Is it worth buying the equipment to do video shops? I've been looking at some of the equipment but afraid if I buy the wrong equipment, the video won't be good enough for QC. Any recommendations? Can you ever re-shop the location? If you can't, it would appear you would run out of places to video since there aren't as many of those. Thoughts anyone?

Okay. First, a rig that would meet the QC standards of all of the major video MSCs will be about $360.00, plus a supply of SD cards. The lowest paying video shop I have ever done was $45 (short and practically around the corner) and the highest was nearly $300. You my not have seen many video shops because probably 90 % are never on any job boards. One needs to get some training by working with an MSC that will loan the equipment before deciding if this it a good fit. The equipment is easy to learn; developing and working good stories about why you are shopping for a new home with 5 bedrooms when you are, for instance, in your 60s and single, or why you brother/mother/cousin needs in an assisted living facility and why YOU are the sole decision maker, or how come you have turned up in a particular area to find an apartment, PLUS using an alias and different follow-up emails and phone numbers.... those are the tricky parts, and they are not for everyone.

My advice is to do a few non-video apartment, new home, automobile, and assisted living shops before deciding to move to video. Test your willingness and ability to create and manage your "cover story," aliases, follow-up information, etc, before venturing into doing these via video.

Next, the major clients for video at this time are apartment management companies, new home builders, auto sales, assisted living and similar services. These are interactions that will run from 20 minutes to 2 hours, so the shopper will be memorable. So, for instance, if I shop the Columbia Apartment Complex today, I probably will not be allowed to return for a couple of years, or (in the case of a very few clients) ever. However, there are literally hundreds of apartment complexes within an hour of me, and each video pays well enough so that it is worth my while. Moreover, I am willing to take a multi-day route of video shops that will yield a tidy profit, in order to expand my radius. Are you? Staff turnover in apartment leasing is very high; in new homes sales, the best SAs may work for the same builder for decades, and move from one project to another. So, you will need to keep a list of who you have shopped, and when.

If you decide that video is for you, get some formal training and buy equipment. Send a test video to several of the top video schedulers and ask for a trial assignment. Ask for and get their honest feedback and make adjustments. Good video schedulers will work with you as a partner, not as a shopper who can easily be replaced. After you have done a few shops for each scheduler, they will start contacting you with offers.

Thank you for the enlightenment; I do appreciate your expertise.

In my area, in addition to the apartments and senior living facilities, I have found a new Mystery Shopping company that is doing banks - you go in and open a new account. If I am willing to drive up to an hour from my home - I could make a small fortune. The difficult part here is scheduling - never know how long a banker will have you waiting to speak with them, and then how many questions they will ask. I had one the other day that wanted to know my life history (like I'm their new best friend) and they shared way too much info about themselves. I was there for two hours. I am going to have to work on my alias scenario to make it short and sweet in addition to focusing them back to the topic at hand - and throw in that I have an appointment and only have another 10 minutes. Most companies I work with want you to have a PV500 - actually that is the only one I have seen listed as their preferred equipment due to the quality of the video and audio. But you do need to practice before you do a shop. If you are a female you can purchase an inexpensive purse (or a knock off) and attach it to your bag with the equipment inside - but you have to remember to sit your handbag on the desk/table and pointed in the right direction - so practice with a friend several times before taking a shop. Also with women that are "busty" - this device has what looks like a button to put on your shirt or blazer - but you have to make sure it is pointed in the right direction when you sew it on or you will be video taping your neck/chin area or your cleavage. I was told that you can get the PV500 in what looks like a Starbucks coffee cup and the video is attached to the lid - but you have to attach something to the bottom of the cup to keep it from falling over - and also, don't forget it on the desk or accidentally throw it away. And always remember, anything you purchase for this job is tax deductible.

Just saw the post below: the two hour shop I mentioned in this post was not a video shop, it was a bank shop that actually did require a great deal of information - much more so than the typical bank shop. It is not a huge name bank, but is somewhat large and consider themselves "like family". So they ask many questions to determine where potential customers are in their life (life stages), needs, investments, business owner, loans, mortgages, etc. Additionally they (the banker) has several scripted words, phrases, etc that they must say (and I, as the shopper have to listen for because there are several questions about them). But you are correct - normally a 2 hour bank video would probably be tossed and not paid.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/19/2017 09:41PM by FrostyBubbles.

