MACON, Ga. — Can you imagine getting paid to go shopping?
Wesleyan senior Rawlanda Hercules did, and now she’s living out those dreams.
RetailMeNot is giving Hercules $5,000 to shop ‘till she drops for two weeks.
In July, the online coupon company posted a job listing for a Shopping Specialist. They were looking for a smart shopper who prides themselves in finding hot deals to spend thousands of dollars with their app and other online resources.
Applicants submit a video explaining why they love shopping, saving, and using RetailMeNot.
“I saw this job description and I said this – this sounds like me,” Hercules said.
After a team spent weeks sorting through over 1,300 entries, the music theater major “won their hearts.”
RetailMeNot Shopping and Trends Expert Sara Skirboll says they were down to three people.
“Her energy and her knowledge of the savings space. She just got it. She understood who we were, she embodied our spirit,” Skirboll said.
Skirboll says RetailMeNot was looking for a candidate who needs to shop at a variety of different types of stores.
“I shop deals all the time. I’m in college, so I’m very low budget right now,” Hercules said in her application video. “Take my shirt, for instance. I got this for like $10.”
Hercules has $5,000 total in gift cards, which she can use at stores that RetailMeNot has coupons or cashback offers for. She gets to keep everything she buys.
She has gift cards for places like Ulta Beauty, Papa Johns, and Delta Airlines.
“We work with 50,000 retailers, we have over half a million deals and offers,” Skirboll said. “We try to give her a good mix of stores from beauty, fashion, electronics, bedding and home, Amazon – it’s easy you can buy anything there. So, it’s a variety for what she might need for back to school and for her life.”
During her two-week shopping spree, Hercules is expected to use the RetailMeNot app to find deals. When her time with the company is up, she will share her experience, write a blog post and they will use the information she gathers for research.
“Within our walls there’s close to 500 people in our Austin office and we’re constantly using RetailMeNot, but it’s nice to tap into people who don’t work without our walls,” she said.
Skirboll says Hercules is encouraged to spend all the money within the two weeks. She is still allowed to keep all the gift cards she does not get a chance to spend.
Hercules says she has spent about $1,500 so far.
“I will say that I’ve saved about as much,” Hercules said. “Primarily you use the app. The app has a lot of different resources. It’s got dollar amounts off of total expenditures, it’s got different percentages that you can get off, it’s got cashback options.”
She has shopped at Best Buy, Target, Macy's, Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and Kohl's. She plans on buying books, items for her room, tools for her piano class, and even early Christmas gifts either online or in stores.
“I’m a college student and primarily I’ve spent it on things I need for college,” Hercules said. “It’s really nice when I can spend it in a manner that is responsible.”
Hercules started the position Wednesday and her last day with RetailMeNot is Sunday.
“From this entire experience I’ve gained knowledge," she said.“It’s made me more aware of statistics and when sales occur."
For more in-store and online coupons visit the RetailMeNot website.
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