Is December typically busy?

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Just curious - for those of you who have been doing this for awhile - is December typically busy for you or does it slow down due to retailers and service providers overall being busier for the holidays? And is the week after Christmas before New Years a good time to pick up shops or do the MSCs try to get everything done before 11/24? Last year I took a breather from shopping before the holidays so I don't have personal experience with mystery shopping around the holidays. Thanks for any input.

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I did about $1400 last December. Quite a few were video shops.

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November and December have often been my best months of the year. Since I abhor retail shops and malls, the months have more often been filled with video (new cars and apartments) along with audits.

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Besause it is the end of the quarter and most schedulers want evrything delivered before Christmas, it can be very, very hectic. That said, some retail shops are on "hold" because the clients don't really want to pay to get reports on seasonal staff unless they really expect to retain quite a few.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.

If I don't count my video shops I did $1,873 in regular shops last December. I probably did another $1,000 in video shops on top of that.

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Sounds good so far. I think I am going to buckle down and try to get whatever shops I can. I missed a chance today to pick up a wings shop with a $5 payment, $25 bonus, and $25 reimbursement as I picked up a banquet serving shift today and the shop had to be done today, the MSC couldn't extend the due date. Better luck next time I guess. But I'm sure hoping to have a good close to the year these next several weeks as if I remember correctly, January was really dead for me last year.

This is all good news. I don't have much booked yet for December and have been a little worried.

I did 109 shops and was out shopping 16 out of 31 days last December. That on top of FT day job. Could have shopped a lot more. End of quarter and end of year - with schedulers rightly wanting the holidays off. The work will definitely be there in December, and the bonus faucet gets turned wide open by Dec. 23.

i already have December loaded up approaching 100 shops and still 8 days til we get there.

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I found last December had a lot more bonus' than any other month. I think it was the high deadlines and a lot of people maybe flake because they over schedule? I scored some AWESOME bonus' last year which I was glad to accept and do for the MSC'.

I wonder if the bonus' are more there because it is the EOY and they have budgets they can spend and want to look ideal for how they did for that year to the client (getting shops filled).

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I have been worried because I have barely any shops scheduled! I am checking several times a day now. Since it is the end of the quarter, does January pick up?

As I see it, January tends to be a tough month becasue many clients are reassessing their MS programs, and/or changing MSCs and/or changing guidelines/surveys. That leaves shoppers wondering if ABC company is just late getting things to the MSC or if they have changed MSCs and the shopper needs to go hunting for their new "home." Also, for quarterly shops, the first month of a quarter tends to start slow; and that goes double for January.

YMMV

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.

I just checked my spread sheet from Dec. 2013 and I made nealy $1200 in fees alone last Dec., plus over $330 in reimbursements. However, that included some Corporate Research (Stericycle or whatever) shops that were bonused tremendously and they don't do that anymore. Lots of bonuses should be available to get jobs done before the holidays, and then if they aren't, before the end of the year. A lot of shoppers stop shopping mid December to prepare for the holidays. Last year, I tried to do both. It's exhausting, so I plan to slow down this year and enjoy the season more...so I say.

Edited to add: I also checked January 2014 and was surprised to see I made over $1400 in fees and over $400 in reimbursements. I must have worked by butt off between snow storms and car accidents. So there was little slow down here for those months as those are good fees for my shopping style per month. I hope this January will be as fruitful.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/24/2014 03:13PM by MsJudi.

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Well, I managed to pick up a nicely bonused shop of a shoe store here in Phoenix. I did something I haven't often done and this time it worked. I didn't exactly meet the client requirements for this shop due to age and the original date for shop completion was today. I sent the scheduler an email and I didn't ask for more money but I did say I could do the shop if the date were extended and if the age requirement could be waived by eight years. It worked, I received the ACCEPTED email early this morning before I woke up. Had I not tried to be assigned this shop by not contacting the scheduler and offering to do it but bringing up where I don't meet the shop requirements and asking for them to be slightly waived, I woudn't have this shop.

Yesterday I tried this with two other nicely bonused shops, too - asking for requirements to be slightly waived and from one I heard nothing and from another I received an email from the scheduler thanking me and letting me know another shopper had been assigned the shop. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. In the future I will try this more often if the shop is nicely bonused and/or the shop sounds interesting.

I'm thinking due to shops needing to be done before the end of December, this may work more than it might usually?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/24/2014 03:55PM by squireparty.

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