VIDEO MYSTERY SHOPPING

COME TO VIDEOCON AND BE A PART OF AVSP!!!!!!!!!




Greyhawk Video Solutions, and Video Shopping Pros are hard at work to establish a video only community for video shoppers. Videocon was established by Video Shopping Pros at the request of several Video Shopping companies. It was formed by the only man that could make it happen, Jeff Crozier. Greyhawk Video Solutions joined forces to help promote Videocon. After the first conference, I was convinced, and I still am, that a conference that is focused entirely on video, provides an unparalleled opportunity for growth, networking, and opportunity to break into this part of the industry without barriers. I have conducted mystery shops all the way back to mail in and phone in reports. We are not trying to detract from companies or shoppers performing these shops. We do recognize however, that the high paying and intense end of shopping that is video, is a completely different thing.




In that light, we are launching a brand-new organization to accommodate this part of the community. PLEASE join us at AVSP. We are open for business NOW!! You can find out more information by contacting us directly or by going to our Facebook pages. IT IS FREE TO BE A MEMBER!!!! IT IS FREE FOR COMPANY OWNERS!!! Administrative costs will be borne by RAPTOR (a joint venture of VIDEO SHOPPING PROS and GREYHAWK) I have never understood what it is exactly that takes so much “funding” with dues and other finance driven projects. WE WANT YOUR IDEAS AND PASSION, NOT YOUR MONEY.




You do not have to be at VIDEOCON to join, but it is there we will set up the structure and a Shopper’s advisory council/focus group and an Owner’s council/focus group. I currently belong to such a group for Southwest Airlines. It takes very little time and certainly no financial investment to be part of a group that helps provide feedback and promotes new ideas for improvement to an important industry. We are all individual companies or contractors but promoting the industry as a whole serves everyone.




Our goal is to push video work higher. We believe in professional work, performed by professional people, using professional equipment, and earning professional payment. We are firmly against substandard and non-covert methods such as cell phone video and the use of cheap toy spy equipment. Use of anything that is likely to turn off new clients and disappoint current ones, injures us all. Once the value of video is diminished, the fees to the companies and the payment to the shopper goes down with it. That is the wrong direction. That is why we are coming together.




We are providing the space to gather and share a database of shoppers and a database of companies. AND IT IS FREE… There is strength in unity and communication.




AVSP ASSOCIATION OF VIDEO SHOPPING PROVIDERS AVSP

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/24/2018 02:10PM by Greyhawk.

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You kidding us right? You two are banned from everything else so you create your own organization. what a joke
I noted that you are against "non-standard" forms of video recording. How come your new organization is unwilling to utilize tools that mystery shopping company owners and their clients have said are completely fine? I thought that the clients dictate what we can or can't use for their shops? Would we not want shoppers to have access to all of the tools that work best for them? Video shopping isn't all about button cameras anymore.

For example, this ad from Kathy Hart at Clear Evaluation says that she can use a shopper with either a pen camera(cheap spy toy) or a cell phone camera. (which your organization is also against). A PEN cam, can you believe it? I can go to another thread in here where people were saying no self respecting MSC would ever allow that. (This is an older post, not recent. I'm just using it as an example of how the times have changed and it's not a criticism of anyone who said they were trash).

Clear Evaluations and Kathy Hart are both incredibly respected and veterans in the video shopping industry and they have an ad stating a PEN camera is okay. If you had asked me if that would be a thing five years ago I would have said you're out of your mind. It's not okay for all of their jobs. But it is for that particular client, and it's better suited due to the high counters that those shops have. That's the one client I exclusively use my cell phone for as it's quicker and faster than using a button camera. The videos and information sent to the client are simply better with the cell phone than the button camera, especially with how easy it is to move it around.

[imgur.com]

Servimer uses plastic spyglasses for hundreds of their video shops per month. Literally plastic. I have another mystery shopping company client who bought 100 of the same plastic spyglasses after one of their clients wanted them used for his shops. They have been provided to their shoppers and they have been using them since last year.

The customer in all of these cases is the client. The customer generally dictates what is or isn't allowed, and as the adage says, "The Customer is Always Right." These shops may not even be able to be completed by someone who was unwilling to use "non-standard" equipment due to the nature of what is being used for. I have at least 3 customers who only do shops for servimer. I pushed them away from a $350-500 button camera they thought they needed and were going to buy from me because a $50 spyglasses cam worked best for them, and saved them a boatload of cash.

