"Screening for potential project"

February 08, 2022 05:54PM

"Dear Sentry Shopper,

We have been approached to manage a unique project that requires pre-screening to determine the level of interest from the Sentry shopping community as well as for us to gain an understanding of how many interested shoppers would quality to participate in the project.

Should the project be greenlit, the tasks involved will include searching for a product category using assigned keywords, submitting related screen captures, and purchasing the product. We anticipate the fee for this project will be between $5 and $10 plus reimbursement for the purchase.

If this sounds like something you are interested in, please click on the link below to complete the screening. If not, please disregard this email.

Thank you for being a Sentry Shopper.

Sincerely,

Team Sentry

WOW, $5-$10?? Call me crazy but I think I'll disregard!

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February 08, 2022 06:06PM

@KokoBWare wrote:

"Dear Sentry Shopper,

We have been approached to manage a unique project that requires pre-screening to determine the level of interest from the Sentry shopping community as well as for us to gain an understanding of how many interested shoppers would quality to participate in the project.

Should the project be greenlit, the tasks involved will include searching for a product category using assigned keywords, submitting related screen captures, and purchasing the product. We anticipate the fee for this project will be between $5 and $10 plus reimbursement for the purchase.

If this sounds like something you are interested in, please click on the link below to complete the screening. If not, please disregard this email.

Thank you for being a Sentry Shopper.

Sincerely,

Team Sentry

WOW, $5-$10?? Call me crazy but I think I'll disregard!

I think it depends on the product. It was something that I would use I would be okay with the reimbursement for the product and 5 to $10 for the work. My concern is that if it's leaving Amazon reviews it's going to get you shut down pretty quickly.

February 08, 2022 06:10PM

I’ve done shops similar to these from other companies. However, the form concentrates on reviews which isn’t ok.

February 08, 2022 06:10PM

Yes the first question is are you an Amazon Prime member. If you hit yes, you are asked to submit the URL of your profile. If you hit no, they say, we'll be in touch.

So not only aren't they paying much, they want you to be a Prime member so there are no shipping charges.

But you are paying for Prime membership.

February 08, 2022 06:20PM

This project would not require leaving reviews. We sent the prescreening email to gauge the level of interest from our shoppers before proceeding with the project.

February 08, 2022 06:57PM

Well, I'd be interested in doing the project, but I don't have Prime. My sister does, and I live with her, but that's not what the screener asked for. Why would we need to have two Prime memberships in the same household?

Or if it's worth my while, I'd subscribe to Prime. But I can't justify that with the limited information you are providing.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/08/2022 07:33PM by wrosie.

February 08, 2022 07:03PM

There was another company that did "search" shops to see how high the product ranked on Amazon's pages, and price checking with a big box store. You didn't have to do reviews. I would do those shops again, if that's what they are.

February 08, 2022 07:35PM

Perhaps if Sentry were to fire its owner, I'd consider it.

February 08, 2022 08:14PM

I saw $5 or $10 and figured it is not worth my time to even read what they are offering. I don't give free information (respond to survey). I believe this company requires quizzes for their assignments, so even more work on top of the assignments. Seems like a waste of time. If they said $15 per assignment, that might get me interested.

I'm doing a favor to a scheduler for a Lamborghini shop (another company) and it's like a 1x shop, so I'm having to review all the guidelines and prepare for a lousy $15 that I will only be able to do 1x. But the scheduler is nice and takes care of me on other shops, so I figured I would suffer my way thru it to help them out. Not gonna do that for Sentry.

February 08, 2022 11:03PM

Not sure of what the negativity is regarding this shop other than towards the MSC. I would try a job with Sentry but it seems they only have them in another state. I have done similar jobs for another MSC where the fee was $3 plus reimbursement for delivery and product charges. Yes, loved our pricey protein bars.

February 08, 2022 11:55PM

The client will get shut down, not the shopper.

@foodluvr wrote:

My concern is that if it's leaving Amazon reviews it's going to get you shut down pretty quickly.

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

February 08, 2022 11:57PM

I did a similar project a few years ago for a different MSC. The fee was similar. It was worth it for the product I received.

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

February 10, 2022 06:13PM

@HonnyBrown wrote:

The client will get shut down, not the shopper.

@foodluvr wrote:

My concern is that if it's leaving Amazon reviews it's going to get you shut down pretty quickly.

