How much does a good video camera cost, and what acessories need to be purchased with the camera? What might the total start up costs be?

Also, if your camera fails at a video shop, do they let you re-shop the store?

Hi Sunny,

I bought my first PV500-ECO from MCP. It cost me $420.00.

Link here: [www.measurecp.com]

Later, I bought my backup rig (another PV500, with a 7 hour battery) from a mystery shopper who hated doing video and gave up after one shop.

Hope this helps.

I have spoken with 3 different people that bought cameras and gave up soon after as well. It is an expensive decision for sure.

MissyH71 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hi Sunny,
>
> I bought my first PV500-ECO from MCP. It cost me
> $420.00.
>
> Link here: [www.measurecp.com]
>
> Later, I bought my backup rig (another PV500, with
> a 7 hour battery) from a mystery shopper who hated
> doing video and gave up after one shop.
>
> Hope this helps.

I have completed a couple of Video shops (and I liked doing them) and I am thinking of buying my own equipment.
I just dont see enough jobs in my area to justify the cost just yet.

I really want to do it in a big way, maybe its a chicken and egg situation.
Maybe once I start becoming known for having equpiment I will be offered more jobs.

Talk to Lisa.

I paid $350 for mine and have paid for it many times over! If you want to take the plunge, do like I did and take the proverbial dive into the freezing water. I wanted to expand my business into video. I bought the camera and said to myself if I hate it or loved it, I would complete and be paid for just enough shops to pay for it. At first I did not like it and botched a couple of shops right out of the gate. Now 27 shops later, it is all I want to do! Can't say you will have the same experience, but if you buy it and commit to at least just recouping your costs, it will truly force you to give it a full chance.

Thats pretty good advice although I know I like doing them so that wouldnt be the problem.



amie068 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I paid $350 for mine and have paid for it many
> times over! If you want to take the plunge, do
> like I did and take the proverbial dive into the
> freezing water. I wanted to expand my business
> into video. I bought the camera and said to myself
> if I hate it or loved it, I would complete and be
> paid for just enough shops to pay for it. At first
> I did not like it and botched a couple of shops
> right out of the gate. Now 27 shops later, it is
> all I want to do! Can't say you will have the same
> experience, but if you buy it and commit to at
> least just recouping your costs, it will truly
> force you to give it a full chance.

I really do wish I could become a video-only shopper. That is a loooonnnnnnnnggggggggggg way from the aggravation I felt after my first couple of shops after I purchased my own equipment. For me, purchasing my own equipment "forced" me to stick with it. I am so glad I did, because if I would have borrowed equipment, I woud have thrown in the towel and shortchanged myself out of a whole new world.

Sunny,
The newer PV-500 lite model can be had, with a much-needed upgraded button camera for about $320.

Because most video shops involve a long interaction with the target, you will not be able to return to the location for anywhere from 1 year to "never" depending on the situation. Most videos are not retail. They are long interactions for apartments, new homes, auto repair, auto sales, assisted or independent living, etc. There are a few at retail establishments where one MIGHT be able to return and shop a different target. But, as a rule, if the shop fails, you do not get paid unless it is MSC-supplied equipment that fails.

Far more video shops fail due to poor scenarios that for failed equipment, by the way. Yes, with your own equipment, you will get priority for assignments from every company that I know of. AND, just 25 to 35 shops with a bonus for having your own equipment, alone, will pay for the equipment just from the bonuses. I always suggest that newbies use MSC supplied equipment for at least 6 shops before deciding if they want to buy their own set up and continue.

Most video shoppers do multi-day routes a few times per year to pick up more shops, negotiating with several MSCs for shops and travel bonuses. The VSN (Video Shopping Network) provides a forum for posting proposed routes to attract assignments from the 7 sponsoring video shopping companies. They also post shopper alerts there for assignments available. BUT most shops are never posted anywhere. The big 7 video companies email or call their data base of shoppers who have their own equipment and fill shops that way. Most of what is on the job boards are in areas with few or no shoppers who own equipment.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/28/2012 01:54PM by walesmaven.

Sinclair had a $150 camera shop and it's their camera...I did not fully read into it...like what if you damaged their camera...ect...I came right here because I would rather have my own..

Thanks everyone and keep the great advice coming!

