I got an e-mail today from a Sassie scheduler promoting a job with this company. The shop involves going to a grocery store ever few days and listening for the cashier's magic words that will trigger a gift certificate into her hands. The part I'm not real keen on is that the nearest location is 34 miles each way and you have to pay for their gift certificates yourself and eventually get reimbursed. It could cost you a good $100 per week or more out of your pocket and I don't know of too many people with that much extra cash to front.

Has anyone heard of the company or done one of these before?

Caliber aka Daymon

They pay in the middle of the month following the month of the shop in my experience. I just took a sneak peek at the shops and in my book they aren't paying enough for a 34 mile haul. But if you would use the discount in the future it might make sense to pick up a couple of them for that.

I have worked for them, and they pay on time and are easy to work with.

I haven't done or seen the one you mentioned. The jobs I have done were shopping a vendor display in a warehouse club, then revealing yourself and taking photos. Straighforward, easy to understand instructions.

I am not a fan of fronting money for anything like the GC. I don't have that much spare $$.

I take a somewhat different approach to it. For $10 you expect me to fork over $25 for which I will have no benefit whatsoever? That is not something I am likely to do. Sure, I will get reimbursed. But that makes this LESS THAN a $10 shop because I will be out the cash 2-6 weeks. I prefer to use my money for something that does something for me. And this shop doesn't seem to reimburse groceries--which you are going to need to purchase to have the cashier respond to you with the magic words. I shake my head and wonder what bean wagon they think we fell off of. The only perk for the shopper in this is future store discounts after the program is over.

Summit Scheduling usually schedules for them here. I have done three of their shops. The Caliber shops I see here are shopping a demo for a product that is being demo'd at a grocery store, a WalMart, Costco, etc. Buy something cheap at the store to document that you were there. Fast, easy form, nice company. Easy shops. Twice the demo person wasn't even there. The third time they were but still really easy. But I wouldn't drive 100 miles for these. And I don't like reveals. But this is a legit company and they are a nice company to work with.

I did a few shops for them and was paid well and on time. I am looking forward to more work for them.

I'm definitely going to pass on this particular shop but will see what else they may offer here. Sometimes it's a real famine of shops in this area but I'm NOT that desperate.

Hi guys!

Thanks for all of the positive posts. We have run this grocery program in several different markets over the past year and a half, and as it turns out, the shoppers like the shops a lot. It's also worth noting that Caliber pays every two weeks for shops done in this project, since they recognize that it can be a lot of cash outlay if the cashiers are successful. Normally, they pay on the 15th of every month. I have to also give kudos to the end client, for setting up a program that is based on rewards as incentives for the people who work for them. We have had cashiers jump up and down in glee and even burst into tears when they received the prizes.

Even if this particular project isn't for you, I encourage you to register with Caliber since more and more national projects are being posted to the job board all the time. Over the weekend I posted several hundred shops for May that will be assigned mid week. I have found Caliber to be terrific to work with and think that you will as well.

If you have any questions and would like to contact me directly, my email address is judith@summitscheduling.com .

I have asked Jacob to change "Gill Scheduling" to "Summit Scheduling" on my board posts since that's the name the company was eventually created under and I registered here prior to that.

Thanks so much,
Judith Gill
Owner, Summit Scheduling and Editing

I've done 1 Big Box Discount shop for them, and, iirc, it was easy and they paid promptly.

Yes, I've had no issues with Caliber about jobs or payments. I have gotten some editing comments about what they did NOT want to know, which is fine. Over time the instructions for jobs I have done for them have evolved, sometimes being a little funny as if they don't recognize the nature of the vultures in the big box store But overall decent folks to work with.

Caliber gets an A+ from me. Judith is easy to work with and quite fair. The pay is good and always on time. I just wish there were more of their clients in Colorado!

I've done their special grocery shops and never had anything but good experiences.