Has anyone done the covert instore price checks?

I was wondering if anyone who has done the covert instore price checks has any insight to give about them? These are the shops where you have to go into stores, usually of the convenience and pharmacy types, to price check anywhere from 50 to over 150 items into the app. In the email saying there is only 50 items to price check, it says "you should be in and out in less than a half hour."

Are these shops worth it? How often do you get approached by an employee asking what you are doing? And since you can't reveal that you are an evaluator, what do you say when you are approached?

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More About Price Check Audits

Getting one of those done in under half an hour would be amazing. Just consider if you are pricing Tylenol caplets, regular strength, 100 count, 500 mg. There are literally dozens of types of Tylenol in caplets, capsules, gel caps, dissolve packs, extra strength, migraine strength, arthritis pain, 325 mg, baby size, 24 count, 30 count, 50 count....well you get the idea. Just making sure you are pricing the right item would be time consuming. And that doesn't take into consideration the time it takes to move from area to area within the store. I did a big pricing project similar to this a few times. It was 300 items and took me about 12 hours. That was in a store I did my personal grocery shopping at all the time, so I knew where everything was.

I started doing one a few years again and it was taking so long I ended up contacting them and having them remove it from my assignments. Haven't signed up for one since. I didn't think it was worth the time/money.

I signed up for one a few years ago. The 75 items blossomed into 250 broken into 7 or 8 'modules.'. The first day it took 5 hours to do the three largest modules. I was in excruciating pain. Standing for hours was why I left retail! I called my scheduler and she told me to finish the next day and upped the pay to $150. I drugged myself up and managed to finish the next day in only three hours. I would never sign up for one again.

These are typically 10 foot pool shops. This is probably the MSC's worst shop they have. The only ones of this type that could be worth it are:
1) A small gas station convenience store which your looking at 20 minutes and at most 30. I would still want $20 on those.
2) Fast food place which take 5 to 10 minutes max. Those I would do for $10 min if on my way to other shops or in the vicinity of where I need to be. Otherwise I would need $15.

Stay away from the grocery store ones you have been warned unless getting like $300 or more.

Shopping Western NY, Northeast and Central PA, and parts of Ohio and West Virginia. Have car will travel anywhere if the monies right.

@BuffaloNY101 wrote:

These are typically 10 foot pool shops.

I think I'm going to increase that to a 50-foot pole for these shops.

I got an email recently bonusing one of the 42-item price check shops to $30. I thought about taking it, but then decided to ask here first. Glad I did.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/21/2020 01:39PM by Alan-Texas.

Thanks to this wonderful forum I've avoided those price checks

I did 2 drugstores for bonuses. There were 50 items per store, minus items the store did not carry (alcohol). The first one took an hour (Learning curve). The second one was 35 minutes. I was approached by an employee who asked if I was doing the price check. I said yes, and she left me alone.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

In my experience the idea of time is way off on these. Double their time estimate.

I rarely do these types of shops with two exceptions: 1. Checking the price and looking for new items carried in the audio products section at the big red mass retailer — about 200 items but you just took pics in the store of the shelves and entered the items you found — the work was later in the evening going through the pics and checking the price tags, and it paid $100 or so and 2. My favorite MSP recently had a ~50 item price check/scavenger hunt for about $4 per item (regardless if you found the exact item or a just a close match)... that made it VERY worthwhile. I did 4 of them over the course of a day — again, same method of taking pics of the shelves, then entering the prices later by looking at the pics on the laptop. I would do that again any day every day. After store visits data entry I cleared about $60 an hour — plus they covered expenses to make some small purchases

I often see the 100-300 item price checks that pay like .20 per item, has to be specific. No way would I ever touch those.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/20/2020 05:17PM by ngbmediashop.

Glad to hear that there are companies that pay well for the price checks!

I do the 50-item price checks and I'm usually in and out in 20-30 minutes. If someone asks me what I'm doing, I show them my phone and tell them. I've had no issues. The only problem I've had is for certain stores (gas stations), they don't price anything so it feels like a waste of time as you have to select "No price listed" for most of the items. The MSC still pays though and they even bonus these at times from $10 to $20. Not bad for 20-30 minutes!

Funny. First all of the "not on your life" people showed up and now all the "love these shops" people are showing up. I think I'm back to where I started.

I haven't done these shops but I think different companies pay different amounts. I think when you first posted we all thought of the company that makes it seem like a short shop and pays very little. Then other people started showing up and posting about some decent paying shops. I think if you can find those decent paying ones, you should do it!

@Alan-Texas wrote:

Funny. First all of the "not on your life" people showed up and now all the "love these shops" people are showing up. I think I'm back to where I started.

When I first joined the forum, I passed on shops solely based on forum feedback. A big box furniture shop I could not pass up due to the fee. I enjoyed the shop!

I recommend that you do two of the smaller shops to try them out. The first will be your learning curve. These may be your cup of tea.

ETA: Everyone shops for different reasons and everyone has different tastes. The same thing that makes my sun rise could make your puddle muddy. There is only one way to find out.

@Alan-Texas wrote:

Funny. First all of the "not on your life" people showed up and now all the "love these shops" people are showing up. I think I'm back to where I started.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/22/2020 11:05PM by HonnyBrown.

Everyone shops for different reasons. One person's 10-ft pole is another person's go to shop. The only way to find out which it is for you is to try one. Make sure to keep in mind what the 10 footers hated.

Good luck!

@Alan-Texas wrote:

Funny. First all of the "not on your life" people showed up and now all the "love these shops" people are showing up. I think I'm back to where I started.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

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Has anyone done the covert instore price checks?

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