I have never seen them bonused here. I posted after I had done my first one. I wasn't sure if the person in front of me had been a man or woman or how many clerks were working since it had been a busy time. Now that I have done a few of them, I'm not worried about it. I think there are always things you may miss the first time you do a shop.

I hope they come out with more of these in the city next week. I never thought of using rocks. I should send my child a care package with rocks in, but I'll probably just put in a can of soup or more granola bars.

All of the emails from the scheduler in this area have been saying "we're trying to finish up the rest of the post offices for the year," so I'm guessing this is it until January.

The two scenario B I'm going to do today pay $17.50 each, so they are well bonused. Scenario C here reaches even higher bonus, but I don't do that scenario.

Thanks for making it sound so simple italiano!

I wish I could always do my reports on my smartphone. Sadly my mobile carrier is horrible!

bgriffin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> All of the emails from the scheduler in this area
> have been saying "we're trying to finish up the
> rest of the post offices for the year," so I'm
> guessing this is it until January.



Aw crap. I *love* these! Especially for sending stuff to a dog rescue I'm especially fond of.

Also, there have been two times when I've had to confirm that my wait time was over five minutes. But only two! Usually it's very quick.

I love them too. I'm on the email list for the scheduler for my state and the one for the neighboring state. The one from my state has been saying in his emails that it's winding down for the year. The neighboring state just dropped 150 or so shops for October. So who knows?

bgriffin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> All of the emails from the scheduler in this area
> have been saying "we're trying to finish up the
> rest of the post offices for the year," so I'm
> guessing this is it until January.



They just posted a whole bunch of new ones here all around the city.

This type was the second shop I ever did. I used my cellphone to time it and of course somebody I know got in line right behind me. I was terrified they would ask me what I was doing. Everything goes so quickly now with the new and improved postal service it is hard to get all the details. I was so traumatized I generally won't do timed shops anymore plus I moved out of that small town to a large area where nobody knows me. Well, that's not really why I moved but it is a plus. OK, I sometimes still do timed shops but I wear a stopwatch and I think I'm as secretive as an elephant.

DanceMom Wrote:
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> They just posted a whole bunch of new ones here
> all around the city.


Same here! I wasn't expecting them but there they are

The post office's fiscal year ends September 30th. That's why they arE "winding down for the year". The ones that just hit the board are for the "new year".

I do the post office buddy system but have recently bought a huge bag of cat food and some zippy bags. I measured out 1 lb.2 oz. of cat food into each bag and mail them to a buddy who helps with a cat rescue. I got eighteen bags of cat food out of a 22 lb. bag. I just got 13 post offices. For next week.

I didn't used to do the scenario C shops but they are more likely to get bonuses so I started doing some last month. It does tie up some serious cash for a month or so while waiting for reimbursement, but if you have done tons of a's and b's without mistakes, it can be worth the risk. I did some tis month for $25 each. I keep my eyes open for things to send to food banks.

Many post offices don't have the zip or address on the building. Also, watch out to make sure the address and zip on the shop instructions match the receipt. I caught two this past month that didn't match.

I've done so many post offices now that I can do all the observations about the forms, signs, facility, etc in a glancing sweep around the post office. Then I just have to remember the interaction details until I get to the car. I turn the receipt over on the back and use a quick shorthand method to tell me how many workstations, customers at counter, customers in line and sex of person in front of me (2/2/3/f). I jot yes or no for stuff like express mail, tracking, insurance, ad boards, missing forms, etc. I usually only write down the things that went wrong or that stick out. Takes me 30 seconds in the car. When I do the report I keep the four for the day completely straight that way.

The best thing about doing post offices for me is that it taught me to route shop. I do four post offices in the same general area and fill in with banks, lunch and retail stores in those 35 minute gaps.

I was in the hospital today and another shopper got a bunch of the other post offices I usually do, but now I'm waiting on the c's that no one else will do. Lol. BTW, I had a heart cath today and the doc was able to open the artery that the docs in Kentucky told me couldn't be opened. I'll be up and running again by Monday!

I like the Scenario C and D shops requiring shipping to the Food Bank. You can always ship the scenario A and B shops to charitable organizations as well if not an individual. The post office shops are really great shops. Keep in mind that you are videotaped on these shops so be honest!

iblessyah Wrote:
--------------------------------------------------
>
>
> I was in the hospital today and another shopper
> got a bunch of the other post offices I usually
> do, but now I'm waiting on the c's that no one
> else will do. Lol. BTW, I had a heart cath today
> and the doc was able to open the artery that the
> docs in Kentucky told me couldn't be opened. I'll
> be up and running again by Monday!


It's amazing what they can do for heart problems, isn't it? Four years ago, I had an ICD implanted due to symptoms I've had all my life that docs ignored previously--I should note though that arrhythmia rarely shows up in a doctor's office. I was sooo depressed, but since then I have discovered that they probably know more about heart issues than anything else they do. I was back at work 2 weeks after the implant--of course, I was younger then, too!

I sure hope your surgery resolves all your issues!

I just did my first post office shop C & unfortunately my box which was supposed to be 14x14x14 measured as 14x15x15. $50 in postage! Luckily the bonus is big enough to cover the difference in price, but still annoying! I guess I'll be measuring boxes before buying from now on instead of ASSuming if it says 14x14x14, it actually is 14x14x14. Uggghhh!!!

