I did an Eddie B (athletic apparel) shop this past week for the first time. The shop order called for a "small purchase" and gave a $5 reimbursement. The only problem is that there was nothing in the store priced under $15! No trinkets at the register -- socks were $15, flashlights were $25. The clothing is expensive, if you are on a limited budget, with a skort priced at $75. So the shop fee is going to reimburse me for the rest of the purchase price, (you can't return the purchase per the shop guidelines,) and I ended up doing a shop for nothing but a piece of useless trash. My fellow shoppers be forewarned!

I am not sure about the shop, but could you return the item on your own at a later date? I think this question might have come up in the past. If someone on the forum knows the answer to this question would you explain.
I know some shops don't want a purchase and return on the same day. I would think once you purchase an item it is yours to do what you want with it.

Yes, the Eddie Bauer shops used to worth doing. They had a line of small things near the cash register that could be bought for $5-7 or less. On my first EB shop, I bought a thing called "Dohickey." I'm not putting you on, that is really its name. It attaches to your keychain and you can open cans and bottles, use as a box cutter, and other good stuff. I joined their club and got a free $5 to spend so I bought a second one. On all my shops after that, I got one of those. They made great small Christmas presents. On one of my last shops, they were closing out all those small things because they said they didn't sell well, so they were on clearance and I got 2 for the $5. I did one more shop because they still had the clearance merchandise and this time I got three.

Now they are all gone. The clothes are good clothes but very expensive. If I were going to buy from EB, I would buy online not in the store. If I were to take a shop with a $10 fee and $5 reimbursement, with no return allowed, I likely would buy a pair of socks. Not likely, though, because there are other retailers whose socks I like better. Unless you love Eddie Bauer clothes and you see this as $15 off a retail purchase, this shop is not worth doing. I see the e-mails go out and they are having a hard time finding anyone to do the shops.

Sounds like the Rack Room Shoes shop. It's like $10 pay and a $5 reimbursement, and the cheapest thing I could find in the whole store was a $12 pair of socks. ONE pair. I'm going to pass on these from now on.

When I first looked at your post I thought an "EB" shop was an "ED" shop...Erectile Dysfunction Shop.

I had a similar situation in Victoronix. When I first shopped it there was nothing below $23 in the store and there was a flat fee of $20 with a purchase and no return requirement. The instructions indicated there would be small items near the register....So I went $3 out of pocket and bought a tiny pocket knife 1.5-2 inches long I have never used. My dog eventually found it and chewed on it so I cannot even give it as a gift.
The store is close to where I work and months later I noticed they did have small items near the register. I have since taken this shop but only after walking by the store to see if there are still register area items. Those are not cheap but at least they are useful to me and work really well and cost $9 each.
Of course this approach only works if the store is somewhere you would normally pass by before accepting the job. I do not understand why and how the msc and clients think a coupon off is a good motivation to do a mystery shop. There are a few people out there this would work for but that is a self limiting number of shoppers. The rest get fooled/tricked/persuaded into thinking they can find something. In some cases the client has probably told the msc there are small items available but since these come and go the shopper is at the mercy of whether there is something the day they drop in to do the shop.

they don't have shoe laces for like $2 right near the register? thats what I always get there.

Agree, I get shoelaces too, but I've skipped that shop lately too since it really wasn't worth the time or $

I found a pair of dress socks on clearance $5.

One of my sweetest MSing buys came when I found a pair of boots in the clearance section for $20. With the reimbursement and the $10 birthday coupon I got for signing up at a previous Rack Room shop my out of pocket was about $8.

@pinchers81 wrote:

Sounds like the Rack Room Shoes shop. It's like $10 pay and a $5 reimbursement, and the cheapest thing I could find in the whole store was a $12 pair of socks. ONE pair. I'm going to pass on these from now on.

I had the same problem at another store, I cannot remember the name right now but it was a different mens clothing store. I think it had a $10 reimbursement. I stopped by the store before accepting the shop to see what kind of store it was and noticed the prices. The few small items near the register were all over $10 so I did not take the shop. I had no use for the small items they had available to purchase.

I did one a while ago. The location was in an outlet mall. I got a tank top to work out in for under $7.00 with tax. I agree not worth.

Well, crud. I'm doing my first one tomorrow. No socks or flip-flops or anything similarly cheap? If not, that blows. The client obviously knows there are no $5 items. I'm hoping SOMEthing is clearanced there. I'm doing it because there are two postal shops close together and I needed to waste 20 minutes. Sounds as if I'll truly be wasting it.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/11/2016 03:44AM by PasswordNotFound.

Finding something in a bargain bin is a matter of luck, regardless of what store it is. The same "nothing to buy" problem is present at Foot Locker, which is why I stopped doing those. I will do Rack Room Shoes when I actually need a pair of shoes. Otherwise, the reimbursement is less than the cost of a pair of socks.

You can't return later because the receipts are tracked.....and if they see you returned at best you lose the reimbursement at worst you get banned from the MSC.

for shops like these...i go to the website 1st and see if I can locate anything i would consider worth buying....they do have mens socks for $10

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/11/2016 06:58AM by jmitw.

