I see a route of these available. One of those companies where you can't see the guidelines or questionnaires until after you accept the shop. I don't want to accept, then cancel because of onerous requirements.

How tough are these? They aren't revealed, require a couple discreet photos, I think. It says required purchase is reimbursed, but doesn't say whether it's gas or a convenience store item (is Circle K ALWAYS a gas station?), and it doesn't say the amount of the reimbursement.

Can you fill in any of the blanks for me?

Thanks!

I've seen these too but for very low pay. I'd be interested too in hearing about what's entailed in the shop.

I do them up in NE US, here the requirement is a promotional item that changes each month with a reimbursement of $4. Pay starts at $6 a shop but I often get more because I ask and because I take on a nice sized round of them each month. You can report the shops on an app on your phone. The shops take 10-15 minutes each including report time on your phone. Great MSC and easy shops. They have had some other shops where it was a gas purchase and I didn't have to go inside of the store at all unless the pump printer was out of paper and I had to go in to get a receipt. And no, not all Circle K's sell gas and some don't have public restrooms, either.

Edited to add that there are 50 of them within 20 miles of my house and I can do 3-5 in an hour easily. Really good pay for what they entail.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/21/2018 02:31AM by JASFLALMT.

Thanks for the info. I may look at them again. Especially if i don't have to go into the bathrooms. Some of the stations are in questionable areas.

The ones in questionable areas generally don't have restrooms because people go in their and shoot up or steal stuff. But there are some that do, and you have to go into the restroom and take photos of anything amiss (empty soap dispenser, dirty toilets, etc.). I love these shops. They are so quick and easy. They fly off the board in my area, but I have a good relationship with my scheduler so I find out when they are going to be released and I pick up 40-50 of them a month..

I was always afraid of doing them, they sounded complex. Then I began doing the Kum 'n Go and realized how easy they were. After a few, you remember what to look for, and what photos you need to do. I just finished up several dozen and a lot had bonuses. Photo of gas sign, bldg, anything bad, ie: restroom, excessive trash, non working pump. Check coolers, hot food, cleanliness, etc..

Thanks, all.

I really, really gotta learn apps!

Might be worth doing the shops if I can do the report on-site.

A scheduler can walk you through setting up the app process.

The company that does them here has a certification test that you have to take before doing the first one. I have learned to check for certification tests even if not required because the spell out exactly what is needed for the shops.

Cease, the app is really cool. I open it when I get there and take my curbside appeal photo, then click "set date and time to now", put my phone in my back pocket, and go inside. I walk through the food and beverage area and quickly scan to see if it's tidy and if the food items look fresh (no photos inside) and then go to the restroom to check it out. In my area, thankfully 8 out of 10 times it's clean and well-stocked. I take photos if not (directly uploading to the app), wash my hands, and take a quick walk through the aisles, pick out my required purchase and whatever else it is I want, do the checkout, and go out to my car. If there are any out of order pumps I open my phone and scroll to that section, take the photo, and drive to a nearby parking lot to finish the report, taking a photo of the receipt that is directly uploaded to the app, etc. Finished and on to the next location. Great, great filler shops and for people who do route shopping. All the guidelines fit on one page, btw. I love that the required promo purchase is usually $2 or less but the reimbursement is $4, so I like to make a game of seeing what else I can buy to come as close to $4 as possible. I have a stockpile of Cokes, granola bars, candy bars, peanut butter cheese crackers, small sleeves of peanuts and cashews, bottled water, and Vitamin Waters in my pantry, which is great whenever I am traveling out of my city since I don't have to spend any money on these things!

CK is apparently shopped by more than one MSC. The ones I do are by a Prophet company and the requirements/reimbursements are different than what’s shown in this thread. However it is also a popular shop that doesn’t stay on the boards long. They are doing a round of late night shops right now which are not as popular though.

Yes, in my area it's a Shop Metrics company that does them. I am not surprised that it's shopped by more than one company in some areas.

Thanks, JAS. If only I was comfortable with apps! I have used Geoverify and even Field Agent, but every time I've tried a company app (Marketforce, Consumer Impact, etc.), it just sits on my phone and does nothing. I never know if it's because I'm out in the middle of nowhere (sometimes I DO get a screen that says "could not connect to data network" even though my iPhone is a "hot spot" ) or if I'm doing something wrong.

I have asked the scheduler if there's no internet at these locations (I'm talking the middle of NOWHERE), what to do about the reports.

Meanwhile, I ate too much lunch, so it's naptime.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/22/2018 02:23AM by ceasesmith.

Bumped.

