I was thinking about moving to Las Vegas, but I wanted to know how the video and mystery shopping is, in general, right now. I know you need a work card, but is it really busy and worth the effort? It would seem that since Las Vegas is small after a while you would run out of work due to rotations, etc.. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

You only need a work card? I thought I had read somewhere that mystery shoppers in Vegas had to have PI licenses.

Okay, I found what I was looking for about that...you have to be an employee of a private investigator and have your work permit.

I work in Vegas, and just had my work card renewed, it's good for 5 years. QSI has a PI license and after you fill out an application with them, and are accepted, they are your sponsors. There is more to getting a work card which involves a background check, finger printing and a cost of about 100.00. I paid 65.00 for my renewal. Here is who you contact to apply (1st. step). pilbinfo@ag.nv.gov. They have many jobs and if you will be living there, well worth it.

[www.mysteryshoppersmanual.com]

I found the following information posted in the online MS manual:

"A Closer Look, Inc. is now licensed in Nevada and invite anyone in NV to apply with our company, especially if you already have a work card. No work card? No problem! You can go through the NV process to get a work card and after completing 6 shops for our company, we will reimburse the work card fee! For more information, please email us directly (jjohnson@a-closer-look.com)."

The 4 or 5 MSCs that hold NV PI licenses handle all of the NV MS work for all of the MSCs that have shops there, under special agreement. So, you go to the PILBNV site (NV Private Investigator's Licensing Board), fill out the application to get a card to work as a mystery shopper, pay for fingerprints and background check. When your NV card arrived by mail (4-8 weeks later) you can sign up as an employee with all 4-5 of those MSCs and see what they have. You can do all of the
PILB stuff by mail, using your local police department fingerprinting services to supply and transmit your prints. So you can do all of this ahead of moving to NV.

Just be aware that many non-Nevada residents hold NV cards and drive or fly in several times per year to do shop routes all over the state. Also, NV is a two-party consent state for audiot recording which, of course, covers any video that has an audio component.

In response to above posters info. on working for "A Closer Look", they do not do Video (which your asking about). They don't pay it's just restaurant and reimbursement, would that be what your looking for, otherwise it's a waste of time.

The OP wrote: "I wanted to know how the video and mystery shopping is, in general, right now."

The OP wanted to know about both.

Oh also, A Closer Look does have other shops besides reimbursement. Maybe they only have reimbursement and restaurants in your area, but in several other states it's different.

@JASFLALMT....the title says "How is Video Shopping in Las Vegas", which i was answering I have never seen
anything but restaurants with the MSC you mentioned. I would also be leary if they pay your wor card fees, they may want you to just shop for them. Registering with a PI Company that handles many companies would be my choice. We both don't know ACL's requirements for Vegas, so, I wouldn't give advice about them.

Irene, did you not read walesmaven's post? Walesmaven wrote: "The 4 or 5 MSCs that hold NV PI licenses handle all of the NV MS work for all of the MSCs that have shops there, under special agreement." She also wrote: "When your NV card arrived by mail (4-8 weeks later) you can sign up as an employee with all 4-5 of those MSCs and see what they have."

I trust that walesmaven knows what she is talking about. But it's easy enough for the OP to find out by emailing ACL using the contact info in the post I copied and pasted from Cathy Stucker's website.

Just because you don't like ACL doesn't mean that the OP won't like them. They do gas stations and jewelry stores in addition to the hotel and restaurant shops. Getting a work permit paid for by doing 6 shops is not a bad deal.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

Irene, did you not read walesmaven's post? Walesmaven wrote: "The 4 or 5 MSCs that hold NV PI licenses handle all of the NV MS work for all of the MSCs that have shops there, under special agreement." She also wrote: "When your NV card arrived by mail (4-8 weeks later) you can sign up as an employee with all 4-5 of those MSCs and see what they have."

I trust that walesmaven knows what she is talking about. But it's easy enough for the OP to find out by emailing ACL using the contact info in the post I copied and pasted from Cathy Stucker's website.

Just because you don't like ACL doesn't mean that the OP won't like them. They do gas stations and jewelry stores in addition to the hotel and restaurant shops. Getting a work permit paid for by doing 6 shops is not a bad deal.

I agree and like what Wales said...my learieness came when you gave her ACL's link,Mod note: negative comment removedThe end.

The word is "leeriness." There is no "a" in leery or in leeriness. I did not give her ACL's link, I provided an email address from ACL. The link was for Cathy Stucker's "Mystery Shopper's Manual" Mod note: Negative comment removed

The full moon for the month of December was on Tuesday, December 13th but apparently some people are still feeling its side effects.

How is asking someone about their video shopping background a bad thing? Especially since that person has never mentioned performing video shops in the past? It is a real and valid question.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/17/2016 06:20PM by Sybil2.

It's a good idea to actually read more than just headlines and subject lines. Can you imagine reading only the headline of a news article in the paper and then thinking you know all about the contents of the article?

Mod note: Negative comments removed.

Irene, take a deep breath. So not worth it.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

I trust that walesmaven knows what she is talking about.

Yet, it was just a few weeks ago that Wales was asking advice about shopping in NV, so she herself does not seem to understand all the politics of shopping there yet. It's simply not true that you just sign up for all the PI firms once you get your work card. They are competitive with each other, and many do not allow you to work for multiple companies, require you to be a resident or to take a minimum number of shops each month. Your registration on the PILB site shows what companies you work for. You cannot keep it a secret.

Remember that in Nevada, you are an employee, and as such, your employer can ask all sorts of things of you that an MSC could not if you were an IC. Technically, they can assign you a shop and require you to perform it.