There are many companies doing drive-thrus shops. You have to use a head mounted camera or similar for that as you cannot use a button camera. Those jobs would not be able to be done by someone who refuses to use alternate equipment.

Signals intercept jobs often entail getting frisked before going into the business. A button camera and wire isn't suitable for that and a cell phone or alternative camera is often the better option to remain covert.

Leblanc and associates accepted a cell phone camera that was used as a backup for a Hawaii job saving 1200 in reimbursement, 100 in pay, and the shopper in question had two button cameras running. That cell phone recording youre saying is unsuitable and you wont promote saved them 1300 bucks total.

Clients have spoken and it sounds like "non-standard" video shopping is here to stay. There is a spreadsheet that was made based purely off of mystery shopping company feedback and the list is pretty hefty for what is allowed beyond the typical button camera that was standard for many years. Newer technology has completely upended the status quo and there are many tools for shoppers toolkits.

I don't understand why an organization that is being formed for shoppers would completely omit training and tools that mystery shopping company owners themselves have stated unequivocally are allowed for their shops? Many of those tools are cheaper than button cameras, or allow someone to get their foot in the door and save money for a button camera. Should they be shoe-horned into a more expensive rig because of a policy against non-standard video recording, even if non-standard is best for their position?

I have had many customers personally who started with plastic spyglasses doing shops for Servimer or Mystery Media Pro's app doing apartments or retail who then used those earnings to get other video shopping tools for the toolkit. Had they never been taught those other methods or offered them in the first place, they may not be video shoppers right now.

EPMS has shoppers who use keyfob cameras. Hand held keyfobs. I couldn't believe it when I got an order about those yet they have shoppers who utilize them successfully for some of their shops.

I think any resources that is going to be training shoppers is great so I support your new venture but I'm just curious why youre going to ignore all of the extra tools that shoppers are already using instead of teaching the shoppers about all of the tools that are available.

The customer dictates which tools can be used, the trainers should be training on said tools. It sounds like youre trying to say what tools can be used, and then only train those tools. This leaves a pretty big gap in knowledge and a rather empty video shopping toolkit for people who follow the same mantra.

It's 2018 now. Everyone doesn't need an expensive button camera rig. Every client doesn't need or require that. Every mystery shopping company doesn't demand it. The market decides what can be used, and if an MSP is submitting video the client isn't satisfied with, they lose the client.

Here's that list of what companies allow for their shops. It looks like about half allow non-button cameras for at least some of their shops. Thats a lot of potential shops missed by anyone unwilling to adapt with the newer times, or by someone who isn't told about them in the first place.

I wish you the best and good luck on your new venture. May it be as successful as your prior ones! (no sarcasm)

[goo.gl]

CEO The Mystery Shoppers Depot
US Wide route shopper with 12k+ shops completed over 48 states and 6 countries.
Airbnb host based in Chicago and 10% discount if you mention this forum


Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/23/2018 03:33PM by jrossetti.
Joe has also thoughtfully provided a long list of video MSCs and the equipment from that their clients will accept video product. Therefore, shoppers do not need to guess what will and will not be acceptable for many, many video clients. Your organization has access to this list at no cost, as we all do.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.


Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/24/2018 03:04PM by walesmaven.
Question:
I've only been video shopping for two years and, during that time, I've seen several MSC's go from "no pen cameras and cell phones are never acceptable" to "Yes, we can allow them."

Is the change a result of having better technology and video quality from other cameras? Or, is it a a natural consequence of there being a shortage of video shoppers in many areas, driving MSC's and clients to accept video created by alternative equipment?

I have not used a cell phone for video shops - I just couldn't image trying to take good video from a handheld device without being caught.... However, I have used the plastic glasses camera and the button camera... The video and audio quality of both are very good. However, there are some differences in what they can do.

The button camera provides a reliable stable picture, which I prefer for most shops. As long as it is angled correctly, it seems to provide the best quality video. However, it is useless if you are not able to have your chest pointed directly at the target throughout your interactions or if you need to catch something on video that might not be possible to catch with a fixed-angle camera - no matter how you contort your body.

