The minimum wage has been raised how many times? Cost of living have gone sky high. Yet mystery shopping pay remains the same. There is one coffee chain that offers the same $11.50 including the expense for $4.00 to $4.50 lattes and fancy cappuccinos. It is $11.50 for the last 7 years, mind you. Throw in gas and parking meters, you get less than $5. I like the fancy cappuccinos, so I do it if it is within 5 miles. Otherwise, Delete.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/23/2015 05:43PM by BetteL.

I'm sorry, but you're mistaken. Mystery shopping pay has not remained the same. It has gone down. The prime example is Five Guys. Last year they dropped the lunch fee from $7 to $6. This year, they dropped the dinner fee from $7 to $6 too. As long as people keep taking them, expect them to drop to $5 or lower. We have met the enemy and he is us.

Edited for the typo. I'm not illiterate and actually know the difference between your and you're but dashed this post off quickly.

BetteL, I see YOU'RE relatively new, but I've seen you feel the need to correct this in a number of YOUR reply posts already. Maybe it's a pet peever of YOURS, but YOU'RE not going to make a lot of friends if you feel the need to correct this in every one of YOUR reply posts.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/23/2015 09:53PM by DRJ.

Wow, worse than I thought. I think the coffee chain I talked about dropped from $12.50 (5 years ago) to $11.50. I only take them when there is a bonus to pay for parking meters. BTW, it's "you're or you are" and not "your", DRJ

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/23/2015 06:04PM by BetteL.

@DRJ wrote:

I'm sorry, but your mistaken. Mystery shopping pay has not remained the same. It has gone down. The prime example is Five Guys. Last year they dropped the lunch fee from $7 to $6. This year, they dropped the dinner fee from $7 to $6 too. As long as people keep taking them, expect them to drop to $5 or lower. We have met the enemy and he is us.

I must be living right. My Five Guys fees have stayed at $11 for lunch, dinner, and late night. And I can't wait for the milkshakes...and extra $5 for them.

Are you talking about the fee or the reimbursemnt? The reimbursement has remained at $11, but the fee for doing the report has dropped from $7 to $6.

@James Bond 007.5 wrote:

@DRJ wrote:

I'm sorry, but your mistaken. Mystery shopping pay has not remained the same. It has gone down. The prime example is Five Guys. Last year they dropped the lunch fee from $7 to $6. This year, they dropped the dinner fee from $7 to $6 too. As long as people keep taking them, expect them to drop to $5 or lower. We have met the enemy and he is us.

I must be living right. My Five Guys fees have stayed at $11 for lunch, dinner, and late night. And I can't wait for the milkshakes...and extra $5 for them.

Into my 20th year as a shopper, I agree that overall fees have dropped, but mostly because I am seeing lower bonuses. Several years ago Exxon Mobil was a pure mystery shop (no time-consuming audit to complete!), and every location was shopped monthly. I could take a day-route and pick up a dozen stations in remote areas for $30-$40 each shop, sometimes even more. This was regular, not a once-in-a-blue-moon occurrence. I could add a handful of Church's Chicken or Popeye's in those same small towns for another $30 a pop, plus reimbursement. Publix would automatically be bonused, so instead of $7 at the time (now the standard fee is $8, but with bonus is rarely more than $10), I regularly was paid $21 plus reimbursement and would do 3 in one Saturday. Even McDonald's had shops in populated areas where I could negotiate $25- $30 near the end of the month. That doesn't happen here in the Tampa Bay area.

The conclusion I've come to is that there are more shoppers. Naturally, supply and demand is at work. More willing shoppers means less need to offer bonuses.

Something I've not gotten into is video shopping. I hear that's where the opportunity is these days.