I don't work for this Post Office company shops anymore since they refused to pay my last shop, and that's after I did over 100 of near perfect to perfect shops with them. I was out $40 plus. They were unforgiving.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/28/2013 08:06PM by ShopperFun.

I always point out to the clerk that the measurements are printed on the box, since I, too, have been charged over the reimbursement because the clerk measured the package slightly larger than it was.

Per the Scenario B instructions, and per one of the schedulers for the MSC who posted here previously, for the "Scenario B", you are required to purchase the box you use at the Post Office, when you are ready to do the shop. In other words, you go to the "Ready Post" area, pack, tape, and address the box, then get in line. One of the objectives is to see if you are charged for the box.

Can you use Priority boxes for these shops?

No. The other objective is to see if Priority is offered. That is an objective of all the USPS shops. Using the Priority box defeats the purpose.

I see. I have never done a post office shop. Thanks for letting me know.

ShopperFun Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I don't work for this Post Office company shops
> anymore since they refused to pay my last shop,
> and that's after I did over 100 of near perfect to
> perfect shops with them. I was out $40 plus.
> They were unforgiving.


I'm just curious. At an average of $20 a shop, you're going to dump a company for a less than 2% loss?

How do you get an average of $20 per post office shop?

These are one of the few $10 shops I'll do anymore... and I don't often see them bonused around here. Although I've recently done some for $12.50, $15, and $17.50.

At $10, I only do the ones right in town... OR for the out-of-town ones, if I'm going to that town anyway for a much better paying shop.

In my state, they recently had a couple at $45, in two towns close to each other, but waaaaay far away from me... so far away that it wouldn't be worth going, since I couldn't find other shops to put with them. I mean, *really* far away... like four to five hour round trip. Although going through some truly beautiful country. When they'd been on the board for a long time, I offered to do them for $55 each, because I'd finally found a handful of self-assign jobs in those towns that had been hugely bonused that I could take to put with them... but I still needed that extra to make it overall worth it... I never heard back. A few weeks later, someone finally did them for the $45, I guess, because they were off the board. I really would've loved to take that trip!

All the ones in my area are on the board at $40. Not really. I assumed the poster I quoted did other shops for the same company. My average for this company is about $17 or $18 a shop. Mostly because of other shops and a few bonused post office shops.

Katnina Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I just did my first post office shop C &
> unfortunately my box which was supposed to be
> 14x14x14 measured as 14x15x15. $50 in postage!
> Luckily the bonus is big enough to cover the
> difference in price, but still annoying! I guess
> I'll be measuring boxes before buying from now on
> instead of ASSuming if it says 14x14x14, it
> actually is 14x14x14. Uggghhh!!!


One time that happened to me. The clerk said if it is over I have to go up tothe next inch. So now I make sure that I tape it tightly, so that the corners are pulled in.

My last P.O. shop was one of the fixed-box size ones, and I bought a 14 x 14 x 14 box, and it measured 14 x 14 x 14 when I finished packing and taping it. When the P.O. clerk measured it, he put the dimensions as something like 14 x 14 x 15 or 14 x 15 x 15. I think he was in a hurry and just didn't take the time to measure it meticulously. So the postal receipt showed the incorrect dimensions.

But with my report I had the receipt showing I purchased the correct box (dimensions were part of the item description), and I also noted in my narrative that I had measured the packed box at home before going to the post office to verify it was 14 x 14 x 14. My shop was accepted with a score of 10.

Always weigh and measure your box at home before taking it to the post office!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/29/2013 04:59PM by BirdyC.

I just took 2 more, both A's. Looks like last time the reimbursement was $10.30. This time I see the reimbursement is $6.85.

James Bond 007.5 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Per the Scenario B instructions, and per one of
> the schedulers for the MSC who posted here
> previously, for the "Scenario B", you are required
> to purchase the box you use at the Post Office,
> when you are ready to do the shop. In other words,
> you go to the "Ready Post" area, pack, tape, and
> address the box, then get in line. One of the
> objectives is to see if you are charged for the
> box.

James -
If you were replying to Katnina's post, I think she was talking about a Scenario C, where the oversized box is purchased offsite and reimbursed.

A heads up for those who like to do these P.O. shops--a bunch just appeared on the job board in my area (although not my local ones, sadly, but within several miles).

I find the hardest thing with these is to remember to look at your watch every time you walk in the door, walk out the door, or "change" positions. The report I did for the first one seemed complex, but the second one seemed so much easier after having done the first.

"I find the hardest thing with these is to remember to look at your watch every time you walk in the door, walk out the door, or "change" positions."

That is when the Smartphone apps become priceless. A stopwatch app that you can do unlimited timings on and you don't even have to look at it - just click the volume button for each timing. I don't think I could do this shop if I had to remember the timings.

I have now done five post office shops. I did one at the post office where I have a PO box and where I have been a customer for years. There are tons of pigeons that nest around this post office, and to put it mildly, the sidewalk outside is filthy. So I put that in my narrative. Two days later, I went back to check my box and amazingly the sidewalk was cleaned up!! Maybe our reports do make a difference.

I also got a comment on this one thanking me for my detailed narrative. I could probably describe this post office in my sleep!

I have found the company that offers these in my area and I have two kids away at college so I would love to pick some up. I hope I can ask this question - are these posted once a month or more often?