The eyeglasses are fantastic for taking video out your car window or if you need to record something below waist level - such has hands in a cash register. The problem is that we naturally move our heads a lot as we have our inteactions. This can cause the video to have wild swings. It is difficult to have a really stable picture. Also, the glasses I use only have a very short battery life - so I don't like to take more than 30-40 minutes of video at a time. However, my button camera set-up has a seven-hour battery.

Hard work builds character and homework is good for your soul.
MFJ
The quality of audio and video from SOME types of equipment that used to be not acceptable has been greatly improved or has become acceptable for SOME types of shops. There is still quite a shortage of video shoppers nationwide, which makes it potentially very profitable for experienced ones to travel widely. There was a brief flirtation with technologies that appeared to promise that cell phone video could become widely used. However, that development effort did not produce acceptable quality for widespread use. Instead, a couple of video MSCs are using a simpler phone video program for limited types of shops.

Finally, some entrepreneurs with an interest in video have spent the last couple of years buying and testing (and testing, and testing) some recorders and cameras, and combinations thereof, submitting results of the tests to video MSCs/clients and appear to have found a somewhat lower priced, entry level recorder/button cam combo that has produced audio and video quality that is being accepted as so close to (and in some cases rivals) the product of the most widely used rigs that quite a few video MSCs are accepting it (as, of course, their clients do). This is why I think that the long list of which MSCs are accepting what video source has become an important tool for potential video shoppers.

I have recently seen pretty spectacular video from a pen cam which mounts in a shirt pocket, so is a possible clone for the button cam in situations where long battery life is not essential. I personally am using both glasses cams and Bluetooth mounted cams for short interaction shops and find the video and audio excellent. But I would still never use either for long interactions, no matter the battery life because head movement poses huge problems for the viewers when interactions exceed very few minutes.

So the answer is probably "some of everything". BUT, and here is an important BUT, the entry of better quality and more easily hidden equipment, even when only short interactions are needed, is also fueling a huge expansion in successful marketing of video to clients. My $40 Bluetooth cam rig provides crisp video for many short shops per day/charge. That may mean that I can do as much or more dollar volume, net, in a day, of brief shops that are in close proximity in a city as I could do with new home shops or senior living shops scattered around the ever-growing perimeters of population center and requiring much more travel and longer reports.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.
Just for the record, we are not banned from anything. We left one group after they committed fraud. I have a copy of the message directing them to remove any and everything pertaining to us from their website if you would like a copy. The other organization, we are on good terms with. We could not come together on a package that allowed us to do the training and equipment at their conferences. There are no hard feelings on either side that I am aware of...…. And just so it is clear, we dropped in on Atlanta to see friends, AND since the competition was invited to sit outside the door promoting their products at a conference we spent $1500.00 promoting in Las Vegas, we thought that was the new standard. It was good to see our friends and the point was made.

We are all for new technology. It just has to work, and be covert. In the same way that you would hate to pay a wedding photographer and have them show up with a bag of Kodak disposable cameras to shoot the wedding, keeping it professional and providing the video shopping companies with quality video they pay the shopper quite a lot for seems the professional thing to do. I am critical of anyone selling sub standard equipment. That does not mean that it is personal. You will notice that I have had no negative comment about selling the industry standard equipment by anyone. A competitive market place serves the market. Make no mistake, we will promote hard and compete, but that is not personal. So when it comes to selling quality equipment, we wish you well with no sarcasm as well.

A company having to use poor video or have no video at all is not the new standard. When you drop the bar on quality, the price goes with it. That is not a subject of debate. There is a shortage of good shoppers. But not to worry, we are working hard to turn out well trained and properly equipped shoppers. Videocon is the perfect place for someone to walk in knowing nothing about video, and walk out with the industry standard equipment, real 8 hour training, and a new personal relationship with the absolute best video shopping companies in the industry. It is also worth noting that Greyhawk has sold hundreds and hundreds of units. Video Shopping Pros has trained hundreds of shoppers. We closely work with just about every video shopping company out there. THAT is a database that can serve both companies and shoppers.

AVSP is happening. It is FREE. That seems to be the biggest rub for those collecting dues. Like new technology, its time for something better.
Erroneous post. Sorry.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.


Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/24/2018 03:03PM by walesmaven.
If you were not banned why were you not allowed to pay to attend the conference with the mspa or imsc. It was said the money from both organizations was refunded to you and your counterpart Jeff. you sure are fast to accuse people of things, you better hope it does not end you up in court

I will never trust anything that comes out of your mouth or is written by you. you do not take any responsibility for anything, it is always somebody elses fault. you do not return shoppers calls or emails for help and then when they do say something publicly against you, you make it look like it is their fault. It has been seen on your own facebook page and in the facebook groups, trashing everybody else does not make you look better.

My friends in the mspa group were at the Vegas conference and said you were not even there, they needed your help with broken equipment and had only some people who sat at the table not wanting to talk to any body or help them. It was big talk about those two
There were three IMSC vendors for video equipment at the Atlanta Conference - and all three paid to attend that conference.

The Mystery Shoppers Depot was there as the IMSC video vendor. Joe and Alex were set up with a variety of video equipment for different types of shops, and provided a list of Video Companies with which types of equipment they authorize to use for their shops. Very helpful.

Mystery Media Pro, www.mysteryshopping.com was there, with their new phone app for mystery shopping, and they also carried traditional video equipment.

Steve from Quantum Solutions was also there, and carries video equipment.

What really impressed me, these three were respectful to one another and were cordial. There was no bashing each other, no drama posted on Facebook for everyone to read. Shoppers have choices and are not limited to just one vendor anymore. These three vendors were professional and left me with a good impression. I would buy from any of these three without hesitation.

Then, there were two more former video vendors, who essentially crashed the conference. These two have a history of bashing their competition in the name of "warning shoppers". Neither of these two paid to attend the conference - they showed up and took advantage of an event they did not pay to attend.

Neither the MSPA or IMSC has any further relationship with these two, and neither shopper organization endorses them.
KathySue,
Thank you for posting that! Yes there were three companies that sell video equipment at IMSC in Atlanta who had paid admission and had tables. And, all three made public statements supportive of the others. And, by public, I mean both in networking AND in the large conference hall when making presentations and/or responding to questions in open sessions.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.
I received no refund for Atlanta, because I certainly did not sign up. Jeff signed up prior and paid. He got an uninvite and a refund as far as I know. As far as trusting what I say, I don't even know who you are. How could I even start to care about your opinion. And no, I was not in Vegas, my COMPANY WAS, with people I PAID to send and are family. What happened there was documented. So by all means, lets go to court. I spent 30 years building cases to be prosecuted in criminal court, so yes, lets. The tone of your post sounds remarkably familiar. Everyone clearly knows who I am, who are you? The last time I talked to Charles Stiles, he left the door open if things changed or we found a way forward. Once again, if it was a fine practice in Las Vegas, where was the problem in Atlanta?
Dan is correct about who was representing him in Las Vegas. If I remember correctly it was his sister, filing in for him plus Jeff from Video Pros. I have heard that only one of them was signed up for Atlanta and then got a refund. I think that one of the posters may have accidentally combined two stories from FB sources into conclusions about both. Accidents happen.

Dan, it is sometimes difficult to figure out which poster you are addressing. I am quite sure that you know who I am though.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.
Do any of you play battlefield 1, battlefront 2, or cod wwII on ps4?

CEO The Mystery Shoppers Depot
US Wide route shopper with 12k+ shops completed over 48 states and 6 countries.
Airbnb host based in Chicago and 10% discount if you mention this forum
Nope. Are you sure you don't mean to put that on the General Chat area?

