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Rural / Remote Area Company Ideas?

January 24, 2020 05:44PM
Hi all. I live in a very rural area and am looking for some new MSCs to use. I've had some success with MarketForce and ACloserLook, but that's about it. I'm primarily interested in food shops, but open to other things as well. I've signed up for tons of companies only to find out they don't have ANY shops with 100 miles of me. It's kind of annoying to put in all that info to sign up and then find out it was a waste of time.
So, does anyone have any experience on MSCs that they have found with shops in rural-ish areas?
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January 24, 2020 05:58PM
Target bigger MSC's as they have the bigger clients - chains that are more likely to be shopped and have locations in every little town in the U.S. Most of these MSC's are on the "15 Most Discussed" list on this site.

Rural areas can be challenging: As a part of being a rural area, there simply are not that many locations that could be shopped - much less that are shopped. This limits possibilities. However, there can also be some advantages: There are fewer shoppers, too. It is not uncommon for MSC's to have a terrible time getting their shops filled in those areas. Once you learn what your shopper competition is in that area, you may be able to get those shops in your general area with better bonuses than what folks in more urban areas can get. You also might need to travel more in order to shop.... (It's hard to be a mystery shopper in an area where there are not any stores.)

I travel to rural areas periodically on routes to pick up heavily bonused shops that are difficult to fill. It makes for some very profitable days.

Hard work builds character and homework is good for your soul.
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January 24, 2020 09:14PM
Are you interested in phone shops? Many of our phone shoppers live in rural areas.

Shoppers' View regularly has phone and website shops available. You can register with us at www.shoppersview.com/shoppers. Once you're registered, you can search for phone and website shops on our Job Board by expanding your radius out to 999 miles, clicking 'Additional Filters', and selecting 'Phone' or 'Website'. However, at this time of month, most of our shops are filled. We post new shops during the first week of the month.

Administrative Manager for Shoppers' View
p: 800.264.5677 | e: christinew@shoppersview.com | w: www.shoppersview.com
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January 25, 2020 04:47AM
I live in a small town that is about half an hour away from slightly bigger small towns! What I do (or try) is stack 2-3 shops on the same day in the closest “real” city. It’s definitely a challenge with timing, and there’s always the risk that the MSC will want to reschedule...then you’re stuck with several one-offs (and the cost of gas). Have you registered with Ipsos? They have shops across the country where a certain credit card company wants to see if merchants are tacking on fees when customers use the credit card. They also have phone shops and the occasional online purchase and return.

Experienced evaluator and auditor available for consulting in Hampton Roads, Virginia, and eastern North Carolina. Active member of North Carolina bar.
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January 26, 2020 03:01PM
I also live in a rural area - in addition to companies already mentioned, I have success with SeeLevel and I do tons of the Coyle phone shops which pay $8-10 each and are less than a 30 minute commitment when it’s all said and done.
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