Its a great day to get into video shopping..... We're dealing.... Take a look at the equipment at www.greyhawkgear.com Contact me with questions...... Its time for you to take your shopping skills to where the money is.....

Dan

How much is it for a complete set, extra battery etc for the best set-up? I would like to buy a new set. You can contact me at 1hotandspicy1@gmail.com since it doesn't seem you give prices here; I've asked a couple of times.

I would like to let you know that Dan (Greyhawk) is the only supplier that I would deal with for video equipment for mystery shopping. There are other suppliers out there, some that heard are less expensive, but they don't know the needs of mystery shoppers. On top of that, I have found that they sometimes deliver inferior equipment.

What you will get from Dan is excellent prices, helpful advice from someone who has actually done mystery shopping, and the best support that I have ever received from any company in my 40 years in business. Dan is also one of the nicest men I know. He would give you the shirt off his back if you needed it.

Dan IS the man!

I plan to do this.What do I need to know about equipment? I see there is a basic shopper kit. Is that adequate for a beginner?

What you need to know is that Dan will provide you with the exact beginner's kit that will provide video acceptable to the video MS industry. Since the equipment versions of the PV-500 change so often, those of us with earlier generations of equipment (all of which provide the required quality) may not have the latest info. That is why Dan, who is constantly in touch with video MSC owners and schedulers, can be your very best guide. Other vendors, not so much; ebay, not at all.

When will he provide that information?

Just go to the Greyhawk site to look and if it is not evident, email him. He also attends just about all shopper conferences and provides special pricing to attendees.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/08/2017 05:49PM by walesmaven.

I eent to his site, emailed a couple of times, no response. I dont do the conferences.

I have given him a shout on a private site that he frequents.

I'm interested, but it looks like they only ship within the US? I am in Canada.

Call him. His phone number is on his web site. His phone is answered until 11pm EDT.

kakita,
Unless there is some legal issue with shipping out of the US, I think Dan will figure something out. Please let us know.

@CoffeeQueen wrote:

I plan to do this.What do I need to know about equipment? I see there is a basic shopper kit. Is that adequate for a beginner?

CoffeeQueen, the industry is centered on the PV-500 model of the button camera. What you will need is:

A) A camera aoutfit, the Lawmate PV-500 L4 is the most current version. In the Box you will receive a portable DVR Digital Vedic Recorder, a pouch to hold the DVR onto your belt, a battery to power the DVR, the BU-18 button camera, a micro SD-Card to save the video on, and several other thingys that you will not "need" right away. This is priced around the $450.00 mark. Some of its nice features is that the L4 model allows you to control the DVR from your smartphone. You will establish a WIFI (not Bluetooth) wireless connection between the smartphone and the DVR, and then you will control the DVR from the app on your smartphone. The older L3 model is being phased out, but it is very similar minus the WIFI bit, and there is an actual screen on the DVR that you control and set the DVR through, then comes the action of putting the DVR in its pouch, on your belt which can mess things up.

Then you need a shirt outfitted to use the camera. I gather you are a nice lady because of your handle (Queen vs. King) so Kathy Heart can help you with the shirt. The shirt needs to be with certain requirements, the material should be thick enough so that the camera wires are hidden, and have some sort of a pattern to hide the camera button, and stuff like that.

C) A lot of assignments that pay $50.00 and above to make the investment worthwhile.

D) A lot of training time. And I suggest going to the many video training seminars to meet the moves and shakers and other ICs and learn a lot about this.

I hope I gave you a primer, Dan from GrayHawk will help you get ready. I suggest if you know any ICs in your city, is to ask to borrow the camera outfit and practice with it. If you are in San Francisco, or close by let me know, and I can show you how the whole thing works.

Wassim,
You are the latest in a long line of video shoppers who reach out to mentor those new to video! Hurray for you!

CoffeeQueen and others interested in video work:
This part of the industry is like no other; with very, very few exceptions, you will be working WITH schedulers, not just FOR them. All of the good video schedulers will support you, every step of the way. You will have video colleagues who do not fear for "their territory." You will work with schedulers who have personally done hundreds, if not thousands of video shops and know how good it feels when (as it usually does) all goes right, and will empathize when all goes sideways! You will learn just why veteran video shoppers ask any new video scheduler how many video shops they have done and avoid those who have done none! And, you will be able to expect to have your scheduler's cell phone number and to be able to reach them for help while in the field.

ENJOY!

Thank you Wassim! I have sent a message to Dan on his website so hopefully I will get an email back. Regarding the available jobs, I see a few $90 jobs in my area currently so I am thinking there are probably several more that I don't see, given the nature of video shopping. I have two primary reasons for wanting to get into video, the first being I need a new challenge. The second, naturally, is money.
I don't currently know any other IC's in the area. Thanks for your offer Wassim, but I am nowhere near SF. I am much closer to Dan's stomping grounds in NC.
If I can obtain the training needed I think I could probably pay the equipment off reasonably fast. If I didn't think so I wouldn't attempt it.

My training seven years ago was an in person seminar. A few years later I trained a local shopper who decided not to continue with video. With all the options for transmitting video, teaching someone online would be a piece of cake now.

I"m hoping that is the case and I can do online classes.

@LisaSTL wrote:

My training seven years ago was an in person seminar. A few years later I trained a local shopper who decided not to continue with video. With all the options for transmitting video, teaching someone online would be a piece of cake now.

Also, the vast majority of video shops never hit any job boards, especially the well paid ones. Once you have submitted a sample video to one or more video MSCs you can ask the scheduler to give you a try, which may be a lower pay apartment video, or even retail in some locations. Kathy at Clear Evaluations is an excellent scheduler to start with. She has trained and mentored many newbies. LisaStL, several other regular forum members, and I have all made ourselves available, on forum or via PMs to help out other video shoppers. However, as always, your video scheduler will be your first and best resource.

y wouldn't u want to take conference to learn new skill that makes u $$?

In-person training at shopper conferences is GREAT. But, if that is not an option, on-line an phone coaching has been found to work quite well.

@walesmaven wrote:

kakita,
Unless there is some legal issue with shipping out of the US, I think Dan will figure something out. Please let us know.

He replied quickly to my email. He said he will work with me and find out how much shipping is.

Great. Thanks for letting us know.

I hope that everyone else who tried to reach him has heard from Dan by now ????



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/10/2017 09:30PM by walesmaven.

I did. I will be contacting him tomorrow as now is not really a good time.

He has confirmed that the BEST way is by phone. That is attended until 11 PM. There is also a message option on the Greyhawk web site, as I recall.

I enjoyed talking to Dan, what a great guy. We might be BFF's pretty soon. I think I'm going to like doing video.

You will never find anyone better than Dan.

I found this for online video training. Is Kathryn Hart good?
[vimeo.com]

She is THE BEST! And she is also the video scheduler that most of us would walk over hot coals for.

Thank you.