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.
I can no longer hold my tongue and attempt to take the high road. The accusations and outright character assassinations have spun completely out of control. If the posters on this board are so concerned about honesty and integrity, perhaps they should censor themselves.
Allow me to clarify how you get to be the authorized vendor of either of these organizations. It’s all about the money.
We (Raptor) parted company with the IMSC when the president of that organization decided to put the privilege of being the authorized vendor out for bids. The more you bid for that privilege put you in position to be the authorized vendor to sell equipment at their functions. We decided that our margins were too tight to pay someone to be the vendor and we preferred to pass that money on to the shoppers in the form of lower prices. This occurred after we formed a Joint Venture of Greyhawk and Video Shopping Pros and the IMSC president told us that we couldn’t do that. To this day, I don’t think that she understands what a joint venture is. There was a long-heated exchange which was fueled by the fact that only one company would be paying to be a sponsor. Again, all about the money.
The MSPA had approached us about partnering with Raptor about being their exclusive equipment and training PARTNER. Apparently the MSPA Board Member who approached us was not authorized to cut a deal with us as it had to go to the board for approval and as this evolved, we found that it was only an effort to extract as much money as possible from us in order to be the only equipment vendor. When we tried to negotiate based on a “partnership” arrangement, the support of its organization faded. We opted to withdraw from these negotiations. Just as point of reference, the starting sponsorship level for us would have been $5000 plus a percentage of the money collected for training (to be a partner).
We agreed with several Video Shopping Companies to put together a conference which solely served the Video Shopping Portion of the Mystery Shopping Community. We agreed to do this. Several people have repeatedly stated that they do not know how we are able to put the quality of a conference together as we do for the amount we charge shoppers. The bottom line is that we are losing money on all of the conferences. Again, it’s not all about the money to Raptor, but rather providing a quality experience for the Video Shopper and Providers. We only have shoppers at the VideoCon conference. We do not stack the attendees with people who have no interest in mystery shopping.
We are the only equipment company and training company who is comprised of people who’s only interest is promoting and growing the Video Shopping Industry. We have sold and supported over 800 video shopping kits and trained over 300 shoppers. We supply a list of shoppers trained to over 50 individuals who are currently scheduling video shops.
We hope this puts the backbiting and accusations to rest. We have better things to do than to spend our time defending our position on this board. I hope that those involved in the Video Shopping Industry can see their was clear to stop with the accusations and Allow us to get on with our mission.
Jeff Crozier
IMS247@verizon.net
407-595-7899
@Greyhawk wrote:

And just so it is clear, we dropped in on Atlanta to see friends, AND since the competition was invited to sit outside the door promoting their products at a conference we spent $1500.00 promoting in Las Vegas, we thought that was the new standard. It was good to see our friends and the point was made.

I would be quite interested in hearing a more detailed explanation of this.

It sounds like the new provider was allowed to setup a booth outside the previous IMSC conference even though Greyhawk had already paid for and was setup inside the conference? But then people made a big deal when he did the same thing to a lesser extent? Or perhaps I read this wrong. More information would be quite helpful.

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind
Yes everyone knows who you are because your reputation for trashing people is every where. I am a mspa member and hear about things happening from the other shoppers in the groups on facebook. This board allows me to post without having to worry about you publicly attacking me like you do everyone else talk about character assassination. Even the people that met you in Atlanta to see your friends as you put it are no longer supporting your conference or coming isn't that right? I am not planning to take you to court, what a stupid thing to even say. I can take you or leave you as I am able to buy where I want and you are never getting a penny of my money.
bgriffin, it is my understanding that the person did not have a booth or anything like that outside and was doing it on their own with some type of glasses or something. He is making an assumption that it was approved or invited to do this in vegas, I doubt that, sounds like more bs to me

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/25/2018 12:09AM by Msaddict.
Uh. I don't want any of your money?
Not sure what that was all about...…...

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind
no, that was meant for greyhawk sorry forgot the period, fixed it.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/25/2018 12:09AM by Msaddict.
No offense but I would prefer to hear from someone involved in the situation as opposed to what someone think it sounds like, unless of course you are Dan, Pam, or whoever was selling outside the Vegas conference.

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind
I don't know but his post insinuated that it was the current provider. That's why I asked the question. If it was indeed the current official provider then either the IMSC is foolish or it was condoned. I can't imagine if I ran a group, and an unofficial vender sat outside my door uninvited there is no way in hell they would ever become my official vender.

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind
There is alot of insinuations and that is the problem, they insinuate it was approved, how do we know it was not stopped by the imsc if it was happening when they were made aware of it? I wish someone that was there and in the know would tell us, someone not with their own agenda I should add.
I just want to make sure that I am understanding what is being suggested. It sounds like that I am being accused of setting up a booth in vegas outside the conference. Is my understanding accurate? It looks like a printed accusation was made which is no trouble if it's accurate, but it moves into libel if it's inaccurate as there are people here who already said it would alter who they were willing to buy stuff from.

