Inventory count of hats and gloves at sporting goods store

November 02, 2024 07:37PM

I have done these for several years so I happily accepted another round. In the past, we just had to stock and straighten the hats and gloves for the two brands of stores I do. There were other store names that required an inventory. It appears that for Dicks and Academy, we now have to take inventory. How time consuming will this be for those who have done the inventory? Academy is always a mess and already takes more time than the pay, but the other stores used to balance it out. My impression is I will do the first round and be done. Good things never last.

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November 02, 2024 11:58PM

This company keeps adding work to you in the jobs with no extra pay. The inventory is going to be a mess.

Shopping Arkansas, Louisiana, & Mississippi.

November 04, 2024 03:36AM

Surely she knew that an inventory was required and didn’t put that in the pre-staffing email. That's what bothers me the most.

November 04, 2024 03:44AM

Yes; I feel kind of like I was taken to the wood shed in that it was not presented in the staffing email. Also, these stores have been $16 for at least the last four years. With no inventory, I figured it was ok. But I will reconsider after the first round.

November 04, 2024 07:47AM

Same here. I actually called her about it when I saw it. I'm giving it one shot right now. So far...kinda of annoying. It's doubled the time per Dicks store.

November 04, 2024 03:16PM

Did a fair amount of these back in the day. Some required inventory counts, some didn't. The time kinda balanced out between them.

Have synthesizers, will travel...

November 04, 2024 06:51PM

Not worth it unless you feel their fee is acceptable. Stores are always a mess. Employees do not know where other places the item may be so it requires wandering the store. Did several last year, not worth it.

November 05, 2024 10:32AM

FWIW I did appeal to the scheduler today and got a bit of a pay bump...might be worth raising a slight ruckus.

November 05, 2024 09:08PM

I did some at the end of 2022 and didn't have inventory, and still found them barely worth the pay. One store had a note in the app that they had multiple displays. That kind of info should be included in the staffing emails. It can simply say "Some stores may have more than one display", at least shoppers may have an idea of what they're getting into, but this is the usual tactic of making it sound easy so people take the low pay.

November 07, 2024 03:14PM

I'm a bit at my wit's end with CI. I used to like working with them, but this fee low balling and grossly under-describing their projects accurately have steered me away from them. They seem sort of oblivious that by misrepresenting the time and effort their projects require, they can screw up a whole day's schedule...and maybe they think people can live off their $10/hour projects? I dunno. Spending time elsewhere these days.

November 07, 2024 06:45PM

@Cassiespark wrote:

I'm a bit at my wit's end with CI. I used to like working with them, but this fee low balling and grossly under-describing their projects accurately have steered me away from them. They seem sort of oblivious that by misrepresenting the time and effort their projects require, they can screw up a whole day's schedule...and maybe they think people can live off their $10/hour projects? I dunno. Spending time elsewhere these days.

I've been busy with some other stuff this week, and I've just now started getting caught up on emails. The projects I've been emailed about (such as the time-consuming jewelry reload and 5 display reload for skin care) are back at $10-$12. Minimum wage in my state is still only $7.25, but most places in my area pay upwards of $13 an hour. I made $40 doing a recall project at 1 store the other week and already got the direct deposit. I can do a gas station down the street for $10 and a $2 reimbursement in 10 mins. No logical person would pick up their projects for the $10 or $12 (before even paying your self employment taxes, using your device, data, printing out a planogram, etc.)

November 07, 2024 06:54PM

@joanna81 wrote:

I did some at the end of 2022 and didn't have inventory, and still found them barely worth the pay. One store had a note in the app that they had multiple displays. That kind of info should be included in the staffing emails. It can simply say "Some stores may have more than one display", at least shoppers may have an idea of what they're getting into, but this is the usual tactic of making it sound easy so people take the low pay.

It's been 2 years now, but this is the only shop I have ever aborted after investing significant time. It took 20 minutes just to locate the manager. Then it was such a disaster that after about 30 minutes of trying to get things in order, I just walked out and cut my losses. Among other things I found a bunch of items with the tags missing and I was not going to hunt the manager down again to ask them to print and affix tags for me. I was a perfectionist back then, and am still very detail oriented, but if it were in the same situation today I would probably stick them in the back of the other items and move on. The next person got a big bonus, and I had already done most of the work so they lucked out. Plus they probably didn't bother to get the tags replaced.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/07/2024 06:58PM by bradkcrew.