I have addressed this topic previously. Yes, fees have gone down in many cases. How do we raise them? Stop performing underpaid shops. There are shoppers out there who really believe that performing a job that lies somewhere along their route and only pays $4 or $5 is really worth their time. Unless it is a SUPER SIMPLE shop with a five minute, no narrative report (is there such a report??), then there is NO WAY you are paying yourself fairly. Unless the service received is significant, my bare minimum is $10. I have a saying, "If the fee is a single digit, I'm probably not interested." Of course, in cases where there might be a $150 dinner involved and if the fee were to be $5, I'm probably ok with that. But there are banking shops that used to be $15 and now they are $9.50 (there are others that used to be in the teens and now they are finding people to do them for $5 and $7--really?). Nope...I will not do that...not when you consider that they want you to wait up to ONE HOUR for a banker to help you (YES, I've waited 30 minutes, 45 minutes and once was about to leave at the one hour mark). Most times it was much faster, but for $9.50 (and now I have to fill out a report afterward?), no, I'm not doing that. Haven't done those shops in more than a year now, though they keep calling me, asking if I will do some. Naysayers beware...the more of these that you accept (thinking, "Well, it's another five bucks in my pocket.", the more fees will go DOWN. Soon, you may be saying, "Well, that's another FOUR bucks (or THREE bucks) in my pocket." Yet, your rent, electric and cable bills will continue to climb. Slow down the demand, hold your ground, and soon there will be no choice but to raise fees. The easier you cave in and "@#$%& yourself out" for a pittance (sorry if that offends anyone), the longer you will see lower fees. Stop working for minimum wage (or less, for those of you who know this because you actually know how to calculate the value of your time). Either the shops will remain undone, or they will have no choice but to offer bonuses and higher regular pay in order to get them done. It's all about the bottom line. MSC's have to make money, too. If they can get you to do the job for $5, why offer you $6? If I were them, I would keep the extra buck in my pocket, too.

Another problem is Mystery Shopping is in the news and TV shows. Someone gets scammed, the newschannel gives where to go to find companies. Then a new flood of shoppers comes in and takes the cheap shops keeping the fees down.

Video shopping is not immune to the lower fees/more work problem. And honestly, it doesn't sting any less to see a $100 shop drop to $75 than a $10 to $8. The only balance at this point is there are still fewer video shoppers making it sometimes easier to hold off until the fee is back to where it was six months or a year ago.

@jonk wrote:

Something I've not gotten into is video shopping. I hear that's where the opportunity is these days.

As much as I'd love to day "Boycott till pay goes up" I kinda doubt anyone here is in a position to make that happen. Even if all of us boycotted at once there's not enough of us nor enough outside people who would really care to make it happen. :^\

I was shocked to see the Lowe's in my area initially offered at $4 - FOUR DOLLARS?!? Who would do that? Apparently someone will because they don't hang around long. After reading the shop requirements, I estimated each one would take about an hour - just on-site! That didn't include the preliminary Internet research and report - as if! Whoever is willing to do that job for that pay is not only welcome to it, but also dumb as a brick and messing up things for the rest of us.

@Lisa4984 wrote:

I was shocked to see the Lowe's in my area initially offered at $4 - FOUR DOLLARS?!? Who would do that? Apparently someone will because they don't hang around long. After reading the shop requirements, I estimated each one would take about an hour - just on-site! That didn't include the preliminary Internet research and report - as if! Whoever is willing to do that job for that pay is not only welcome to it, but also dumb as a brick and messing up things for the rest of us.