Sunny,
I would recommend starting with Instant Replays or Clear Evaluation shops. They will loan equipment and give you very good, reliable, training and support. Eash video company has a different agreement concerning use of their equipment. It's been so long since I used MSC loaners that I have no clue what those agreements say! But, the equipment survives shipping quite well, and is easy to use.

Not many $150 video shops would be good places for newbies to begin, since they are likely to require quite complex and lengthy scenarios. Better to start with a few apartment shops, since the scenarios will be quite familiar to any shopper who has done written apartment shops. Then graduate to new homes and auto sales. I consider the assisted living and independent living shops, where the shopper has to have TWO back stories (Shopper's story and "loved one's" story) and maintain them for as long as 2.5 hours, to be the post graduate course.

Finally, if you want to do multiday video routes you will probably find that you really want two video rigs, so that you always have a back-up. Malfunctions are rare with PV-500s, but you may need two fully charged units for a long road trip. They do not charge from your car charger! If you have a failure on a road trip you lose not only the fee, but also the travel bonus for that shop, unless you have negotiated a highly unusual travel package.

Thank wales,

I believe the video apartment shops are $40-50 here....

I do not know where you are.
Different fees depending on locations. But the bonus for having you own equipment is $10 to $15 0r more per shop.

Hey amie! I just wanted to say that's an awesome outlook on using the camera-- that you were going to use it until it paid for itself. I kind of use MSing like that for me, right now. If I want something extra for the house, I just shop the price of it and then we buy stuff that way. =D It really works for us.

Great advice, as always, wales! =D

I take it your question is related to video cameras for mystery shopping purposes. If so, you can get a camera for about $190 (the BU18). This is, I believe, the camera that comes with the PV500. The PV500 itself is the Portable Video Recorder to which the camera records. Without the PVR, the camera records nothing. By the way, the microphone is on the same wiring as the camera. Some people have used cell phones or other video cameras, but they are harder to use without your being discovered. A professional grade setup, intended for private investigators, is what you need to be an effective undercover video shopper.

Budget about $500. If you get into video shopping, you will want 8GB SD cards (I believe a 4GB card comes with the setup) and additional (extended life) batteries at a minimum. Also, although you can learn how to video shop on your own, in my humble opinion, it is well worth the expense of taking a course (see www.undercoveressentials.org for info). We mystery shoppers are on our own so much, yet we congregate at forums like this one. You can learn more in 1 workshop than you can here over many weeks. It will definitely sharpen your learning curve.

This is a great time to get into video mystery shopping. I have been video shopping for over 3 years now and recently (within the past 3 months) have found/discovered or been contacted by at least 3 companies that previously were not on my video shopping horizons. More companies are getting into video shopping! (YIPPEE!!) In addition, I have recently done several test video shops for MSPs to use to pitch new accounts. It is a hard sell to convince client companies that video shopping is worth the additional expense, but impossible to argue the results of video shops.

Good luck!

I've also been pleased to see more clients interested and have completed several test videos lately. It's great to see we might be getting some more variety and the uptick in retail has been great. Unlike new homes, new cars and apartments, the retail and even fast food videos will have shorter rotations I think most video shoppers would agree, the possibility of having much more shopping in our own backyards is awfully appealing.

The deal through Measure CP (www.measurecp.com- go to "store" for $400 plus shipping is BY FAR the best deal out there. The PV500 Lite is now being considered, but is still not acceptable to all video shopping companies, so I would bite the bullet and buy the better equipment to ensure that your video work is accepted.

As for the cost, if you go on Ebay, you won't find a PV500 plus color camera/mic for less than about $700. If you decide you don't like video shopping, you can always sell it there.

I happen to schedule shops for several video shopping companies and I will tell you that there is a high demand for qualified and trained video shoppers in all corners of the USA. I strongly encourage you to take up this lucrative niche as part, if not all, of your Mystery Shopping Career!

Carrie, wouldn't you say people are also comparing apples to oranges since the MCP rig includes everything a shopper needs to begin?

Yes Lisa. I really recommend saving time and money by going with MCP, but there are still those out there who want to spin their wheels looking for bigger and better deals. I have such oversight as to availability and cost of equipment, that I can just about guarantee that anyone who buys outside of MCPs Deal will end up spending more money in the long run, because something they receive won't be appropriate for shopper needs.