Many targets of video shops have been told about the handbag to hide the camera and are looking for you to set that bag on the desk! I sometimes "play" with video targets by placing my handbag on the desk, and watch when they visibly relax later, when I move the bag to the floor.

I use the button camera mount on a shirt as do 99 % of video shoppers. The reason? The client expects you to frame the target in the picture 70-90 percent of the time. Anything except a body-mounted camera that does not move when you move your head, will not produce acceptable video results for most video MSC's clients. Some will accept Talon phone video.

When walking around a bank office, an apartment, new home or assisted living community, nothing will give you the results that a shirt-mounted camera will. There is even a service that will alter your blouse/shirt to provide a secure, stable mount at just the right height for your body type. (patented system available through Kathy Hart of Clear Evaluations)

All of this and much more about managing scenarios, is covered in video shopper training. The shopper MUST take control of the scenario and curb any Chatty Cathy targets. Many video MSCs will be seriously upset with paying an expert to edit a 2 hour bank or apartment video to be useful to the client. Frankly, they could well just declare that unusable, so the poster may have been lucky.

I would not know how to use anything other than a button mount or glasses and wouldn't want to try. My attempts with Talon were laughable. After ignoring the advice for my first couple of years in video, I have just stopped carrying a purse. My credit cards and ID are in a small case easily slipped into my pocket. If needed for a shop they are handy, for a shop not needing an ID the case is not noticeable making it easy enough to say my ID is in the car.

Are you required to write a report for video shops, or just send the video to them?

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. At minimum there is a small form to fill out the date, time and a few other details. Other times there is a full report which is the same as a traditional shop.

I think a ton of it depends on where you live, your availability, and how far you are willing to travel.

If you live in Oklahoma City and don't want to travel more than an hour away video is probably not a good investment. There is just simply not enough video work (on or off the board) to make it worthwhile. There are maybe 10 clients max in OKC that would be available to a part time shopper and half of those would be 1 and done shops. The rest would be once every year or two shops. And for those shops, you'll have to wait until a route shopper isn't driving through going somewhere else because most video MSCs give them the work. A to make their work more profitable and keep them in business and B because it gets them through another shopping period without having to use up a local resource that can't go back for two years.

Now. If you live in a fast growing city the same size then it's different. Fast growing cities attract lots of large new home builders, apartment developers, and the kind of retail clients that do video. There are half a dozen cities I know of off the top of my head where a shopper could make decent money with no travel. They wouldn't be "full time" but they could probably make that magical $1000 a month threshold more months than not. At the same time that would take the availability of someone who was full time though. So say a housewife that could work anytime but only wanted to work 10 hours a week.

There are a lot of locations that would be in between those two extremes. Many of which perhaps would be a good investment. If you want to only video shop full time? Gotta travel and you gotta travel a lot.

*I don't mean to pick on OKC. It was the first city that I came to in my brain that I knew well enough to make that statement about. I could have just as easily chosen Shreveport, LA or Albuquerque, NM.

I'm lucky my area would qualify as one with more available locally. That still doesn't mean a route shopper traveling through won't get priority. Heck, I've even suggested that to MSCs for retail shops because even though the rotation may be short, there is no reason for me to do all of them and risk being outed.

I am also not a housewife and come to think of it, I don't know anyone married to their house

How about an area like Greensboro, High Point, Winston-Salem, NC? You mentioned your "not married to your house". I'm single, live alone retired and have 2 inside dogs and a inside cat (no matter what he says). I don't like to leave them alone for more than 4-6 hours at a time. Would this work:

@LisaSTL wrote:

I am also not a housewife and come to think of it, I don't know anyone married to their house

Get off my Lawn!