That is provable harm. I would encourage everyone involved to understand the implications of where this message thread has moved into. It would be illegal for me to make something up about another persons business and tell others or post it up publicly like this.


There was no booth set up outside of the Vegas IMSC by me if that's what the implication is nor was I allowed to sell anything that another vendor had. So that was dvrs due to greyhawk, the woman selling those sd booklets, pearls planners, etc.

I was told in no uncertain terms that if I broke Pams rule regarding that that it would not be pretty and I'm not trying to get on Pams bad side. Ive seen how that turns out for people. There are not many people I am afraid of pissing off, but Pam is on that list.

It's the same reason I stopped interacting with that vendor 3 months prior. I was told in no uncertain terms if I wanted to be eligible to sell come 2018 in IMSC groups and if I wanted any support at all that I cannot be involved in mud slinging nor can I set up shop at the conference. Trust me when I say you can count on me for one thing. Being about my money. Risking that for a couple of random sales at a conference simply isn't worth risking that opportunity for.

No disrespect to anyone who has done that, but I dont have time for that and it's kind of ridiculous in the first place. I scoff at the entire notion and it's a complete waste of time and energy. Never in a million years would I open my company up to the sort of attacks one would get by acting like that. Case in point, all the heat being given to the vendor who did do that. I want absolutely none of that. It's the same reason we have a policy of not attacking other companies even while being attacked ourselves. It's the same reason my company is politically neutral.

There's no possible net gain in the end, and most people simply see two people fighting with disregard to who's right. It's just bad business, so we dont engage in it.

For the sake of full transparency, I had brought 2 mystery shoppers depot units with me to vegas. One was donated to the IMSC and I included a price tag on it so people who saw it would know how much it was. This did result in a couple of people asking me about it which was the point in donating it in the first place. This was the extent of my promoting my product while at the conference. A donation on the donation table with a price tag and contact info (which got tore off by someone after a day...lol)

One was pre-sold and given to the person on site. That person sat with Alex and I outside in a main area during lunch on one day to go over the settings and with him. This was a sale made prior to the conference so I'm not really seeing an issue with that. It saved them 13.50 on shipping and I got to show them how it works personally which was good practice.


I did have glasses I brought with me that were for a client. I was requested to bring some ahead and they were paid for in advance. I had a few of their shoppers pick them up, but that was not a product that the on-site vendor carried so this would not have impacted their sales and this was handled during times the conference was not running.

I had one customer who had bought a lawmate rig from someone else and did not get help that came to me for help as well. That I did handle during the conference and passed her equipment back and forth in the conference area.


I can say this too. Im 100% sure if I, my girlfriend, or my cousin had set up a booth anyplace that other shoppers would have seen it and been speaking up like are here for Atlanta. There were 200+ people there plus other company owners. I'm sure finding one person not affiliated with any vendor to confirm this should be doable like it was confirmed in Atlanta, right?

Unless someone is trying to argue I am so good I left no evidence, no shoppers saw me, no pictures could be taken, no company owners saw me, and only people affiliated with greyhawk saw me....then I think that alone should be enough to put this thought down. If I did what I am being accused of, there would be evidence and I think people making accusations should provide them if they are going to do so. It's not like there weren't people there who dont like me who would have jumped on an opportunity to put me on blast.

I did hang out with Lori Whiteman, Nick Sarro, and Liz Goldwyn most of the time. They are 3 respected people in the mystery shopping world. I'm sure you can ask any of them. Walesmaven was there too I thought and she's pretty well respected here. I doubt she would cover for me. Why not ask her.

CEO The Mystery Shoppers Depot
US Wide route shopper with 12k+ shops completed over 48 states and 6 countries.
Airbnb host based in Chicago and 10% discount if you mention this forum


Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/25/2018 02:18AM by jrossetti.
@jrossetti wrote:

For the sake of full transparency, I had brought 2 mystery shoppers depot units with me to vegas. One was donated to the IMSC and I included a price tag on it so people who saw it would know how much it was.

Well that seems to clear some things up. So let me get this straight. You were not allowed to sell items at the conference but you were allowed to conduct transactions that were presold and you were allowed to advertise within the conference for an item that the official vender at that time had for sale at the same conference?

