Thank you for the description! This will be my first merchandising job, so I'm anxious to see how it goes.

@jamieg1973 wrote:

Honnybrown;These take work, keep that in mind. You have to make calls and then go to the location and have an in-depth conversation with the manager or person in charge. Another thing is you have to remember is you have to make 3 THREE attempts while at location to leave and explain the materials. Keep this in mind before accepting this because if you don't then you won't get paid and have to return the materials. These are cumbersome but pay so-so for what it is involved. Another curve to throw you is the signature. You need this at the very end as to confirm set-up, demonstration and display

That's not what I think. Actually, since I haven't done merchandising or sales, I have no expectations.

I just hope it turns out well!

@CANADAMOMMY wrote:

I think Honnybrown thinks she will pop in the door drop stuff grab card and run... Not how it happens!

Good luck with this!

Good luck, HonnyBrown! Please, let us know how it goes!

I would not touch this for less than $60 if the office was a five minute drive from the house. There are way too many variables and possible hurdles. My time is worth much more than that. If all goes perfect, it is $60 of work. If they refuse and you have to then mail back the merchandise, this is even more work and multiple stops.

They should just sit on the board for $20. People will learn after they do one and add up the time involved. I expect them to need to be bonused after that. I can earn $20 and write a simple two hour report on auto pilot after a top notch meal with lobster or steak. I would never jump through all those hoops for such meager pay and then return home hungry.

scanman, that's the point. I will do the job, see how it goes and then decide if I want to do more. It's an evaluation for me as well.

What kinds of variables and hurdles are you referring to?

@HonnyBrown wrote:

scanman, that's the point. I will do the job, see how it goes and then decide if I want to do more. It's an evaluation for me as well.

What kinds of variables and hurdles are you referring to?

You will be the best person to answer that question soon enough.

LOL! Got it!

I've decided to pass on these for now. If everything were to go exactly as it should, with no glitches, on each one, it might be worth picking up two or three within close proximity to each other. (There are three within five minutes of one another in my area.) I'd work for $20/hour! But, nothing ever goes exactly as it should, and if anything goes wrong on any of them, or several things on one, or several things on all, I can see them being a nightmare.

Thanks to all for the input, and I'm waiting eagerly for more reports from the brave!

I canceled this shop since hubby made a better offer. When I contacted the MSC to cancel, they said it would only take 20 minutes.

That was enlightening. I'm glad I got out of it.

20 minutes. I guess I'm going to hold them to their word.

vlade, you are doing one also? I'm curious to know how it goes and how long it takes. About Face put me on their hit list for canceling.

I have several scheduled. A prior post suggested the hard part was the phone call. For me, this was an understatement. When making the phone calls today, I learned this assignment is mischaracterized. It is not auditing or even merchandising, It is cold calling. The contact persons names and information is outdated or clearly wrong (one listed email address was something like Mickey1234@Donaldduck.com). The people I did speak to treated me like a salesperson rather than a partner. I was hung up on when I told them who I worked for (the phone script called for me to identify the MSP), told I had the wrong number when I asked for the contact person and then hung up on, or told they don't need the materials.

I suppose the absence of a letter of authorization should have alerted me to the fact there is no coordination between the supplier and optician's offices.

In my opinion, it was a very poor choice to have random mystery shoppers do these assignments. They would be much better suited for a salesperson who is well versed in these particular materials and the optician's business.


How long does it take to do? I haven't been on-site yet.

vlade, wow!!!!!! Thank you for that synopsis.

That's a shame that they have to trick people into this shop. Maybe that's why the pay is what it is.

Good luck with completing the shop. I hope you report back how it went.

Good luck with these, Vlade! And thank you for updating us on these "shops."

Nope; doesn't sound like merchandising or mystery shopping! When I read the guidelines, it looked as if the products to be placed were already in the optician's offices, and we'd be providing updated literature and training materials. But it sounds as if that's not accurate. Yes, a letter of authorization would be good, but I wonder if the end client is trying to also gauge resistance to its products.... I wonder if it would help if you could word the introduction as, "I'm so-and-so, working on behalf of (client name), and am with (MSC name)." Would the end client's name open the door, as opposed to the MSC name? I imagine that nobody in the optician's office has heard of the MSC, therefore assumes right off the bat that you're selling something.

So glad I didn't bite on these.

BirdyC, the description made it sound super simple. I used to be a patient at one of the stores in that chain. I remember they had a lot of vendor items all over the place, and even more patients milling in and out.

I'm glad I canceled also. I'm not drawn for sales.

@HonnyBrown wrote:

BirdyC, the description made it sound super simple. I used to be a patient at one of the stores in that chain. I remember they had a lot of vendor items all over the place, and even more patients milling in and out.

I'm glad I canceled also. I'm not drawn for sales.