I don't gain anything from promoting the MCP Equipment, nor do they. They have just made it so that shoppers can afford equipment and companies can stop the expensive shipping and rental of such equipment.

I am LOVING video shopping.

My bottleneck is in uploading videos; it takes me approximately 1 hour to upload a 1 GB file.

Is this upload speed normal? I live in a major metropolitan area with 4G wireless service.

If you guys don't answer, I will be forced to take one of those two-department $11.50 Big Box electronics shops and pester some poor sales associate with my wuestion!

I don't know a GB from an MB Upload varies a bit depending on where it is going. I've found Filezilla to be one of the fastest and it allows me to set up multiple videos to upload and walk away. I have not had such good luck uploading using my wireless device. The speed doesn't compare to being on my cable connection at home. On the road it has always been hit and miss, sometimes forcing me to wait until I get home to upload or burn them to a disc.

Whenever you are talking about speed whether it is with a wireless carrier or any other internet provider, they are focused on download speed. On average the download speed for me is easily 10 times faster than the upload speed.

Yes! I will try Filezilla.

I heard it mentioned by a MSC, but it was a long conversation and I forgot it. Thanks for jogging my memory!

Can I buy a second $420.00 PV500-ECO camera from MCP? Or am I limited to one? I'd love to buy a backup rig - my first backup rig died after 15 shops. RIP.

I thought that the MSP has to be using Filezilla. So far Intellishop and Shadow Agency are on board. It's great since Shadow used to require burning the video to a disc before sending it by FedEx.

I'm not aware of any limits on the number of cameras you can buy through MCP. It might raise a red flag if you were going to buy a couple of dozen to resell. But then again, who could you sell them to? Certainly none of us

I use FileZilla more often than not. I download the file to my desktop, click to upload it, then make dinner, eat dinner, fight with kids to eat their dinner, clean up dinner, and then start looking for dessert all the while my video is loading. I have learned it it easier and faster (for me and my limited computer knowledge) to upload one file at a time instead of trying to get three or more files to upload at once. Don't know why, but so it is....at least for me. Make sure your computer is set to not go to sleep mode at any time. This was a problem for me that I learned to resolve early on. Making it restart after the computer went to sleep made me want to go to sleep!!

I need some advice from someone who has purchased a camera from MCP. I recently purchased the PV-500 ECO for $400 from an ebay seller, not realizing that a camera wasn't included. I have video shops set up for next week so I need the camera pronto! So I am wondering if I should keep the recorder and purchase a camera/button kit separately, or if I should pay the shipping/restocking fees and send what I bought back to the ebay seller, and just buy the whole kit from MCP. Does anyone know long does it take to receive the kit when ordered from MCP? Can they do overnight shipping if the shopper pays the extra $$$? Since it's Saturday, I won't be able to order it until Monday, and I have shops to do starting Wednesday.

Kicking myself for being a doofus and biting my nails...

Wow. I don't know the price of the button cam all alone. Why don't you look at that and if it is more than the shipping and restocking go for the one from Measure. You can also call them first thing Monday morning and check into overnighting the rig. It will still only be the middle of the month. You think the MSC would consider a brief extension if you explain?

Thanks for the reply. I did check the MCP site a little more closely after I posted that message (did I mention that I am a doofus?) and found that they do indeed ship overnight, AND it appears that they sell the camera set separately. So I may be in luck. I plan to call them first thing Monday to sort it out.

I think one or two of the MSCs may allow a reschedule, but I know that two of the assignments (with one MSC) need them done within a week. I am going on vacation a week from tomorrow so that doesn't help much!!

At least it sounds like you are well on your way to solving the problem. BTW, you are not a doofus. Next time you'll know to spend a bit more time on research before typing in that credit card number

Just a little update. I was looking at purchasing a PV-500 Lite which are currently on sale for a reasonable price.

I contacted some of the major players in the Video Shopping market asking for advice and recieved somne helpful tips.

The most interesting came from Kathy at Instant replays who is now no longer recommending the PV-500 Lite because of poor workmanship and reliability.
She gave numerous examples of things that have gone wrong/broken with them.

For any video shopper, but particularly one traveling, losing one or two shops can quickly eat up any savings on that Lite. I had considered it only as a back up.