I am new to MS. I have done over 30 shops since August. I am constantly being bombarded with emails for banks, cell phone, and auto shops. For some reason, I avoid them like the plague. I realize I have been signing up for these "fun" shops at my favorite stores which end up paying $8 and reimbursing $5. I end up spending more money and just did the shop for free. Now, I am having to look into different shops and am beginning to look at the banks and phone shops.

What are your thoughts on these shops?

Lisa

It kind of all depends on what you like. I hate phone shops, although some shoppers love them. I personally like new car shops, but I only do them for $25+ (note: if a new car shop is with Intellishop, it takes a LOT more than $25 to pique my interest, because of the reports), and I do not take oil changes, brake jobs, etc., although, again, some shoppers love them. I like cell phone shops. I like bank shops.

On the "easy" and "fun," I would say that if you get a scheduler e-mail touting a shop as "easy" or "fun," it probably is NOT.

It's not a bad thing to do some low-paying assignments at your favorite stores, like you have done. As you get more experienced, you may continue to do them when you plan to be there anyway or for some other reason. But for the most part, you will get more discriminating about whether these shops are "worth it" to you. Sometimes they will be, sometimes not. Just my humble opinion.

Bank and cell phone shops are generally easy, are somewhat similar from client to client (similar, but not identical; always read the instructions), plentiful in most areas, and usually offered by reliable MSC's.

The easiest bank shops are Maritz's (in my opinion) as there are no timings other than recording when you entered and left, no descriptions to remember, and very few other details to remember from the shop. (Did you sit down? Did the banker mention two dollar amounts, with or without prompting? Did he point out certain things on the brochures?) The rest of the questions are related to the documents you will be taking home, so you don't have to remember anything, just look at what you got. The biggest thing is to make sure you're in the right branch and get a business card to prove it. (Warning, I once shopped the wrong bank that was on the same corner; one was free-standing in plain sight, the other was inside a grocery store across the parking lot from the one I shopped. I was supposed to do the one in the store.)

Most of the time I am in the branch less than 10 minutes for those shops. So start with those if they are offered in your area, and then add the ones that ask for timings (how long did you wait, how long were you with the banker), greetings (did they make eye contact and smile), and descriptions of greeter and banker.

Once you've done three you'll be an old pro.

Cell phone shops are similar -- how long to be greeted, how long to be assisted, what brands did they suggest and why, and a few variances depending on who commissioned the shop. Those usually take a half hour or less.

The first thing to determine is what is your reason for mystery shopping? From your post, it sounds more like "fun" rather than supplemental income or even primary income.

If you're viewing this as a "business" then you should give all shops a try and make your own decision. Personally, I rather enjoy bank/credit union shops. The report tends to be relatively simple and there is usually not much time involved at each location. I'll do some cell phone shops, but they are not high on my list. I admit to being a sucker for car shops. I enjoy the test drives [when offered]. The part I don't like is trying to end the shop, so I actually prefer the luxury and ultra-luxury car market as the price point is at a level where the salesperson knows that the sale isn't going to occur on the first visit.

Remember Lisa: Being new to MS'ing, you want to take all kinds of shops for the "experience." Once you do one that's a money "loser" you remove it from your to-do list

One bank shop I will only do on occasion is the scenario where I am working full time and have a home business that brings in $10,000.00 or more a month. How in hell can anyone work full time and have a home business on the side that would bring in that kind of money??? To me, that scenario is so ridiculous and farfetched that I believe it makes us shoppers stand out like a sore thumb.

At one time I worked a full time job and had a side business that had about $150,000 a year in revenue. It wasn't odd in the least bit to me.

"Bringing in" $10,000 a month is not the same as keeping it. There are online resellers working from home who have drop ship businesses or sell through Amazon that do at least that much, and their monthly profit is probably a tenth of that. Was the scenario talking about sales or profits of that amount? Sales are easy to get.

What can I add that hasn't been said by others.

Those shops don't add to the waistline.
They are fairly regular in frequency,

Make email your friend. To do this,

Use a separate email address for mystery shopping,
Consider using Gmail with automatic forwarding and archiving - you never lose an email,
Use filters to automatically move unnecessary emails to a separate folder,

I define unnecessary as from MSPs or types of shops I am ineligible for or choose not to do. For example, I'm too old to do tobacco compliance shops and don't wear prescription glasses. I filter emails for those shops out of my inbox. As a beginner you shouldn't choose not to do this much until you have more options than you need or the forum gives you a strong reason such as a company in bankruptcy.

Have fun.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/08/2014 02:19AM by vlade5394.

I rather like cell phone and bank shops! They don't require a purchase and are typically fairly easy money. I'm looking to do more shops that don't require purchases, so I take all these I can get! They are definitely worth a try at least.

Weather is for side income or main income you should try all shops. Banks and cell phones I do a lot of. Can be filler shops or can be main shops to build around. Welcome and good luck in your future shopping endeavures.

