So what are the five places that you are dying to shop but haven't found yet?

Albertsons (or really any grocery stores at this point)
REI (I'd settle for Dick's too)
Sprint (or any other cell phone shops I can find)
Shell mystery shops not audits (or any gas stations actually)
Rite Aid (there are two on my drive home from work and for some reason I just have this strong desire to shop them)


Who are your favorite five companies to shop for


Mine......in no particular order
Reality Check - My scheduler is super nice and she gives me almost all the shops I apply for
BestMark - it's pretty much a guaranteed $20 - $30 a month and they pay super fast
Maritz - they've got some easy shops in my area
MarketForce - I live in a small town so they typically bonus the shop they have here
Second to None - other than the receipt uploading, their site is super simple to use and their reports take like five minutes (as long as you remember they don't allow a lot of narrative so keep it short)


Bonus question --

What shops have you seen and have been dying to get but just can't get one....

Bi-Mart
Cash & Carry (only applied for this one once though, just found the MSC last month)

I wonder if I'm alone in feeling this way, but I really don't have any "target" places. I don't bias what shops I accept based on who the client is. If the shop is paying a fair price, I'll do it.

Albertson was shopped monthly, but a h*ll of a report for low fee, even when bonused. It was like 7 different department interactions and they wanted names. Now, they are closing all the Albertson stores in my area. Just as well! I shop 3 other grocery stores/supermarkets in my area and all of them were easier and better.

There are A LOT of Verizon shops! A few T-Mobile and AT&T, never seen Sprint.

Chevrons and BPs are ms'ed, not audit.

What David said I'm in it for the money.

For me, it's not being biased about the location, it's about time management. I want to shop the places that are either on my way home from work, or places that I'm going to be at anyway. I like the cell phone shops because there is no expense involved. Since I'm currently only shopping T-Mobile and a cell phone kiosk that's inside of a bigger store, I don't get to do these very often.

I'm currently shopping a few grocery stores, but wanted to add Albertson's and Safeway into the mix. I've heard Safeway is shopped by corporate though so that isn't going to pan out.

I also would prefer to shop places where the reimbursement is going to get me something I want or could use. So grocery stores and gas stations would be perfect. I've done a lot of retail where either I couldn't find anything to buy that was covered by the reimbursement or there wasn't anything I could use. Let's face it, what can you buy for 1.50$ at the big electronics store? I usually end up grabbing a bottle of water (which isn't under $1.50 but at least I have a cheap bottle of water to take on our hike. And then there's the office supply store with $1.00 reimbursement. I usually end up buying a small cardboard box that I can then use on the shipping shop and ship presents to my mum and gram. Then there was the shop at the other big electronics store that actually had a $5.00 reimubursement I think, I couldn't even find batteries I needed for that. I ended up buying touch screen cleaning wipes that I haven't used yet.

jschilz Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> So what are the five places that you are dying to
> shop but haven't found yet?
>


I never really thought about it in that way, although I would like more casual to fine dining shops in my area.

What I have often thought about is when I drive down a commercial area on my way to a shop and I pass 10 or 20 places that are mystery shopped but are not on my schedule that day, I think what a waste. I would love to be able to schedule more shops within a few miles of each other on the same day to be more time and mileage efficient.

Although I'm in it for the money and will do a shop anywhere as long as the pay is fair, I have places I wish I could shop in order to save money on places I frequent anyway.

My wants are:

-Captain D's (love their food)
-Super Cuts (my fiance' gets his hair cut there each month)
-Burger King
-Red Lobster
-Taco Bell

This reminded me of a conversation my mom and I had today. She mentioned that after the shop was over, I should just return the item I'd bought (and am getting reimbursed for) and didn't want. Is there any reason not to do this? I thought it seemed a little unethical and possibly against the rules, but I don't know. I haven't seen anything about it.

jschilz Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> I also would prefer to shop places where the
> reimbursement is going to get me something I want
> or could use. So grocery stores and gas stations
> would be perfect. I've done a lot of retail where
> either I couldn't find anything to buy that was
> covered by the reimbursement or there wasn't
> anything I could use. Let's face it, what can you
> buy for 1.50$ at the big electronics store? I
> usually end up grabbing a bottle of water (which
> isn't under $1.50 but at least I have a cheap
> bottle of water to take on our hike. And then
> there's the office supply store with $1.00
> reimbursement. I usually end up buying a small
> cardboard box that I can then use on the shipping
> shop and ship presents to my mum and gram. Then
> there was the shop at the other big electronics
> store that actually had a $5.00 reimubursement I
> think, I couldn't even find batteries I needed for
> that. I ended up buying touch screen cleaning
> wipes that I haven't used yet.

I did a western clothing store once. THe pay was $8.00 and you get reimbursed $12.00. It says it's ok to return the item. I did, I still got paid the $20.00. It's the only shop that I have seen where you get a reimbursement and it actually says it's ok to return the item. I personally wouldn't have returned it otherwise. I absolutely hate returning things. Although, I'm changing my ways as of late. For shops this year I've returned a blender, two t-shirts and a picture frame. Prior to that, I think in my entire life I've returned one item.

HaveARayDay Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Although I'm in it for the money and will do a
> shop anywhere as long as the pay is fair, I have
> places I wish I could shop in order to save money
> on places I frequent anyway.
>
> My wants are:
>
> -Captain D's (love their food)
> -Super Cuts (my fiance' gets his hair cut there
> each month)
> -Burger King
> -Red Lobster
> -Taco Bell

Hi Kelly,

There was a pretty big discussion on that topic several months ago...

