Professional Beer Buyer might not look good on a resume, but I’ll tell you it’s a kick ass job. If you have ever worked at a grocery store or a gas station you might know that there are undercover auditors who try to buy beer or cigarettes just to see if you ask for their ID.
Yeah – I’m that guy.
For the last year I’ve worked as a compliance auditor trying to buy cigarettes and beer from unsuspecting cashiers at places like Wal-Mart, Winn-Dixie, Exxon Mobil, and others. My job is to observe whether the cashier asks for my ID, which most do.
Regardless of whether they ask me for my ID, I have to buy the beer, submit the receipt, and fill out a quick report in order to get paid for the audit. All of this is done with the hopes of re-training the cashiers who aren’t checking IDs before they get caught by a different kind of auditor. The kind that carries handcuffs.
How to Become an Alcohol Compliance Auditor
1. You’ve got to be between 18-30 for this job. Sorry dad.
2. Fill out an application with the following auditing companies: Corporate Research, TrendSource, & Sinclair Customer Metrics. They are the middle men. Companies like Wal-Mart hire them to audit all of their stores around the country. They hire you, collect your report, and then pass it on to the brass upstairs.
3. Each site may ask you to take a small test before getting hired. They are pretty easy, but if you can’t spell your own last name than you might consider a different job.
4. After you’ve been hired (only takes a day or two) you can starting searching for assignments. The assignments are self-assigned meaning that you get to pick which stores you want to audit. Depending on your state, there might be hundreds of locations for you to choose from. You can audit one of them or you can audit all of them.
5. Submit your report. The reports only take about 5 minutes to complete and they require that you upload a scanned copy of your receipt. Each assignment pays between $5 and $30 with the average being somewhere in the middle. However, I have had jobs pay up to $50 for locations where the company has had a tough time finding an auditor. The company will also reimburse you for any purchase that they required.
6. Drink the beer. Well, technically that’s not required in order to get paid. Consider that a bonus.
Good luck Penny Hoarders!
Would you be a dear and Stumble this article?
Awesome idea. Thanks!
This is the opposite of rehab? Pay for not drinking
Sounds fun, can’t wait to hear more about it.
[...] The Penny Hoarder presents I Get Paid to Buy Beer. [...]
[...] The Penny Hoarder tells you all about his awesome job in I Get Paid to Buy Beer. [...]
Man I love this article and it was so informational and I am definetly going to save it. One thing to say the Indepth analysis you have done is greatly remarkable.Who goes that extra mile these days? Well Done.. Just another suggestion you canget a Translator for your Global Readers …
this is great addition for the terri list … tia a bunch
Too bad that I’m over 30, because I wanted to try that! :\
You sir, are a genius!
Lol! Thanks!
Kyle
I remember the first time you posted about your getting paid to buy beer adventures….Great work keep it up!
I am interested in applying for the beer auditor.
Some states require ID to be checked no matter what your age, so the age restrictions might not apply in those states.
I do a lot of these audits as well. There are dozens more companies than the three listed in this article. There are also tobacco shops, not just alcohol shops. You can do them at grocery stores, gas stations, bars, restaurants, and more. $5000 a month is significantly more that I make though. I’m closer to $4-500/month. But this is a side gig for me, not my day job.
Can you tell me a bout websites where I can get grocery stores, gas stations, bars, orrestaurant shops ? thanks
HAH Im to old to fill this job.
This is an old article, but man does this seem cool. I am going to sign up and give it a shot. Definitely in to make a few hundred dollars extra per month (plus the beer!).
Why would I want to aid the nanny state in enforcing the asinine drinking age law? So you all agree that 18 year olds are not mature enough to make a decision to buy a 6-pack of beer, but mature enough to understand the consequences of cancer resulting from buying a package of cigarettes? You also all agree that 18, 19, and 20 year old men and women are mature enough to carry explosives and automatic weapons and fight and die in our battles overseas, but not mature enough to go to the bars with their friends for a good night? Really?
How does $5 to $30 per assignment become $5,000 in one month? It seems you would need to work long hours and spend a lot of time driving between stores to create that much revenue. Is that right?
I can easily knock out 20 of them in 8 hours. You’re only in the store for 4-5 minutes, so the time spent is driving to the different stores. After gas money, it’s pretty typical for me to make $500 on a 1-day route.
Kyle
Now this is a job I could love! Do you work for the government when you do this? Are there background checks, etc?
Interesting post, and a pretty interesting job as well.
Is this really legit?!?!
Boy, I thought I was young enough to do most jobs (except perhaps be a hooters girl), but I guess I was wrong! No oldie oldersons allowed.
I’m very intrested in doing that job.
Sounds awesome! I signed up a couple days ago for the three companies you listed in the post.
There are a lot of Exxon Mobil, Bed Bath and Beyond, and pizza audits, but I don’t see any alcohol purchasing ones.
Do you just have to wait until they come up? Or, do you have to mark somewhere in your application that you’re interested in doing this specifically?
Interesting! I wonder how you get into this in NZ. I have been paid to buy booze and lottery tickets before, but through mystery shopping.
Wish they had jobs like that in Canada.
There are many of these jobs in Canada, they’re called “Mystery Shopper” jobs … I haven’t looked at the other two sites mentioned in this article, but even the first company on here, Corporate Research has jobs available in Canada.
Aw shucks. I am too old for this job. *pout*
Wow you guys get paid A LOT to “buy beer”. Sweet!
You had me up until the under 30 part. Maybe I could get my wife to do this for a year to earn extra income.