@pinchers81 wrote:

Sounds like the Rack Room Shoes shop. It's like $10 pay and a $5 reimbursement, and the cheapest thing I could find in the whole store was a $12 pair of socks. ONE pair. I'm going to pass on these from now on.

When I see the only socks are $12 bucks, I buy a package of neon shoelaces (great for luggage identifiers) or a pack of 2 sneaker balls. (they make your shoes smell nice) Both can be had for about $5. There is no way I will pay $12 for one pair of socks!

I have done the EB shops, but I do buy their clothing as it is high quality and lasts forever. With that being said, I will only do them once in a while and prefer it after I have an EB $10 coupon that they send to customers via email. They have some good deals on clearance items, but it is hit or miss. I can totally understand not wanting to do the shop if you aren't a regular customer and have to go way over reimbursement to buy something you can't return. It's not worth it. I mainly stay clear of most all retail shops requiring a purchase unless I like the store anyway. Wilson's Leather also is a killer. They have nice merchandise, but I never make any money doing the shop because I end up spending so much. I have a lovely pair of leather dress gloves in a drawer and I haven't used them in two years.

@SunnyDays2 wrote:

When I see the only socks are $12 bucks, I buy a package of neon shoelaces (great for luggage identifiers) or a pack of 2 sneaker balls. (they make your shoes smell nice) Both can be had for about $5. There is no way I will pay $12 for one pair of socks!

I didn't see any items like that, and Lord knows I had plenty of time to look while I wandered around the store for the requisite twenty minutes. Meanwhile, the employees complained about their boyfriends and their co-workers while ignoring every customer in the place.

I thought maybe I had somehow missed these at Rack Room shoes, so I searched their website and can't find sneaker balls or shoe laces listed. I will have to look around for those the next time I go in to buy shoes. Has anyone else actually purchased sneaker balls or shoe laces at Rack Room? It is certainly logical that they would sell laces.

@SunnyDays2 wrote:

@pinchers81 wrote:

Sounds like the Rack Room Shoes shop. It's like $10 pay and a $5 reimbursement, and the cheapest thing I could find in the whole store was a $12 pair of socks. ONE pair. I'm going to pass on these from now on.

When I see the only socks are $12 bucks, I buy a package of neon shoelaces (great for luggage identifiers) or a pack of 2 sneaker balls. (they make your shoes smell nice) Both can be had for about $5. There is no way I will pay $12 for one pair of socks!

@myst4au wrote:

I thought maybe I had somehow missed these at Rack Room shoes, so I searched their website and can't find sneaker balls or shoe laces listed. I will have to look around for those the next time I go in to buy shoes. Has anyone else actually purchased sneaker balls or shoe laces at Rack Room? It is certainly logical that they would sell laces.

@SunnyDays2 wrote:

@pinchers81 wrote:

Sounds like the Rack Room Shoes shop. It's like $10 pay and a $5 reimbursement, and the cheapest thing I could find in the whole store was a $12 pair of socks. ONE pair. I'm going to pass on these from now on.

When I see the only socks are $12 bucks, I buy a package of neon shoelaces (great for luggage identifiers) or a pack of 2 sneaker balls. (they make your shoes smell nice) Both can be had for about $5. There is no way I will pay $12 for one pair of socks!

They have the fluorescent shoe laces and the sneaker balls at every location here and there are 4 stores. The sneaker balls and laces are located very near the front registers, usually on a double-sided fixture near socks.

I will have to look for the fluorescent laces and the sneaker balls in the two Rack Room stores near me.

This was pretty easy as shops go. I got a clearance shirt for $7 (which will get stashed in the gift closet for later use). And I got an associate who was highly knowledgeable about hiking in the area. So win-win for me. I'm still going to ask for more money next time.

I was in an EB store today (on my own time) and the store still had a selection of trinkets. I wonder if discontinuing them was left up to store or regional management.

eBay. New with tags sells. Buy a clearance item and sell it for more. I've done it. Also, remember that MS expenses can be used against taxes.

@MsJudi wrote:

I have a lovely pair of leather dress gloves in a drawer and I haven't used them in two years.

I lost one of a pair of super-nice leather driving gloves this winter, after wearing them only a handful of times. So I need a pair of gloves! You want to sell yours? Seriously....

@myst4au wrote:

I will have to look for the fluorescent laces and the sneaker balls in the two Rack Room stores near me.

You can also ask, "Do you guys have shoelaces? I do this when I shop a newer Rack Room Shoes and I can't find them. Sneaker Balls; the same thing applies. I have seen them in most stores.

I have learned to google the store and get prices before accepting a purchase required shop.

The sneaker balls work great!

Honestly, if I had a $10 shop with a $5 reimbursement and the cheapest thing was an overpriced, useless piece of crap for $10 or $15, I wouldn't give a rat's patoot about being booted from the MSC.

@jmitw wrote:

You can't return later because the receipts are tracked.....and if they see you returned at best you lose the reimbursement at worst you get banned from the MSC.