November 07, 2024 07:01PM

Brad, I ran into a similar issue with two grocery stores for a different project. Spent about 20 mins trying to get a manager, and almost walked out. When I finally did get someone, one manager was upset that they had sent an unsolicited delivery and they would be refusing any other deliveries, etc so I had the joy of hearing that little rant. Luckily, that was a different project (stuffed animals), so I just straightened out what was on the display. reported as such and went on my way.

November 07, 2024 08:34PM

@joanna81 wrote:

Brad, I ran into a similar issue with two grocery stores for a different project. Spent about 20 mins trying to get a manager, and almost walked out. When I finally did get someone, one manager was upset that they had sent an unsolicited delivery and they would be refusing any other deliveries, etc so I had the joy of hearing that little rant. Luckily, that was a different project (stuffed animals), so I just straightened out what was on the display. reported as such and went on my way.

Oh, I also ran into a hostile manager at a drug store and had to wait for about 30 minutes for him to show me the back stock. (In the meantime I did do the rest of the shop though.) Finally he took me back, refused to let me put any of it out, and actually asked me to take it all with me!! Good times! Added to my do not shop beanie location list.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/07/2024 08:35PM by bradkcrew.

November 08, 2024 10:18PM

Yup, sounds about right. This stuffed animal thing is off the rails. I get it that the company decided to fire their own regional manager/merchandisers as a way to save money, but no one involved seemed to consider the store's needs or experience expectations. And they are sending out people to try and replace employees who have the knowledge needed, answers about shipments/processes/returns/ and telling these same people they only need to organize and count stuffed animals. Perfect example of them under-describing the reality.

But oh well, lots of other things to work on!

@bradkcrew wrote:

@joanna81 wrote:

Brad, I ran into a similar issue with two grocery stores for a different project. Spent about 20 mins trying to get a manager, and almost walked out. When I finally did get someone, one manager was upset that they had sent an unsolicited delivery and they would be refusing any other deliveries, etc so I had the joy of hearing that little rant. Luckily, that was a different project (stuffed animals), so I just straightened out what was on the display. reported as such and went on my way.

Oh, I also ran into a hostile manager at a drug store and had to wait for about 30 minutes for him to show me the back stock. (In the meantime I did do the rest of the shop though.) Finally he took me back, refused to let me put any of it out, and actually asked me to take it all with me!! Good times! Added to my do not shop beanie location list.

November 09, 2024 07:12AM

Not sure about anyone else here, but I dumped this project after this round. This is way too much crap for the money now that we have to inventory every store. Several of the manager's have been rude af as well and expected me to essentially build their displays for them. Nope.

November 12, 2024 01:00PM

@weatherman2111 wrote:

Not sure about anyone else here, but I dumped this project after this round. This is way too much crap for the money now that we have to inventory every store. Several of the manager's have been rude af as well and expected me to essentially build their displays for them. Nope.

I took a "break" from this project for November so far. If there are some bonused locations, I might grab them near the end of the month, but for now, I was a little tired of the hassle.

November 13, 2024 05:45AM

It's a union mentality mindset but if we all just say no to these low pay time sucking gigs, it would force changes to happen. Those people sitting in their cubicles forget that without field reps, they wouldn't have a job. I know that's a double edge sword but without us, who needs them.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/13/2024 05:46AM by Bob Stone.

November 13, 2024 03:19PM

I took one that I've done in the past. The merchandise has Always been out on display already so I thought inventory count won't be bad. Guess who had two massive boxes crammed full of last year's inventory sitting in the back room waiting on me--ugh. Sometimes the gamble pays and sometimes it barely pays.

November 15, 2024 05:36AM

I took the first round not realizing inventory was required. My first store had not placed the merchandise out, and the manager said it was not accessible due to a recent store shipment blocking the back room. The second store had all its merchandise out, two displays; and it wasn't in too bad of shape. However, doing the inventory for 121 items extended my visit by an hour. 10 foot pole at this juncture.

November 15, 2024 07:31PM

I appreciate all of this information. I will pass.

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Inventory count of hats and gloves at sporting goods store

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