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind
That is not what he wrote, this is
I did have glasses I brought with me that were for a client. I was requested to bring some ahead and they were paid for in advance. I had a few of their shoppers pick them up, but that was not a product that the on-site vendor carried so this would not have impacted their sales and this was handled during times the conference was not running.

One was pre-sold and given to the person on site. That person sat with Alex and I outside in a main area during lunch on one day to go over the settings and with him. This was a sale made prior to the conference so I'm not really seeing an issue with that. It saved them 13.50 on shipping and I got to show them how it works personally which was good practice.
@bgriffin wrote:

@jrossetti wrote:

For the sake of full transparency, I had brought 2 mystery shoppers depot units with me to vegas. One was donated to the IMSC and I included a price tag on it so people who saw it would know how much it was.

Well that seems to clear some things up. So let me get this straight. You were not allowed to sell items at the conference but you were allowed to conduct transactions that were presold and you were allowed to advertise within the conference for an item that the official vender at that time had for sale at the same conference?

No, you're definitely not getting it straight.

The implication was that I set up a booth and was selling to people outside the conference, not that I delivered product I had sold off my site prior to the conference in person.

Are you trying to imply there is something wrong with me doing an in person delivery of an item that was sold before a conference? Unless you are, then this is a moot aspect of this discussion since we're talking about an item delivery for a sale made a week prior.

The sale had been done for over a week. The delivery was handled in Vegas the day before the conference started because we were both going to the conference. It had nothing to do with the conference nor was it setting up a booth as was implied. To describe it as me being allowed to conduct transactions is simply inaccurate.

I wasn't allowed to advertise anything nor did I say I did. As with most items that are for sale, there is a price tag on them. If youre trying to describe having the price showing on an item I donated as advertising that seems a little bit of a reach to me. I donated an item to charity. It was on the charity table. The proceeds went to charity.


I brought zero items for sale nor did I negotiate any sales while at the conference.(or vegas period)

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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/25/2018 03:40AM by jrossetti.
@jrossetti wrote:

No, you're definitely not getting it straight.

The implication was that I set up a booth and was selling to people outside the conference, not that I delivered product I had sold off my site prior to the conference in person.

The quoted post wasn't about implications. A hint was made, my curiosity was peaked, I asked a question. I am not interested in what other people have implied, my post was about what really happened. The reality of it is you delivered a product, that's a transaction, that was sold prior to the conference. That's exactly what I asked, and that's exactly what YOU say happened. So unless you lied above then I am getting it straight.


@jrossetti wrote:

Are you trying to imply there is something wrong with me doing an in person delivery of an item that was sold before a conference? Unless you are, then this is a moot aspect of this discussion since we're talking about an item delivery for a sale made a week prior.

I'm not implying anything at all. You said you made a delivery at the conference. I was simply asking if I understood that correctly. You have said twice now that you have, so my question has been answered.

@jrossetti wrote:

One was pre-sold and given to the person on site.

This is what you said previously

@jrossetti wrote:

The sale had been done for over a week. The delivery was handled in Vegas the day before the conference started.

This is what you are saying now, after I asked if you performed a transaction at the conference. Perhaps you misspoke the first time. Or perhaps you are changing your story. I don't know or care which.


@jrossetti wrote:

I wasn't allowed to advertise anything nor did I say I did. As with most items that are for sale, there is a price tag on them. If youre trying to describe having the price showing on an item I donated as advertising that seems a little bit of a reach to me. I donated an item to charity. It was on the charity table. The proceeds went to charity.

Here is what you said previously:

@jrossetti wrote:

One was donated to the IMSC and I included a price tag on it so people who saw it would know how much it was. This did result in a couple of people asking me about it which was the point in donating it in the first place. This was the extent of my promoting my product while at the conference.

That is pretty much a textbook definition of advertising. So yes, I absolutely am saying you were allowed to advertise inside the conference.

@jrossetti wrote:

I brought zero items for sale nor did I negotiate any sales while at the conference.

No but per your previous quote you absolutely did advertise during the conference that led to sales after the conference.

I'm not saying anything you did was right or wrong. Other people can make up their mind about that. I'm just trying to understand what happened, and as you said before, I too am incredibly interested in transparency.

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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/25/2018 03:52AM by bgriffin.
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