last year I had to file a tax return with .................because I made over $1500 in gas shops and ...............shops alone.This is just one company and I hold down a full time job. Keeping up with the mileage gave me a tax break of $350.00. Love theses shops!

Talisa...you didn't mention the gas client but you DID mention another one. Edit the post?

Talisa...can you please edit your post to remove the MSC. The client is already mentioned in the title of the thread, so mentioning the MSC is against forum rules.

Karen IL Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It's never $6 for this particular shop.
>
>
> And...for the photos...I've NEVER seen a digital
> camera where you can't adjust the size of the
> pics. Are you sure you have checked your camera
> carefully?


---
I can adjust my camera, but I can't adjust it that small. Sucks! One day I had five bank shops to do for the same MSC and it took me forever to deal with all the stinking pictures. I still haven't gotten around to getting one of those programs to do the whole folder at once. I think I'll be doing the banks again in November. Now seems like the time to get around to getting the program!

jschilz Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Now seems like the
> time to get around to getting the program!


Fotosizer is what I use. It was free and works like a charm. The only "problem" I have found is that if you need a time/date stamp don't resize until you stamp the pics. Adding the time/day stamp after you have resized them makes them date for that day/time you resized them. Other than that A+ program.

I do a lot of these shops. When I wanted to start them, I needed to buy a digital camera. Checked around telling the salesmen about the size requirements. Bought one that works great.

The Nikon coolpix cameras adjust easily. It isn't one of the real expensive ones. Just a cool pix 24 right now. The correct picture size will be listed as TV or VGA on your megapixel choices. That comes out as the 640x480 size the companies want.

I enjoy doing the digital audits at stations and some others too.

I usually schedule a fast food shop along the route for more money and get a meal I would eat anyway.

Go to the CORI site and download the free program they recommend...you can resize batches of photos at the same time.


I use a Nikon CoolPix as well, and the TV setting for Maritz. Works great!

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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/04/2013 08:55PM by lucky7s.