Staples HP Sleekbook 14-b031us 14" Laptop $143.50 AC AR B&M EXTREME YMMV!

Quote from premansh : 1 per household

the rebate form says: Limit one (1) rebate per qualifying product purchased.

Quote from flashlover : the rebate form says: Limit one (1) rebate per qualifying product purchased.

Trust me I had that experience before and it's always 1 per household. You can always try your luck.

Quote from darksiderising : How does one get started doing the secret shopping thing?

Take a look at the "shoppers wanted" section here: http://mspa.jobslinger.com/exec/sfs/jobboard

Similar for "Merchandizing" - http://www.narms.com/jobbank.html

Get the inside scoop on companies - http://forum.volition.com/default.asp?CAT_ID=2

You need to sign up with a lot of different companies to get a reasonable number of opportunities in your area. They're going to send you a lot of "openings" emails. For that reason, I STRONGLY recommend a dedicated email account. Something like "SecretBob@Outlook.com" (I think it's a good idea to have a "Shopping", a "Finances and Important Stuff", a "Chatting/Friends", and a "Professional/Work" email account. All separate. It's easy enough to manage on a phone or using a desktop email client and makes being organized and avoiding spam on important work/finances accounts a lot easier.)

Generally you get paid via PayPal, if it's under $600 a company does not need your social, and you do have to be able to shell out a small amount of money for a token purchase most of the time. Sometimes more, you might cover a meal or a vet bill and get reimbursed. (Yep, chain vets get secret shopped!)

Shops pay anywhere from $7 (yep, $7) -$50-60 for your time and/or a free "whatever" out of it, be that a meal, a movie, or a massage. If you've got teen children, they can help with some nice paying "compliance" shops. Under your supervision, kid tries to buy beer/cigarettes/porn/M-rated games/R-rated movie, etc. Just something where the business isn't supposed to let the kid buy it, and then you report the results.

Spend some time in the forum I listed above to get a feel for things.

Hope that helped!

Quote from Zanthexter : Take a look at the "shoppers wanted" section here: http://mspa.jobslinger.com/exec/sfs/jobboard Similar for "Merchandizing" - http://www.narms.com/jobbank.html Get the inside scoop on companies - http://forum.volition.com/default.asp?CAT_ID=2 You need to sign up with a lot of different companies to get a reasonable number of opportunities in your area. They're going to send you a lot of "openings" emails. For that reason, I STRONGLY recommend a dedicated email account. Something like "SecretBob@Outlook.com" (I think it's a good idea to have a "Shopping", a "Finances and Important Stuff", a "Chatting/Friends", and a "Professional/Work" email account. All separate. It's easy enough to manage on a phone or using a desktop email client and makes being organized and avoiding spam on important work/finances accounts a lot easier.) Generally you get paid via PayPal, if it's under $600 a company does not need your social, and you do have to be able to shell out a small amount of money for a token purchase most of the time. Sometimes more, you might cover a meal or a vet bill and get reimbursed. (Yep, chain vets get secret shopped!) Shops pay anywhere from $7 (yep, $7) -$50-60 for your time and/or a free "whatever" out of it, be that a meal, a movie, or a massage. If you've got teen children, they can help with some nice paying "compliance" shops. Under your supervision, kid tries to buy beer/cigarettes/porn/M-rated games/R-rated movie, etc. Just something where the business isn't supposed to let the kid buy it, and then you report the results. Spend some time in the forum I listed above to get a feel for things. Hope that helped!

I just wanted to tell you that I thought that this was really a great post. It embodies the spirit of what I think it means to help others. I cut and pasted your entire email to a friend of a friend who would really like to do this kind of work to supplement her income while her kids are in school. If she is as appreciative as I think she will be I won't feel ANY guilt in asking for a second slice of her incredible homemade cakes this weekend! ! Seriously, I did think that this was a wondeful post! THANK YOU!

Can someone link me to the $75 off coupon?

Sent from the official Slickdeals App for iPhone & iPod Touch.

I checked the Potomac Yards Staples location this morning and asked for the SKU. The employee said I was like the 20th person who asked for this laptop and he said it was damaged. BTW, their computer system showed none in other surrounding stores.