I agree with everyone that you should try all jobs. Bank jobs are easy, but some I like and others are 10' poles. I hate all phone shops, especially the recorded ones. I also hate phone call with a target.

I know a guy who pulls in $10,000 a month selling on ebay. He buys LARGE quantities of items, say 20,000 screws and resells them on ebay by the pound. He has many, many items on ebay. He is addicted to buying "lots: which are large groups of items

A friend of mine is a photographer on the side. She typically has three or more events during the weekend. She does at least one wedding a week. Her cheapest photography package runs $2000 and that is basic! She is always doing sessions which are $130 an hour. Even if she does, one basic wedding a week and two sessions a week, she just made over $10,000 for the month!

Hi Lisardh

I also like Maritz as a company to do shops for. I like the banks. I also like phone shops, quick, easy and done in my jammies!

I am not real happy with purchase/returns. I think they are too time consuming. Car shops seem to run a bit long, and they want you to buy...and then I fell in love with a $50K SUV, which I cannot afford to buy! That stopped my car ahops for awhile. Some apartment shops are ok, but there is one company that after you fill out the very long client questionnaire, practically have you fill it out again for them. Un huh! And, those wonderful high-end dinner shops...got stuck once for the $200 dinner and only received the $15 shop fee. No more of those for me!

Have fun, though.

S2

bgriffin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> At one time I worked a full time job and had a
> side business that had about $150,000 a year in
> revenue. It wasn't odd in the least bit to me.

And now you're too old to be a gigolo.

imsuzie2 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> those wonderful high-end dinner shops...got stuck
> once for the $200 dinner and only received the $15
> shop fee. No more of those for me!

Why did you get stuck with a $200.00 dinner? And which MSC? That information will help other shoppers.

The best way for you to find out if you like a shop is to do one. Only sign up for one and see how you feel about it. We can tell you our opinions, but everyone is different and has their own perspective. Every one of us was a newbie at some point in time. It will take some time for you to figure it all out.

Shop2LiveinFL: The shop was for Customer Impact, and it was partly my fault by forgetting to order dessert. BUT, their major complaint was the "special occasion" we were celebrating...the end of tax season (in the tax field, companies hold company wide parties or trips as a bonus for the staff) and also the fact that we had just left the cardiologist's office after being told my husband was doing so well after surgery, he no longer needed Warfarin! Who is to say what is a special occasion, ESPECIALLY when they did not list what they considered a special occasion. I thought they should have at least reimbursed the required drink and entree. It was a steak house, and we thought it was mediocre. Lesson learned! No creatively allowed.

No one has mentioned the Post Office. I guess since I am rural, USPS has been the best shop for me, outside of the $13 grocery shops. Up until this month (I think they are winding down) USPS has been a major moneymaker for me. The shops are straightforward and there is minimal rotation. I can shop the same PO's as often as I want without being spotted as a MS. There is a limit to how many I can do in one day, which means I have to add another 3 or 4 shops on my route in addition, but that's fine!

The only drawbacks to USPS for poor people, is that you have to spend $8 to $40 to do them. I have had to borrow money to complete my shops and I have had to refuse shops because I was broke. That really sucks when you have 2 $25 PO shops and can't get to them!! I don't think my scheduler understood just how broke I was!

The paperwork is easy (for me) and I can pretty much do them without notes anymore. Just make SURE you follow directions!!! I had to re-do a ready post shop recently.

Mantis Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> bgriffin Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > At one time I worked a full time job and had a
> > side business that had about $150,000 a year in
> > revenue. It wasn't odd in the least bit to me.
>
> And now you're too old to be a gigolo.


Says who????

imsuzie2 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Shop2LiveinFL: The shop was for Customer Impact,
> and it was partly my fault by forgetting to order
> dessert. BUT, their major complaint was the
> "special occasion" we were celebrating...the end
> of tax season (in the tax field, companies hold
> company wide parties or trips as a bonus for the
> staff) and also the fact that we had just left the
> cardiologist's office after being told my husband
> was doing so well after surgery, he no longer
> needed Warfarin! Who is to say what is a speciall
> occasion, ESPECIALLY when they did not list what
> they considered a special occasion. I thought
> they should have at least reimbursed the required
> drink and entree. It was a steak house, and we
> thought it was mediocre. Lesson learned! No
> creatively allowed.

Hi there. That hurts! Was celebrating a "special occasion" allowed? Was there an on the house dessert given to you i.e. free/complimentary? Did you consider that your dessert and that is why you did not/forgot to order dessert? I have had some fine dining shops where celebrating special occasions are not allowed and others where they ask you to celebrate one.

