Has anyone done these? When I click more details, I get a message that says I need to be Shopping Scout certified to be eligible for the shop. I just want to find out more about it to see if I WANT to be eligible for the shop.

@DRJ wrote:

Has anyone done these? When I click more details, I get a message that says I need to be Shopping Scout certified to be eligible for the shop. I just want to find out more about it to see if I WANT to be eligible for the shop.

There are quite a few topics out there on this one. Shopping scout is the new MSC for the project.

You literally scan every single sku in a warehouse store. It takes hours, drains your phone battery, and is difficult to stay undercover for that long.

Some people like them but for the amount of hours it takes , it's not worth it for me.

I hope that helps?

Thanks. That does help. I did see something about warehouse scans a while ago. I wasn't sure this was the same shop. I think I'll pass too.

I don’t know about warehouse stores, but I have done some other types of stores. It depends on the pay, I am not likely to go out for less than $30 per hour. But I have been tricked into doing them for less with a promise of consistency, only for the consistency to be non-existent.

So how do you become shopper scout certified?

@thewriteways wrote:

So how do you become shopper scout certified?

You have to email the scheduler and ask to attend one of her webinars.

I just did one of these. It was a large warehouse grocery store. The details said 80-120 items to scan. Ok, for $50. I accept and download the app (missions app) now I have a msg that says there may be up to 255 items!! The missions/ emerge app is terrible… I have to leave the big warehouse and go outside to load my work and get the next mission. The 2 hr job took me almost 4 hrs!! Had to uninstall the app and reinstall a few times. Not worth it. You are walking all around this big warehouse and going outside and waiting, waiting, waiting for the app to load properly.

When the amount of work goes up by 100% and the fee remains the same that is an immediate cancel for me. I used to do the 50 item ones in gas stations and drug stores a few years ago. They paid fair for 15 minutes of work.

@87Supra wrote:

When the amount of work goes up by 100% and the fee remains the same that is an immediate cancel for me. I used to do the 50 item ones in gas stations and drug stores a few years ago. They paid fair for 15 minutes of work.

I don't mind the price check ones that are under 100 items as those can go pretty quick. The one where you have to scan every single sku in the warehouse store is definitely not worth it..

I just received new offers for shopping scout, doing the same large grocery warehouse for $35! And, I can do it every other week, on the 2 days offered. HMMMMMMM, price went DOWN FROM $50 TO ONLY $35! Withe the same language of This project contains approximately 68- 120 Grocery items to check (final counts may vary).Depending on the location, there can be anywhere between 55 and 232 products to price. Your shopper pay will reflect the number of items.
*Prices are submitted via the Missions app. However, the top pay is still $35. So, who wants to get paid less than $10 an hour? NOT ME.

The email i got for the $35 is for convenience stores, not warehouse stores. If the locations have all the items priced it takes about an hour, if no shelves have any prices it takes about 20 minutes. And you don't have to ask the CSR for cigarette prices, just report the prices that you can see posted.

FWIW when the lists jump in size the MSC will up the pay rate. They're very frustrated with Shopping Scout lately. I'm in regular contact with the schedulers who work this.

I've been lied to once again. I was promised that I would be paid within 72 hours, And that didn't happen.. So I went back and I read the guidelines and it says that I will be paid the regular way in the middle of next month. If I had known that I was going to have to wait for payment I would have asked for more money to start with.

I spoke to the scheduler, and she sent me some info. It's intensive. The warehouse store is the one headquartered in WA state. You literally have to scan every item inside the entire store, including meat, freezer, produce, clothes, seasonal, etc. I think she said it takes 5-9 hours depending on the store and might take 2 days.

@cubbiecat wrote:

I spoke to the scheduler, and she sent me some info. It's intensive. The warehouse store is the one headquartered in WA state. You literally have to scan every item inside the entire store, including meat, freezer, produce, clothes, seasonal, etc. I think she said it takes 5-9 hours depending on the store and might take 2 days.

That is a HARD pass.. doesn't matter what it pays.

yikes

The managers of these warehouses are on the lookout for the people scanning. They do not want them in their stores because the work is not contracted by them.

The previous company that scheduled these assignments was not forthcoming with shoppers about who was using the info collected. Their LOA did not help if you were confronted by store management.

When the entire store is visible through the security cameras it’s impossible to be stealthy enough to not be noticed during a 6+ hour visit where you physically need to touch almost every product to scan the barcode. Open every freezer and cooler door to dig through the cases of bagged fruits or vegetables to find the barcodes. Every item in the meat and prepped meal coolers directly in front of the glass windows where the employees are working is not something that goes unnoticed.

You may get an assignment or two completed, but it could be at the risk of loosing your membership for this warehouse.