The PV500 is a small digital video recorder (DVR) about the size of a cigarette pack. It easily fits into a pocket. The button hole camera that attaches to both clothing and the DVR is very fragile. If you think one DVR and one camera is all you will ever need, I am living proof that is not always the case. My first DVR (that was a few years old) just quit recording the audio one day. I lost two lucrative bank jobs that day because the audio was not there. The camera was fine and not the problem. The DVR just gave out and it had not been abused or overused! I have since purchased two other DVRs and that was pricy. I have also accidentally pulled too hard on the thin wires of TWO cameras (which cost approximately $160-$190 each) and totally ruined them. I have completed many video shops and the equipment has long been paid for, but to be a video shopper you should plan on spending some money.

It is also the case that there have been versions of the PV-500 over the past decade that were prone yo failure and were actually pulled from the market and replaced by newer ones.

I have 2 pre-2010 PV-500s that are going strong! But, I have had two camera wire sets rewired and had to just replace another. You would have to pull my industrial strength PV-500s out of my cold dead hands!

My pre-2010 is the only one working right now. My backup for traveling died within 18 months. I'm also on my third or fourth button cam after having the others short out, despite taking great care with them. My original five hour battery died a few years ago. With no traveling right now it has worked fine to use some additional 90 minute batteries purchased at about $30 a piece. I was luckier than DandyDew, my button cam replacements were only about $129. My all in on equipment, including shirts, is probably between $2,500 and $3,000. Everything has been paid for dozens of times over.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/16/2017 10:37PM by LisaSTL.

Happy Hausfrau here. What is the deal with the magical threshold of $1,000 per month from mystery shopping? I have other jobs. I like to stay home, at least occasionally, and stretch a buck into three hundred or so bucks by being frugal. This leaves little time for mystery shopping. Why, exactly, would I want $1,000 per month from mystery shopping? And, is any video shop paying $1,000 per shop?

Some of us actually support ourselves while others need to bring a specific amount to either supplement their own income or the household income. There is nothing magic about $1,000. There have also been discussions about making $2,000 or $3,000 a month.

Personally, I have never had a video shop pay $1,000. The most I recall was $350 for a single shops, of which there have been more than one. Many of us have also had routes where all our expenses were paid making the fees pure profit.

There are more questions... Could your mystery shopping business be as profitable without video shops as it is with those video shops? Do you enjoy your mystery shopping career more when it includes video shops than when it does not? What do you like most and least about completing routes of video shops? If you were just starting a mystery shopping career, would you want to start with video shops right away, if you could afford the equipment and learn to use it well?

Could your mystery shopping business be as profitable without video shops as it is with those video shops?

HA! Of the ~300 shops I've done this year about 60 of them were non-video. Of that 60 10 were what I call screw off shops that I did when I drove my mom to see my aunt. Basically just something to get me out of the house so they could visit. Another 35 were very high paying ($150+). And another 10 were hotel shops. So yeah, not even remotely possible.

Do you enjoy your mystery shopping career more when it includes video shops than when it does not?

Yes and no. The last two years over half of my work was audit work. I very much enjoyed them and they were the type of shop where I was done when I left the location. No reports. No paperwork. Other than that, yes, I enjoy video more than anything else.

What do you like most and least about completing routes of video shops?

I like the travel. I like the pay. I like the fact that few of them have lengthy reports. I like the fact that I don't have to remember things because it's on video.

I also don't like the travel sometimes. I get to go really cool places but sometimes I'm simply gone too long. Next week I will leave on a 6 week route. I will come home once during that route for the sole reason that it'll be worth it to shell out $700 to sleep in my own bed for 3 nights.

If you were just starting a mystery shopping career, would you want to start with video shops right away, if you could afford the equipment and learn to use it well?