Quote from premansh : Trust me I had that experience before and it's always 1 per household. You can always try your luck.

I bought two and got a check from HP for $100. It's one per product.

Quote from SDAddict16 : I checked the Potomac Yards Staples location this morning and asked for the SKU. The employee said I was like the 20th person who asked for this laptop and he said it was damaged. BTW, their computer system showed none in other surrounding stores.

Same story in Northern California. Waste of gas!

Quote from spending2much : I just wanted to tell you that I thought that this was really a great post. It embodies the spirit of what I think it means to help others. I cut and pasted your entire email to a friend of a friend who would really like to do this kind of work to supplement her income while her kids are in school. If she is as appreciative as I think she will be I won't feel ANY guilt in asking for a second slice of her incredible homemade cakes this weekend! ! Seriously, I did think that this was a wondeful post! THANK YOU!

You're very welcome And, really, you made my day, thank you

Your friend might want to focus more on the merchandizing than the secret shopping. Merchandizing is "route based", at least once you get established with it. You can end up going to the same place on a regular basis. Usually "flexibly" scheduled, something like "We need it done between Thursday and Saturday". Secret shopping is much more chaotic, and they specifically try to NOT have you visit the same store again in a short period of time. (They don't want you becoming known, or one person's opinion becoming too influential.)

LOT's of insider info on Volition

Try my luck at staples today. It is in-store, however it is not brand new, it is refurbished.

Save my $145

Scored one Philadelphia at Roosevelt Blvd near Red Lion Rd. today.

$209 out the door w/ $50 mail in rebate to complete. Thanks for the heads up, OP

I went to Staples in SoCal that showed "low stock" on 3/7 (last day of that $75 coupon).

I lied and said that I called earlier and you guys confirmed this unit was in. I'm here 5 minutes later, where is it? The Staples tech guy actually went along with the story and was like, yeah, I thought we had it, but I guess we don't. He thought it was a display in the front and we went and looked and it wasn't even on display. He was like "Oh, thought this was a Sleekbook (showing me a different HP model).".

Then he went to the backroom along with the assistant manager who was smiling the whole time and came back out 2 minutes later and said that they don't have it.

So then I tell them, that at first you tell me you have it. Then you tell me that it is a display unit. Then you tell me you DON'T have it. Tell me why I should believe you. The assistant manager was still smiling and didn't care. He told me I could speak to the GM when he comes in next week.

Have you guys had similar experiences?

Quote from qingdom : Scored one Philadelphia at Roosevelt Blvd near Red Lion Rd. today. $209 out the door w/ $50 mail in rebate to complete. Thanks for the heads up, OP

Wow! Do you know if they had more than one? That's my local store!

Quote from hactehbka813 : Wow! Do you know if they had more than one? That's my local store!

They checked their system, said they had a display and could not sell the display unless discontinued (it is discontinued)... the one they sold me is a brand new box, unopened.

If I were to guess, they might still have the open box display one in the back. Help yourself. But keep in mind the $75 coupon has expired today 3/11/2013.

So you'll be paying $284-ish, but getting the $50 rebate, making it $234-ish.


Willow Grove has a damaged one, the backspace key doesn't work and it has the previous owners' password lock on it. According to the store, they have to send it back for 'repair'... but I say just do a factory restore then and there, problem solved, but the General Manager wouldn't budge.

They said they had the display and the damaged unit, but were not allowed to sell either (displays cannot be sold unless discontinued; but it is)... you can call corporate customer service to plead your case to see if they can crack the GM into selling you one.

The GM told me this morning it back to repair already (which is a lie, because yesterday was Sunday and I called 8:30am when they opened). If they sent it back for repair, they had the thing since what... black friday returns? whichever...

If you decide to go for these, best of luck, sir. Just letting you know my side of the story with these stores.

Quote from premansh : Trust me I had that experience before and it's always 1 per household. You can always try your luck.

On the rebate receipt that is printed at the register, it says "Limits per customer/address: NO LIMIT."

However, further down on the rebate printout receipt, under their terms and conditions, it states that rebate is "limit one (1) rebate per qualifying product purchased."

WTH? Seems to contradict one another. What gives?