Lisa, like you, I'm shopping Central Florida, have been doing so since May so I'm a newbie. I'm learning so much, having recently stumbled on this forum. Last week, I tried something I'll never do again. I've been intrigued by shopping routes, and LisaSTL suggested trying a mini-route close to home. My mistake wasn't in trying out a mini-route, but was the type of shop. Or just the particular client. I found a string of 8 Sunoco shops in a big loop around S Orlando. It was a day from hell.

The first location was in a really sketchy neighborhood. Glass partition for the cashier, bars on the windows, the whole works. The Sunoco shops require you to go across the street and take a photo of the entire station. I was lightning-quick, and glad it was a 2-lane road I could quickly run across.

The second location went pretty well, although I had to drive around the block and circle back to end up across the street to take the photo of the entire station.

The shop guidelines warn you that Sunoco's credit card processing is set up to alert if the same card is used at multiple stations in one day. They recommend you purchase a Sunoco gift card and use it for evaluating the card reader at the pump. Neither of the first two stations was able to sell me a gift card. At the third station, I got a message at the pump saying I had to see a cashier and I figured my credit card had been flagged. So I completed all portions of the shop at that station except for pumping gas. And of course they couldn't sell me a gift card, either.

Went ahead and drove to station #4, taking forever because there was a landscaping crew that had blocked off a lane of traffic. My card worked fine at the pump, so now I'm mystified. That station couldn't sell me a gift card, either. And when I drove across the street to take the obligatory photo, there were two huge landscaping trucks that almost totally blocked the view of the station. I waited about 10 minutes, and gave up.

Now at this point, I'm still thinking that my credit card has been flagged. So I drove to Publix and bought a VISA gift card, hoping this might solve the problem. Drove back to station #3 (cussing out the landscaping crew blocking the road) and got the same message at the pump to see the cashier. So this time I went inside and they said that the pump wasn't working. Duh.

Finally finished station #3 and drove BACK to station #4 (again with the landscaping crew) to take the across-the-street photo. Lo and behold, there are two very unsavory looking people loitering right where I need to take the photo. Again, I waited awhile and finally gave up. No piddly little shop fee is worth my safety.

Around this time, I noticed that, even though I've bought $3 in gas at 4 different stations, my gas gauge reads the same as when I left home that morning. And here I thought I'd have a problem since my car only holds 10 gallons!

The rest of the day went along those same lines. Not a single one of the Sunoco stations I visited that day could sell me a gift card. I guess I was lucky that my card never got flagged. After completing the last station on my route (by this time, I'm dealing with rush hour traffic), I drove back across town to station #4 and took the photo from across the street. It was nearly dark by the time I got home. I was tired, hungry, and had a headache. And still had 8 shop reports to do. I finished the last one at 3:30am.

Bottom line: I won't do a route of gas station shops again. At least not Sunoco stations. The report is long, lots of photos are required, I was a bit worried about my safety a few times during the day, and the (non-bonused) pay was pitiful. Just not worth it. And even though I was diligent about taking a photo of the assignment ID before each location, it was still a huge headache to sort through the 171 photos I took to upload the required ones.

Never. Again.

LisaKwaj -
You probably learned a lot on the route and could apply those insights to future routes. You'll probably try a different pump next time or just go in to see the cashier before giving up next time. I've never had an overall photo rejected because the view was blocked by a truck. You can also submit overall photos from an angle other than straight-on. You could probably find a gift card in advance of a next possible route rather than counting on picking one up along the way.

elcarev68, throughout that day, I kept telling myself that next time I'd be sure to get a Sunoco gift card ahead of time. But honestly, the pay just wasn't worth the time, even if everything had run smoothly. Now if they were to be bonused, that'd be a different story entirely. But this was my first time, and I grabbed them early in the month because it was a relatively easy way to construct my first local mini-route.

The MSC is very clear that the overall photos have to be straight on and that if they're taken from an angle they'll be rejected. Figures, right?

After being in too many situations where the perfect shot from across the street is impossible at best and downright dangerous at worst, I wouldn't accept a shop with the requirement. I'm glad you tried a little route and discovered some of the pitfalls, including getting things like gift cards in advance, the shops being new to you and not getting an extension so reports could be done the following day if your shop day went longer than planned

LisaSTL, yeah, it was definitely a learning experience, that's for sure, and I'm so glad you recommended it! Next time I plan a route, I'll choose shops that aren't Sunoco!

One of my "rules" is not to do more than one or two of a "new to me" shop in the same day. I try to do one local one, or add one to a route of other things, to see what is required, what the pitfalls are, how onerous is the report, and how long it takes to do both shop and report.

Then if I do a route with multiples of them, I know how much bonus I will need to do them and how much time to budget for each one.


(Note to self, do not do the Sunoco shops.......)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/17/2014 03:57PM by dspeakes.

dspeakes, that's been my rule, too. For some (dumb) reason, I got a little crazy and decided to go for the Sunoco shops. *sigh* Live and learn.

Ah well, if we learn something, the day hasn't been a total waste.