There are also advantages of being an employee, but the bottom line is that you should do a little bit deeper research on your own before picking a sponsor PI firm or thinking that getting your work card paid for is that good of a deal. The information you read here is not necessarily true, and there are a lot of myths about shopping in Vegas that I often see posted. Think about why a company might offer to pay for your work card. If they had the best assignments that shoppers were clamoring for, do you think they would have to do that?

Because Vegas has a limited number of shoppers, rotations are often disregarded. If you are a really good shopper, you may also see many of the above rules that I mentioned disregarded. Also, due to the added expense for companies to MS in Vegas, you may see that some clients are not shopped as often...or at all.

Steve, at a recent shopper conference it was announced that, under pressure (and following changes in leadership), the NV MSC that used to prohibit shoppers from working with others, has withdrawn that requirement. In addition, I had several in depth talks with two NV PILB officials while at that meeting. Finally, one of the small MSCs that I recruit for has been in recent talks with both ACL and the NV company that used to prohibit shoppers from working with other MSCs there. That NV MSC made assurances that it has discontinued that practice. (This information was provided to the CEO of the small MSC, who provided it to me when I specifically asked about that restriction.) Therefore, my information would now seem to be quite up to date. When I posted my question here about NV, I was just beginning my research, prior to being in touch with the NV reps of 2 of the NV licensed MSCs.

@Steve...thank you for posting (I was hoping you would). to clear it up. Being the King of Vegas shopping,
we all know you know what your talking about, and suggesting one MSC offers to pay for the expense of getting a work card, doesn't make sense unless their getting more out of it than you are. Having worked there, and having just renewed my card, I felt I may have something to offer. I know it is complex. QSI did get me
many jobs, which is why I recommend them as sponsors. I would do it over if needed, they are a responsible well know PI sponsor. Had I not known anything about working in Vegas, I wouldn't be giving advice, but maybe Sybil has worked there, true or not? Wales, thanks for the update, there are different ways to do it. Mary, you are always on the money.....

Jas, thanks for correcting my spelling, much appreciated, perhaps you can be the authorized speller corrector, we poor souls need that, again thank you.....as a well known woman says, "when they go low, we go high!!"



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/18/2016 06:25AM by Irene_L.A..

Actually, the majority of the regular forum members don't need correcting. There are occcasional typos that we all make, but most forum members' posts are well-written. There are a few who have constant grammatical errors and weird random punctuation errors (like incorrectly placed apostrophes for possessives when the word is not used in that context), and these people consistently misspell words. It would be understandable if English was the second language for these people or if it was random sloppy typing resulting in errors, but I don't think that's the case.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

Actually, the majority of the regular forum members don't need correcting. There are occcasional typos that we all make, but most forum members' posts are well-written. There are a few who have constant grammatical errors and weird random punctuation errors (like incorrectly placed apostrophes for possessives when the word is not used in that context), and these people consistently misspell words. It would be understandable if English was the second language for these people or if it was random sloppy typing resulting in errors, but I don't think that's the case.

And once again, off topic....

I'm always open to suggestions or guidance about the integrity of MSCs, the best ways to do particular shops, and packing and organizational tips for road trips. I am not open to corrections to my grammar, punctuation, or spelling because most such corrections I see are heavy handed, demeaning, and supercilious. If you can handle the language better than I can handle it, congratulations and best wishes. You don't need to tell me about it. No matter how superior you may be, I'm definitely better.

Ahhh, handled with such class, intellect, and grace. My kinda girl...lol.

mysterytrina,
LV may be "small" in terms of metro area population. However, is is BIG in terms of shopper demand due to the nature of its primary industry: tourism. In addition, when you have the "work card," you can take an additional training module and qualify to use it for work in the many venues there that host huge music, convention and other events that need far more folks than the local shoppers can handle for things like crowd assistance, ushering, minor security (not really security "guard" with the card) when managing huge crowds of out-of-towners are involved. The folks from the NV PILB who met with shoppers recently in LV said that even if all a shopper could do was sit at an information booth at a major event, there was good pay and more than enough work to go around.

Also, I chatted with two local video shoppers while there. They get very, very good fees that make routes to the Reno-Tahoe areas, and even more remote places, profitable. I suspect that new home shops may be scarce, since that market has not really bounced back in LV, but I was told that there are tons of apartment shops.

As always, you provide a wealth of information. I remember when I first started video shopping you guided me through the steps. I am well-seasoned now and out here having a ball with video shopping...love it! You are the bomb! I appreciate you sooooo much. It appears that it is a headache to get started in Vegas, but once you get everything squared away it is worth it...

Hey, do you know anyone besides Dan that sells equipment?

Do you shop in LV?

I am awaiting delivery of my NV work card, and will then be planning to go there a few times per year. I expect to team up with another shopper to share expenses and qualify for two-person dining shops to keep costs down. IF you open a LV Airbnb, we might provide some business, provided you have good video upload speeds!

Dan is currently the only equipment supplier that I trust, and that is a view shared by a great many of our video colleagues!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/17/2016 09:34PM by walesmaven.

I am going to apply for mine next week.

Yeah, I got my equipment from him. I just wanted to know more suppliers to add to my very short list. It is hard to get good equipment...

AirBnB...hmmmm that is a thought.

To possibly answer the OP's original question, I will say honestly that the money I earn from mystery shopping, and lack of state income taxes, are my only logical reasons for continuing to live in Las Vegas.

Most of my shops are done for HS Brands and QSI. I stopped shopping for BestMark early on, because most of their shops did not pay any job fee at all. Since ACL has been brought up, I will comment. I have done very few shops for them because most of them pay only a token fee for time spent and often require substantial money up front that can be held up to 6 weeks or so. However, they are very nice people who are appreciative, will work with you fairly, and occasionally have a shop available that pays decently.