The Circle K shops in my area sound identical except for the purchase reimbursement as well. Typically each month you have a choice of 2 or 3 items to select from to purchase, but that is the only item allowed.

grille, if it's a Shop Metrics company that does these shops with a $4 reimbursement, you might want to check with your scheduler about the allowable purchase. There are 3 promo items this month to choose from and the shopper is only allowed to purchase a single of these items, but they are also allowed to purchase whatever else they want (excluding gas, tobacco, alcohol, and lottery) and will be reimbursed up to $4. This month in my area one of the items to choose from is a standard sized candy bar. I can get 1 of those, a granola bar, a bottle of water, and a small pack of Munchies crackers or peanuts and come just under the total reimbursement.

I do Circle K shops for the Shop Metrics company too, but it's a little different. The reimbursement is only $1.75, which includes a store item and a lottery ticket. And I have to check several things outside and inside. I do them so often, I can get the whole thing done in under 7 minutes from the time I pull into the parking lot.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/28/2018 02:40PM by guysmom.

I'm not sure which platform the company I did them for uses. There was a promo item, but absolutely not allowed to buy anything else. I so WISH I could buy a $1 lottery ticket, LOL!

I did 4 on my route. They were AWFUL. First off, I couldn't FIND the darn stores. Google told me I was 400 feet from it, and I STILL couldn't find the first one! Gosh and goldarn, there it was, right in front of me -- without one single apparent sign that it was a Circle K! Wrong color, different company name on the ID sign, no Circle K logo anywhere at all.

After that, I thought I was prepared. Nope. I did have less trouble finding the 3rd one -- it was the ONLY gas station/c store in a one-road town. Still, it wasn't identified as Circle K in any way.

Not one of the 4 had working card readers, so I had to go in, stand in line, prepay, pump, go back inside...yuck. Absolute minimum of 20 minutes on each one.

My promos were water or candy. I don't drink water (ESPECIALLY not bottled water!), and if I buy candy.....I eat it. So I did half and half. And yes, I ate the giant candy bars on the way home, LOL!!! And I'm sure my neighbor will appreciate the bottles of water.



(3 fit nicely into my route, the 4th was 90 miles side trip. Never again! So NOT worth an extra hour and a half driving, half an hour on site, 45 minutes on the report. Working for less than minimum wage is NOT my thing!!!)

Oh dear, that doesn't sound good. Sorry you had a bad experience. I would never drive out of my way for those shops, either.

Three of them were practically next door (really, 400 feet?) to shops I was doing on my route. Only one required a detour. The pay for all 4 didn't make up for that extra time! LOL! But heavens, the schedulers and editors and whole staff are so darn NICE! It's hard to say no! I'm going on a 3 day route for the same company leaving early in the morning.
Just because they are nice! (Well, I really need the money, too!)

Circle K brand shops popped up in my area last month for the first time (that I have seen at least) with a company that shops lots of gas stations for low pay. At first, they paid $4 and had a gas reimbursement of $3. There is one left on the board and it’s up to a whopping $7 plus the $3 gas.

They were listed as “Circle K” shops, but the actual store brand is “Holiday” (owned by Circle K I believe). Confusing, multiple required photos, and definitely not worth the pay/hassle.

Most the time it is promotional item up to 4.00. Picture of receipt and across the street. Some time you buy you own item but the fee is more and you take six pictures On these I buy a piece of bubble gum or 20 sucker. Very easy jobs and I love them.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/28/2018 10:37PM by ctalbert.

Apparently they are all different from region to region and from MSC to MSC. I got lucky that in my area they are fast, easy, and can be reported on an app. I open my freezer to a vast array of candy bars, LOL. My pantry is full of sodas, Vitamin Waters, and snacks. No complaints here.

Man I haven't seen those since they left the original place. I'm going to have to do some searching.

I just did a string of Circle K's I had to go buy a lotto ticket and report on the process and a few other certain criteria roller grills and such very quick easy shop don't know if they're the same ones you're speaking up or not but that's my experience with them.

Me too

Those are the same ones in my area as well right now! :-)

@Linzc217 wrote:

I just did a string of Circle K's I had to go buy a lotto ticket and report on the process and a few other certain criteria roller grills and such very quick easy shop don't know if they're the same ones you're speaking up or not but that's my experience with them.

Your criteria sound like mine. Yup, easy-peasy once you've done them a time or two. But the criteria for this same Client does seem to vary from region to region, even though it's with the same MSC.

Ours was a lottery ticket and promo item for several years, then last year they decided to not do lottery here anymore. I used to win a few dollars here and there. It was nice that the MSC would let you keep your winnings.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

It was nice that the MSC would let you keep your winnings.

Sure is! But the most I've won is $20.00. But I don't mind trying on their dime!!