Link: [www.mysteryshopforum.com]

When it comes to reimbursements, FLASH wrote exactly what I've been doing. She said:

"If it is the one I am thinking of, consider batteries for your camera or DVR, a package of paper for your printer or similar relatively small items you can use for your business. Lets say a package of batteries is $3.99. With tax in my area that would be a total purchase of $4.23. I get reimbursed $2 for my purchase and claim the other $2.23 on my Schedule C as 'office supplies' if I am using the batteries for my business. For a while there they were selling house brand batteries that could fall in the under $2 category though it has been a while since I did the shop. It keeps you from having to browse the whole store--you can go pretty directly to the battery display to figure out what is cheap and still useful."

I always do my best to make the Reimbursement work to my advantage.

Department Store with a $7.00 reimbursement? I have been steadily adding to my 2012 Christmas Gifts. I've got two Nieces and SIL finished; items put back for my two DIL's and will pick up something again today.

Clothing Stores with only a $10.00 reimbursement? That's harder - but, for 12 years my typical attire has been sweatpants and ratty t-shirts or PJ's (been self-employed since 11/2000) - so I've really needed to dress for mystery shopping!

Electronics stores with those $1.50 or $2.00 reimbursements? I have slowly put new things on my computer - and anything over the MS Reimbursement is tax deductible on my Schedule C. I also add things like new stapler, paper clips, binder clips, notepads, sticky pads, etc.

Garden Shops (big box stores that have home DIY stuff) - we have a rental house, so we have deductions for that on our taxes. I always make sure to pick up something for that house - whether it's air filters, garden spikes for the trees, or just cleaning supplies.

Like I said - The trick is to make the reimbursement work FOR you.


**Edited to add: Another thing that some folks have mentioned: When purchasing something that you get a small reimbursement on, pick up an item that could be given to Charity. Something for the local Animal Rescue, or maybe a Women's Shelter or Homeless Shelter. If you don't feel it is ethical to return the item for a full reimbursement, helping charities during these bad economic times would be most welcome!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/02/2012 03:00PM by r@inyDayZ3.

<This reminded me of a conversation my mom and I had today. She mentioned that <after the shop was over, I should just return the item I'd bought (and am <getting reimbursed for) and didn't want. Is there any reason not to do this? I <thought it seemed a little unethical and possibly against the rules, but I <don't know. I haven't seen anything about it.

kelly_r7: I have seen instructions on purchase shops that are reimbursed state clearly that the merchandise is NOT to be returned. I don't know how the client/MSC would know, but I have never returned something that I was reimbursed for. If it was something that I knew I wasn't going to use, I would purchase an item and then gave it away as a gift to someone I knew who could/would use it.

In the beginning it never crossed my mind to return anything. Now it just depends on where I'm shopping and the reimbursement. I definitely try to make it work for me since returning can be a PITA and will consider reimbursement at certain stores to be a discount. There was also some great advice about buying gift cards since office supply stores, Best Buy and others sell them for stores and services beside their own. As long as it's a store where I need something anyway it works out great.

If there is no reimbursement yet a purchase is required I have no qualms about returning the item. Same goes for a piddly reimbursement that is far below the cheapest item in the store. For a particular shop with a small reimbursement I've been purchasing the same item for several months. Each is about a dollar and not worth much on it's own. Now that I have a bunch they will go back, but instead of getting cash back (and giving them receipts from all over the state) I'm exchanging them to get a store credit. To me that is more than fair. The retailer still has their sale and I put the larger amount to better use.

Top wants, More shops at:
Hilton Hotel chain properties
Marriott Hotel Chain properties
Choice Hotels chain proerties
New cars without test drive (video)
Reimbursed auto repair shops (video)
Mid-range lunch places with adequate reimbursement
Reimbursed Amtrak and airline trips

walesmaven. I'm surprised you did not mention Hyatt hotels. I do a number of those and some are nicer than the Hiltons.

cubbie,
If I knew how to get Hyatt shops I would be on it like white on rice. I ould be delighted if you would email your scheduler and ask if you could refer me. However, please read on.

There are some hotel shops that you can only "earn" by doing fine dining shops that require two people and driving after dark. The MSC in question will not waive that requirement, even for a seasoned hotel shopper with great review scores. Since I am night blind (no driving from early dusk until full daylight) and have no dinner partner who could drive, I cannot do that MSC's shops. When I have fine dining shops nested into an hotel stay, I have no problem getting great scores on those reports, so ability to write a good FD report has not been an issue. The company that won't let me in on their hotels because I have not done their FD shops is Coyle. They seem to be adamant on this score, with no accomodation allowed for the night blindness disability.

One hint without breaking any agreement. This msc also provides shopper with a Hyatt diamond status so they can shop the check-in, without staying over night. Overnight shops are not posted on any site, but send by email.

cubbiecat Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> One hint without breaking any agreement. This msc
> also provides shopper with a Hyatt diamond status
> so they can shop the check-in, without staying
> over night. Overnight shops are not posted on any
> site, but send by email.

Do they let you keep the diamond status and use if or is it assigned just for the speficic shop? Can you keep the points?

Thanks.