My answer is going to be different than some others. Wales will tell you to do a few long form shops that are similar to the video shops she does. New homes, apartments, assisted living, new car, etc. I had been shopping less than a year when I bought my first camera. I had done a ton of new car shops because I like cars. I had never done an apartment or new home and still haven't done (and won't do) assisted living written shops. I started with new car shops when I did video but I have done a ton of both apartment and new home video shops (although not as much as others because I don't like them). In my opinion, the problems the average shopper will have transitioning to video are much bigger, and much different. It is not easy to break into video because the company is taking a much bigger risk assigning shops to a new shopper. Video shoppers aren't standing around on every corner. If I'm going through a small city and ask for the video shops there and a new shopper asks for it also. They're taking a risk. Another experienced shopper might not be going through there before the shop is due. They can't take the risk of giving it to a newbie. There is one company that I had to offer to drive 10 hours for a single shop in order to get work from them. There is one large video MSC that 3 years later still won't give me work. And I have no idea why. The business aspect of video shopping is much more advanced than non-video. There's a closer relationship, which some people either aren't good at or don't like, or both. There's also more expectation at times. If a video company has 4 shops you like in an area you're going through and 2 that you hate. You can tell them you won't take the 2 you don't like, but chances are you won't get any of them. Or you won't get any of them next time. Or you won't get any offers ever again. Again, it goes back to the fact that video shoppers aren't on every corner. There's not another one coming through next week that likes the 2 you hate and hates the 4 you like.

IMO, new homes or apartments are thrown out as a suggestion. All the new car shops you completed prior to video would still qualify because they are longer scenario shops. The point is to be comfortable enough with shopping in general, using aliases and maintaining back stories for a considerable length of time. The idea is it can be intimidating to focus on both your new video equipment and trying to remember a lot of details.

Great thread. Thanks to the OP for starting it.

Bigger thanks to the shoppers who are experienced video shoppers for their candid and honest answers.

I want to do it! I'm willing to pay my dues while learning the ropes. Everything in my experience has a learning curve.

Now, I need to figure out how to afford the equipment. Then there will be the practice so the shops are accepted.

Do I want to buy video equipment or fix the coop and purchase a new flock. Decisions, decisions, decisions...they cost approximately the same.

Why don't you do some video shops with companies who post them on their boards and loan equipment first? Measure Consumer Perspectives and Ellis are two, maybe the only two left.

It is hard to suggest someone invest in equipment without knowing if they are either in an area with a lot of local shops or are willing to travel. On another thread you mentioned driving 2,000 miles per month, but my impression is those are still somewhat local miles, meaning you return home every night, rather than 1,000 miles from home and back.

Was the first new home shop I did easy? No

Did the written new car shops I did help make it easier? Not any.more so than the boring cell phone shops I did.

Would doing a written new home shop first have made my first one easier? No. I wouldn't have done one if I had done a written one first.

Long scenario shops are a fraction of my business. Nothing I did before prepared me for them from a shop perspective.

Perhaps I took to video better than most people but I'm a turn it on and forget about it kinda guy and always have been from my very first shop.

Edited to add:

I realize my posts might sound like I think you can video shop with very basic shopping knowledge. That's not what I'm trying to say at all. It's just that the other things are bigger barriers to entry to me. At least they were when I started.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/19/2017 01:08AM by bgriffin.

So Readiness is unique. Potential video shoppers should consider the useful information here and factor in their own styles and preferences. Then, even if they have to practice with equipment on their own time, they can determine a good time to begin with video as a money-making endeavor.

I can wait forever. The one video job that was appealing went to another shopper. My comfort and knowledge levels made me perfect for a sufficient lengthy and revealing interaction. My interest level would have made me forget that I was "wearing" equipment. But, the job was assigned to another shopper.
I have not heard of any other video assignment that appealed to me.

Nice thread!

Shop-et-al,
90+% will never appear on job boards and there is still a shortage of trained, reliable video shoppers. So, you may just want to explore further. Sending a test video to the major video MSCs is essential these days to gaining entre.

Thank you. After my staycation, which begins tomorrow, I will re-visit video and other new-to-me shops.

@wjesse wrote:

How about an area like Greensboro, High Point, Winston-Salem, NC? You mentioned your "not married to your house". I'm single, live alone retired and have 2 inside dogs and a inside cat (no matter what he says). I don't like to leave them alone for more than 4-6 hours at a time. Would this work:

If you are willing to drive lets say 2 hours each way for video shops, that opens up quite a bit of territory for you, even into VA.

When you are ready to buy, contact Dan at Greyhawk Video Solutions. He specializes in video equipment sales to the Mystery Shopping industry. He can answer questions and make suggestions for what to buy to get started and i believe he offers a lease program, too.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/20/2017 04:45PM by tralynnme.