pricing audit

Many times when I am shopping I see people who seem to be doing price audits. They aren't acting secretively. Who might they be?
I ask because a grocery store price audit hit my email inbox. 70 items for $25. There isn't any information about if it is covert or not.
Is it worth it? It's a large store but lots of times there are no other shoppers in the aisles.

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I asked about this type of project last year too. The response I got from other shoppers was that it's not worth the money for the hassle. I have seen these types of shops too, but they don't pay that much per item. For example, I think the most I've seen these pay is $0.25 per item. Seventy items at $25 is $0.35 per item. I know we're only talking a dime, and you can get rich off of $0.10, but look at it as a percentage. Ten cents is 40% the average going rate of $0.25. Is someone really going to pay you 40% more than the going rate, on a non-bonused shop?

If you don't mind posting, what company is it. Maybe other shoppers can speak to if it's a scam or not.

Do not forget that one MSC advertises $7 per 25 items but they mean the $4 reimbursement and $3 cash. Run, run, far away. (And you can get a significant (triple+) higher payment from this MSC, unless if you live in a very low income area, which will be impossible since the real client is Whole Foods and collects prices for all their competitiors; or you have a shopper in your area that finds it sufficient to get paid less than minimum wage).

I have performed some grocery audits that want you to find holes in the inventory - where there is no product on the shelf and the item is clearly priced and supposed to be there. Those shops are awful! They provide ammunition to crack down on managers who are trying hard to not have those situations but which for whatever reason can't be avoided.

I no longer accept those shops. They paid little, and it was detrimental to others.

sail2sunset
Delray Beach FL

I won't do the ones with a long list of items anymore for the reasons others have said. I did pick up a shop with the isecretshop app recently that paid $9 to price 3 grocery items at a store I was going to anyway. I would be happy to take that assignment again any day of the week.

I work for a data collection company doing price audits. In some stores I have to work undercover, while other stores know I'm there. I'm paid by the hour and it's more than minimum wage. The company pays me on a weekly basis. The only downside is that the job gets boring after a while because you have to visit the same stores and check the same products week after week.

any names of companies to sign up for to do pricing audits? I have been doing one weekly for a company and am interested in doing more- thank yoU!

There are many different types of audits which are performed and make up a big chunk of my MS work.

I perform retail price audits in airports in several states. These are open revealed audits with sign-offs from managers to ensure that my checks are completed correctly. They pay (well) by the project and are conducted quarterly. I am badged as an airport employee which enables me to go through employee security checkpoints at the airport.

In addition, I perform program and/or price audits at various medical and hospital campuses that pay by the hour. These audits last anywhere from one to three days and staff are aware before I arrived. The audits are part of the credentialing required at the facility.

Often price audits at pharmacy and grocery store location are considered vendor audits and are not secrative at all since warehouse pars are often required.

I did one competitive pricing audit at a competitor of Whole Paycheck (I think they commission these every month). It was undercover, and because the many staff at the store were very friendly, it became nearly impossible for me to stay unrevealed. Also, this store carried many brands that were not identical to Whole Paycheck, and it took some time to figure out all of the comparable items. The combined amount I received for the work and reimbursement was a real pittance, and it became even worse after doing the report. Never again.

I have done revealed audits when the price is right and have had no problems with those.

There is a store called "Whole Paycheck" - or this is a clever play on words just not in quotes ?

It is a play on words, at least I think so. I decided that it refers to a specific supermarket chain which is so expensive that it takes your entire paycheck to shop there (maybe not literally and it depends on the size of your paycheck, but I agree that they are expensive).

@Boutique wrote:

There is a store called "Whole Paycheck" - or this is a clever play on words just not in quotes ?

Shopping Southeast Pennsylvania, Delaware above the canal, and South Jersey since 2008

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