This would be bad enough if it was sanctioned by the place you were scanning. But the fact that it is clandestine, and you really have no right to be there doing it, just blows my mind. There are a million better ways in this world to make money, in and out of the shopping world. I strongly believe that everyone should do what they think is best for them. However, I would like to have the opportunity to sit down with someone that is about to do one of these and talk about better options for making money. This is comically bad. I had a terrible experience trying to do a small price scan at a convenience store, and I didn't get paid. At that time I wasn't even fully aware that I wasn't supposed to be there. I was surprised when I talked to them about it and the manager of the store had no idea what it was. I was asked to leave. I didn't get paid anything, despite driving about 60 miles to get to the location one-way. I couldn't even begin to imagine trying to do one as big as what is described here.

I was scanning at one to two stores every single week for at least six months and recently added a third store. Today I was kicked out of that store and told not to scan there again by management and when I texted my contact for help they basically told me too bad. The PDF (which there is no way to look at until you are accepted to do the shop) says not be be noticed doing it by staff which is literally impossible. You have to scan sections that are right in front of the meat department, bakery, and pharmacy, and in addition they have staff members staked out permanently in various locations. I am disabled and visibly queer so it’s hard for me to fly under the radar anyway, but if a staff member or loss prevention member decides that you are acting suspiciously and watch you, none of the fake “scenarios” they give you to tell them are going to prevent you from being kicked out, and you will get absolutely no support from Mystery Shopper Services if that happens. You just lose your income. I suspect that the person who was working at that location before me was kicked out too, so they were watching for people scanning. It took me seven hours to do, and I had to have my phone plugged into a back up battery half the time. They are smoking some good @#$%& if they think there is any way to not be seen by staff members while you are there all day long. They all were used to seeing me at the other two locations, they just didn’t hassle me there for whatever reason.

I unassigned myself from all of the locations. It’s not worth it to me to constantly have the threat of being cornered by some overly zealous employee and immediately lose a regular source of income due to MSS’s total lack of support and unrealistic expectations for their shopping scouts.

I've done the gas stations and found those to be more time consuming than advertised. I wouldn't touch the warehouse ones with a 10 foot pole unless there was a large bonus (like $200). Those stores are usually busy so not only are you doing a lot of items, you're dealing with regular shopper traffic as well.

The warehouse club store based in WA state will allow you in without a membership if you tell them you are using the pharmacy. Not sure if it's a law or just a big profit center.

This helps if there are TV, laptop or tire shops in the stores which I've done before.

And of course if I'm in the store I'm grabbing one of the $1.50 soda and half pound (?) hotdog deals. I think it may be the best food deal ever, "For reference, the price has not been raised on the combo since 1985..."

I did the project once and I was a Instacart/Shipt shopper at the time so that kept me from being bothered too much cuz they were used to seeing me in the store all the time. It took two days and I swear I would never do it again. It was not worth it for me!

I know I've said this before, but I don't mind. The projects where they give you the list of items and you price check them as long as it makes sense. I do the warehouse Club project for that one and I can get in and out of the store in about 20 minutes cuz it's the same list of items every other week. I've done the grocery store and gas station versions but not without a substantial bonus.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/01/2022 04:27PM by foodluvr.

@wrosie wrote:

The warehouse club store based in WA state will allow you in without a membership if you tell them you are using the pharmacy. Not sure if it's a law or just a big profit center.

This helps if there are TV, laptop or tire shops in the stores which I've done before.

And of course if I'm in the store I'm grabbing one of the $1.50 soda and half pound (?) hotdog deals. I think it may be the best food deal ever, "For reference, the price has not been raised on the combo since 1985..."

They're 1/4 pound dogs fwiw.

@kittycat wrote:

The missions/ emerge app is terrible… I have to leave the big warehouse and go outside to load my work and get the next mission. The 2 hr job took me almost 4 hrs!! Had to uninstall the app and reinstall a few times. Not worth it. You are walking all around this big warehouse and going outside and waiting, waiting, waiting for the app to load properly.

Is that the actual name of the app? Missions or Emerge or Missions/Emerge?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/14/2022 05:26PM by LuvsTraveling.

I have done this Shopping Scout jobs at a hipster grocery store, and it wasn't bad for a hundred items or so. These warehouse store jobs are impossible to do without being spotted. In my area (NYC), they are paying just $108 for the whole store. Really? That's not even minimum wage here!

Yep. Any store worth their salt will spot somebody scanning the items. Impossible to do that many and not get noticed!

@lmswan wrote:

I have done this Shopping Scout jobs at a hipster grocery store, and it wasn't bad for a hundred items or so. These warehouse store jobs are impossible to do without being spotted. In my area (NYC), they are paying just $108 for the whole store. Really? That's not even minimum wage here!

Yes they're paying that for the entire store and if you don't get enough scans you get paid nothing. So approach with caution!

I did the chain drug store scans. They were about 50 items. That was a good place to start.

Yes they are legit. Email your scheduler and request the certification and you will start seeing and being able to apply to those jobs.