I didn't think they sounded "super simple" (especially given the decent fee for the originally anticipated amount of time), but they surely didn't sound as much of a hassle as they apparently are!

I did three of these on Thursday and they were quite easy and the staff were quite receptive. None of mine took over 20 minutes. I was glad I took the chance on it.

The most difficult part of the shop is the initial phone call to make the appointment. No one had ever been employed with the given name. The ECP did not want to set up an appointment and told me they were extremely busy and would not have the time to talk to me. I called the MSC and they said if they would not allow me to place the marketing materials after three attempts, just pick up a business card and take a couple of pictures. I was concerned that if I left the box of materials with the ECP, she might not sign for them and I would have to ask for it back or have to pay for the materials. I did the shop today and it was one of the easiest I have ever done and spent more time worrying about it than doing it. It took me all of 12 minutes and the office was right down the street from me. The ECP who gave me a difficult time during the phone call, was very receptive when I went to the office. Although she would not allow me to place the materials, she listened as I explained everything in the kit - most of what she already had. I finished the report in less than half an hour and received a "5" which is 100%. I would do this shop again in a heartbeat. Twenty bucks is not bad for about an hour's work including the phone call, the shop, the report and driving. One thing that would have helped would have been an introductory letter from the company explaining who I was and why I was there.

Lorrie68, that's awesome! I'm glad it worked out well after the phone call. 12 minutes is great!

Catmom and Lorrie, thanks for sharing! Your experience is what I'd originally hoped for/anticipated when I saw these shops and took the qualifying test.

Well, there are still some available in my area, and most of them are close together. If I can do two or three, and the driving time is minimal, maybe I will....

When I saw these shops posted I thought to myself - "What if the company does not currently sell that particular lens coating?" The pay offered was low to be a 'sales rep', and it should not be a shopper's responsibility to convince someone (who might be unwilling) to carry a product in their store.

Hi all. I just did one a couple of days ago and the manager took me in their back room and told me she would give me only 15 min. Of her time she asked "so what do you got" so I proceeded to pull out the material and hand her the info card started explaining stuff and showing her the lenses and material ect. I was in there 10 minutes she did not want me putting out any material, she does not keep out any material and told me she did not want it out because there was not room (I thought there was but she didn't) she brings out material from back office to show patients and then puts its back. She would not let me take her old stuff either. So wha. I really didn't understand is that opticians and managers know there stuff, we go in there to demo and tell them stuff they already know and I told her it was updated material/lenses Ect. They are more educated than we are about this stuff. But then when I asked her about the graphite green she didn't know about it and wanted me to educate her on it well I dont know anything about it except it s a new color of transition so that was all I could tell her. So I felt stupid. So that was my experience.

I have four scheduled for this coming Friday and am still waiting on some of the kits to arrive. They are out of town so I scheduled a hotel shop for the night before. I need the kits by Wednesday otherwise I'll have to skip one of the locations I'm scheduled to do. According to About Face, there are some problems with the kits being shipped, so this could turn into an interesting proposition.

@Shopperfest wrote:

When I saw these shops posted I thought to myself - "What if the company does not currently sell that particular lens coating?" The pay offered was low to be a 'sales rep', and it should not be a shopper's responsibility to convince someone (who might be unwilling) to carry a product in their store.

I don't know this for a fact, but I believe all the shops that were assigned already carry these lenses.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/03/2015 04:06AM by Lorrie68.

@lovetoshop2 wrote:

Hi all. I just did one a couple of days ago and the manager took me in their back room and told me she would give me only 15 min. Of her time she asked "so what do you got" so I proceeded to pull out the material and hand her the info card started explaining stuff and showing her the lenses and material ect. I was in there 10 minutes she did not want me putting out any material, she does not keep out any material and told me she did not want it out because there was not room (I thought there was but she didn't) she brings out material from back office to show patients and then puts its back. She would not let me take her old stuff either. So wha. I really didn't understand is that opticians and managers know there stuff, we go in there to demo and tell them stuff they already know and I told her it was updated material/lenses Ect. They are more educated than we are about this stuff. But then when I asked her about the graphite green she didn't know about it and wanted me to educate her on it well I dont know anything about it except it s a new color of transition so that was all I could tell her. So I felt stupid. So that was my experience.

The guidelines state if the ECP wants to know more about the new color of lenses, give them the phone number that was provided. I was fortunate, for my ECP knew all about them and was wearing them!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/03/2015 04:07AM by Lorrie68.

I did give her the number but also found out I was right that it is just a new color for transitions.

I don't want to be the forum police here.... But those posters who have mentioned the lens/coating brand in this thread should probably edit their posts to remove the reference. The MSC has already been named, so we're not supposed to also name the client in the same thread.

Hilariously enough I just got an email about these titled "POS shops available in XX states"

@bgriffin wrote:

Hilariously enough I just got an email about these titled "POS shops available in XX states"

Well, by some accounts, they certainly are!