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How much more detailed?

July 29, 2022 02:52PM
I know the general consensus is that shops for Coyle are very long and detailed and are people's 10-foot pole list.
I did one many years ago for them as a sit-down and have done several takeouts. ( the take-outs were easy with no feedback from Coyle. )
I have also done many successful shops of A Closer Look and want to know if they are similar or is Coyle so much more detailed or difficult.
As an experienced hopper, I find the A Closer Look quite easy, and before I attempt another Coyle want to get some feedback.
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July 29, 2022 11:36PM
After Ardent kicked me out for not accepting any shops for 30 days, after I asked for a break, because the narratives were really getting to me. I pretty much stopped doing all narrative heavy shops. Which effectively keeps me from to me from working for Coyle or A Closer Look and a couple of others, but I don't remember their names...
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July 30, 2022 12:02AM
Coyle is the WORST. I'd rather just pay for the dinner myself, instead of all the back-and-forth with their crappy editors. Top of my 10 foot pole list...
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July 30, 2022 01:14AM
I found for both companies it really depends on the editor. Some of them are great, others apparently don't understand English. It's kind of a crap shoot who edits your report, so I only shop for Coyle and ACL sporadically so I don't burn out in frustration.
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July 30, 2022 03:26AM
Coyle reports aren't that bad once one gets the nick of it. The problem is that their guidelines are buried on their website and need to be read numerous times in order to get what they want. That said, I have only completed shops for them which have been in limited access areas and heavily bonused.

ACL is straight forward on their report requirements and I haven't encountered any with heavy writing demands, usually only eight paragraphs or so. As with Coyle, I only accept shops from them with fees that make it worth my while.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/31/2022 04:35AM by Rousseau.
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July 30, 2022 10:38AM
In my 19+ yrs. shopping, I have completed a single job for both Coyle and ACL. The reason for each being a totally unacceptable work:pay ratio. It was/is not the narrative, rather the compensation for the extensive reports.
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July 30, 2022 11:52AM
While the ACL reports are narrative heavy they are not nearly as involved as the Coyle reports.
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July 30, 2022 05:48PM
I like ACL as in my market they have some restaurants I really enjoy and am willing to do their reports for those. I went online today, not even the 1st of the month yet and every single shop in my very large city was already taken. So despite the complaints of many shoppers on this forum it seems in Los Angeles at least ACL is very popular.
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July 30, 2022 06:10PM
Sandy F,
Where I live also the shops go like hotcakes and I have to be lucky enough to go to the site when they are listed.
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July 30, 2022 07:02PM
Thinking about it some more I am wondering if the shops are popular here in LA just because ACL shops have some value whereas most other shops also are taken at the regular fee which is so far under the minimum wage here that the fees are pitiful. With A C L I can go to a restaurant (most of the shops here are restaurants) and eat a nice meal and spend a few hours doing a report for $50-100 in value for the dinner. With other shops I have to travel for 20 minutes, park and walk for many more minutes, wait around to be helped for a long time in busy places like banks and home depot then travel again to the next place. A bonus might be $2 so still well below minimum wage. If I drive to a nearby restaurant at least I am eating a nice meal so I do not count the time to get there. If there are parking fees it is covered unlike retail shops or fast food places many of which do not have parking lots. When I see lists of shops I might be able to make a route out of each one is at least 30-45 minutes drive from the next, sometimes an hour but there are very few places that are not far from a good sized city with shoppers who live a lot closer than i am to those small towns. And the bonus is maybe $5 at the end of the month..


@Insight wrote:

Sandy F,
Where I live also the shops go like hotcakes and I have to be lucky enough to go to the site when they are listed.
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July 30, 2022 09:09PM
@Rousseau wrote:

Coyle reports aren't that bad once one gets the nick of it. The problem is that there guidelines are buried on their website and need to be read numerous times in order to get what they want. That said, I have only completed shops for them which have been in limited access areas and heavily bonused.

ACL is straight forward on their report requirements and I haven't encountered any with heavy writing demands, usually only eight paragraphs or so. As with Coyle, I only accept shops from them with fees that make it worth my while.

Thats been my experience with Ellis... I used to really dread their reports. Now...it's old hat.
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