The shopper gets shut down on Amazon from leaving future reviews if they feel like you're getting compensated for buying products and leaving reviews. Amazon can shut down your account from leaving reviews if they think you're leaving reviews for products that you're being reimbursed for.

February 10, 2022 09:15PM

Nope. They shut down the supplier, not the shopper. The shopper is more valuable to Amazon. The shopper will get scolded but not shut down.

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

February 10, 2022 09:46PM

@HonnyBrown wrote:

Nope. They shut down the supplier, not the shopper. The shopper is more valuable to Amazon. The shopper will get scolded but not shut down.

Not true! I know plenty of people that are no longer allowed to leave any kind of review on Amazon. If Amazon thinks that the review isn't fully accurate or unbiased they will shut your profile down for leaving any kind of review on their site. Plenty of influencers who get reimbursed for trying products are in this boat.

Also if you try to leave a review for a product that they have flagged, they may choose not to post your review either.

From Amazon: If your review was paid for in any way, or you received anything for it, the review will not be accepted or removed. If you have a history of doing reviews which are subsequently removed, at some point Amazon will stop you being able to review. If this happens, at least you didn't get your account banned.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/10/2022 09:50PM by foodluvr.

February 10, 2022 10:12PM

I too have done what sounds like a very similar shop for a different msc. I only did it a few times as the product was often not something I had any interest in. But the few times the product met my needs/wants/reimbursement value it was not a bad job. There were no reviews needed and this job advertisement does not mention reviews either.

February 11, 2022 04:53AM

I filled out the survey. If the product is one I can use or gift, I like to do these.

February 11, 2022 10:38AM

You made my point, thank you.

@foodluvr wrote:

@HonnyBrown wrote:

Nope. They shut down the supplier, not the shopper. The shopper is more valuable to Amazon. The shopper will get scolded but not shut down.

Not true! I know plenty of people that are no longer allowed to leave any kind of review on Amazon. If Amazon thinks that the review isn't fully accurate or unbiased they will shut your profile down for leaving any kind of review on their site. Plenty of influencers who get reimbursed for trying products are in this boat.

Also if you try to leave a review for a product that they have flagged, they may choose not to post your review either.

From Amazon: If your review was paid for in any way, or you received anything for it, the review will not be accepted or removed. If you have a history of doing reviews which are subsequently removed, at some point Amazon will stop you being able to review. If this happens, at least you didn't get your account banned.

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

February 11, 2022 02:23PM

I did a similar project with a different company for a product I wouldn’t normally buy.

After I completed the low paying shop -the client contacted me.

They offered me $35 to leave a review on Amazon.

Is this ethical?

I did it. But I was honest. They had a sample review using buzz words. My review paid $25 not $35

February 11, 2022 06:27PM

Field Agent has Buy and Try shops. You try out the product and give an honest opinion. If the opinion is positive, it gets posted on social media. I thought I was leaving the review for FA only. I no longer leave good reviews of the products I try.

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

February 11, 2022 06:45PM

@HonnyBrown wrote:

Field Agent has Buy and Try shops. You try out the product and give an honest opinion. If the opinion is positive, it gets posted on social media. I thought I was leaving the review for FA only. I no longer leave good reviews of the products I try.

That's really horrible that they only use the positive reviews and use them on social media.

February 13, 2022 01:35AM

I would do it. Sentry has a lovely scheduler and I have no problem with the owner. The holiday ham shop was amazing and the payment was quick.

Not my circus - Not my monkeys @(*.*)@

~Polish Proverb~

February 13, 2022 07:35PM

I have gotten contacted for a review when I purchased something on Amazon. In my case it was not something I bought for this mystery shop, In theory the "client" you speak about sounds to me like the seller of the product. When I order on Amazon I do not think the seller knows that you as the buyer are a mystery shopper purchasing the product. I assume they send out these "paid" review solicitations based on some computer model, not on the fact that you are a mystery shopper. Amazon seems to do this often so I assume it must be legal but maybe not ethical. I believe when they post these solicited reviews they have to indicate the reviewer got the item for free or a discount.

@Tanischri87 wrote:

I did a similar project with a different company for a product I wouldn’t normally buy.

After I completed the low paying shop -the client contacted me.

They offered me $35 to leave a review on Amazon.

Is this ethical?

I did it. But I was honest. They had a sample review using buzz words. My review paid $25 not $35

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