Price Audits.. 12000 items on an exel spreadsheet, get prices from given grocery store without getting caught.

How would one go about this? 12 000 items, recording the prices without getting caught? (Instructions explicitly say not to get caught.) The assignment is worth $450, and there are two of them, each about two hours from my home. Would it be worth spending a night in that city and trying to do a shop over two days?

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(not saying I would risk the expense of a hotel and a whole weekend, since getting caught must equal not getting paid. Curious, though, how one would approach this assignment.)

I haven't done this, but I woudl dictate the prices into my cell phone and have a copy of the ad in my hand.

If they were your neighborhood grocery instead of two hours away, it would be easier to split them up so you aren't walking around the store for so long at a time.

Shopping across Indiana but mostly around Indianapolis.

That seems almost beyond human. I think that I would pass.

I definitely would take a pass because I can only imagine the report . . .

As for performing the shop, that alone is pretty ridiculous because even at 15 seconds per item, that would take 3000 minutes or 50 hours. And if you were really speedy and took only 5 seconds per item it would be 10 hours. Ain't gonna happen that you don't get caught!

I've seen instructions for extensive covert audits that state you will not be paid if caught regardless of how much information was captured. Can you see getting the prices on 11,999 items and then being asked to leave

Equal rights for others does not mean fewer rights for you. It's not pie.
"I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag." -Molly Ivins
Never try to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of your time and it really annoys the pig.

If they broke the list up into 9, $50 shops, someone could self assign them all and not risk the whole shebang if kicked out.

But then they would need to pay the reporting platform for the additional reports and they too might not get paid if 8 shops were done and the 9th one they couldn't get done.

I would run like hell from this. No way.

There's no 10 foot pole long enough for me not to touch this....: )

...meaning no way I would go near it.

.
Mike T
Looking for shops in Western Canada

"Life is good because the alternative is forever "

Some rookie will probably look at the money ($450) and take it. They might try it and get 100 or so done and get caught. Then complain that they don't get paid. Eventually, the MSC will get them done for free 100 at a time.

Shopping across Indiana but mostly around Indianapolis.

Before anyone presses "apply", please do yourself a favor and reread Lisa's and Flash's (first) post(s).

(heart)

I intend to live forever. So far, so good.

I would do the shop over a 2-3 day period or bring a partner with me. There's no way I could do this shop by myself in one visit and then go home and input all 12,000 prices . That's insane!

Too much work for too little money and I love audits

I would close the window, turn around, and run like hell in the opposite direction. That is a MASSIVE undertaking... and would be impossible. There is zero chance that you could index an entire store's inventory without someone noticing unless you went all high tech and wore a set of Google Glasses and broadcast the video feed to a partner in crime.

12,000 items??? Do people really think a human being could complete that assignment in a few hours? Maybe if you're that guy in A Beautiful Mind or Rain Man or something. Sheesh.

I'm glad I'm not the only one that thinks this is ridiculous.

Piece of cake, just borrow from Harry Potter his invisibility cloth.

Right, Kevo. Of course then there is the matter of reporting 12,000 pieces of data. Even if you used LeoRex's Google Glasses you would still need to transcribe all that stuff into a report and somehow I suspect the report would not match up sequence with your data so you are searching through 12,000 items to find the next to report.

If they REALLY want the prices, advance money to purchase 1 of everything in the store and upload the receipts so THEY can do the data entry.

Is this the cost of living survey that is in excel and you need to go to 2 different supermarkets, 2 electronics, etc, get the price of a suit, clothes, tennis balls, etc? You just print the excel for the supermarket and cut everything except the boxes that have the name of the item and then size. You are going to have a headache after each store and expect to spent 1-2 hours there. Nobody cares and nobody is going to approach you and ask anything. Go around 10 am, or 4pm, or 8pm. Go early in the morning around 10 am, do as much as you can, and then return at 4pm to do the rest, if you have not finished in the morning. If you have included the driving and you are doing all the categories for the entire city, there are 2 supermarkets involved, then $450 is not enough. I know it sounds very enticing when you hear the amount initially but it is a pain. There is no reason to stay overnight.

I have no idea what the shop is about. There are two in that city- one for a large grocery store and another at the big retailer where the employees where blue vests. They are two separate shops. I Don't think I could find and record twelve thousand prices in only a couple hours in a grocery store. It would be a good portion of the inventory.

It sounds to me like a competitor shop and they are using the sucker that accepts the shop to do their research for them. That way they can try to undercut the competition.

Shopping across Indiana but mostly around Indianapolis.

12,000? That is nuts. Who in the world thinks you could do that without getting caught? Even if you used a cellphone, you would have to have the report with you or how else would you know what items to record?

I like the person who suggested splitting it up into smaller capture amounts.

You will do better with the Nigerian Lottery, or stuffing envelopes.

minuet00 Wrote:
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> I like the person who suggested splitting it up
> into smaller capture amounts.

Quite often, it seems various people here come up with really good ideas, that would make shops more efficient and effective ~ time, money, and results-wise. Too bad we can't earn some money as consultants to MSCs.

Practitioner of the Nerdly Arts.

For~get~about~it!

Not going to Happen!

What a waste of your life if you got caught and not get paid....eh...um....NO!!!

lbw1000 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It sounds to me like a competitor shop and they
> are using the sucker that accepts the shop to do
> their research for them. That way they can try to
> undercut the competition.

****AND*** Get the shoppers info, get all the prices, then DENY the shop because she got caught, and the shopper busted her ass for 12,000 items!

Re-reading OP's post:

That's $225.00 per store (2 stores) and I am assuming 12,000 items per store?

If so, that's 24,000 items you need prices for!

I think they will find a desperate newbie that will do this "ball-buster" shop!

The stores were two separate shops, at $450 apiece. Even so….

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Price Audits.. 12000 items on an exel spreadsheet, get prices from given grocery store without getting caught.

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