Lisa, this is exactly the type of thing I mean, when I say that some shoppers have no idea what their time is worth, nor how much they are really earning after expenses. There is NO WAY anyone can say they earned money, doing a $4 shop, unless it was a phone shop from home that takes 5 minutes and maybe another 10, doing the report. However, in reality, there is no such shop. That's because you had to read about it before applying for it, then apply for it, then read the acknowledgement from the scheduler after you are assigned, then read the shop guidelines before performing it, then actually perform it, then file the report. Oh, and don't you also have to make a note of it in your schedule and perhaps enter the money due in your notebook, spreadsheet and/or other accounting format? And what about your expenses, like travel to/from that place or wear/tear on your camera/phone/computer/Internet service/etc? Four bucks? When I see that kind of number (or pretty much any "single digit shop offer" as I open a shop offer to consider it, I stop reading immediately and click "DELETE." You are never going to make money, performing single digit shops on a regular basis. Admittedly, I started out doing $8 storage shops, figuring they were on my way to other personal destinations and shop locations. But if you actually track your time spent, you will find that very few "single digit shop offers" actually earn you any money at all, after your time and expense of performing it. Your time is better spent, locating higher paying jobs. PARTICULARLY the Lowes jobs with the pre-shop research, finding a product they have/don't have in stock...then the visit to multiple departments? Four bucks is an insult that will continue until other shoppers wake up to the theft...of their time.

In defense of the newbies, 1) they don't know any better; how would they know about negotiating a bonus? and 2) most new shoppers do not receive offers for high-end shops; they need to prove themselves first. I could go on but I like to keep it short but sweet.

AFTERTHOUGHT - Several of my high-end shops have actually increased their fees over the past couple of years and the guidelines and report have stayed the same. Gotta love that.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/24/2015 02:56PM by Sybil2.

There have always been shoppers to take the lowest paying shops and I expect there always will be. This is work with a zero entry level investment and anyone can sign on at will. It is what it is. Thinking we can make any kind of an overall change does not make sense because we have no control over what happens regarding others. We can only change ourselves, individually, and that should be where we're focused. Develop our job skills, get better organized, work more efficiently, and carry on. Or, do something else.

My apologies...I misstated.

The lowest fee I have ever received for a Five Guys is $14. I've received as mush as $40 to shop a Five Guys on Black Friday. I just ignore the initial offers and emails and wait for the phone calls. My average fee for Five Guys remains about $17.

@DRJ wrote:

Are you talking about the fee or the reimbursemnt? The reimbursement has remained at $11, but the fee for doing the report has dropped from $7 to $6.

@James Bond 007.5 wrote:

@DRJ wrote:

I'm sorry, but your mistaken. Mystery shopping pay has not remained the same. It has gone down. The prime example is Five Guys. Last year they dropped the lunch fee from $7 to $6. This year, they dropped the dinner fee from $7 to $6 too. As long as people keep taking them, expect them to drop to $5 or lower. We have met the enemy and he is us.

I must be living right. My Five Guys fees have stayed at $11 for lunch, dinner, and late night. And I can't wait for the milkshakes...and extra $5 for them.

Okay, I am a realist. My 2 cents on this:

If you see a poor paying shop, then don't take it!

If you belong to 200+ mystery shopping companies and develop relationships with your schedulers, you can make out okay, and you have choices...

I never take: low paying phone shops, low paying gas station shops with LOTS of pictures and pittance for fees.

If you don't like the shop at hand, delete it! Pass it by.

You can do NOTHING about the fast casuals dropping the price by $1 for your fee. You can complain but the MSC's are a business and cut the bottom-line frequently.

You aren't going to get rich doing this and perhaps get a FT job/ and do this on the side.

The complaining will not help you.

I just got off the phone with a scheduler for Five Guys. She offered me $10, the location is a mile away from me. I told her the least I could do it for is $14. It is what it is.

Not for me.. I've made 6x the money I made last January doing less work. I don't know what you're talking about!!

@MDavisnowell wrote:

There have always been shoppers to take the lowest paying shops and I expect there always will be. This is work with a zero entry level investment and anyone can sign on at will. It is what it is. Thinking we can make any kind of an overall change does not make sense because we have no control over what happens regarding others. We can only change ourselves, individually, and that should be where we're focused. Develop our job skills, get better organized, work more efficiently, and carry on. Or, do something else.

Agree 100%. Also, those people who take those cheap shops often end up flaking, which means someone will get a bonus to do it at the last second. So they actually have their place in the chain.

I passed driving a Five Guys at lunch yesterday. ZERO customers after 11 am. What a busy business-NO!

@dixiewhiskey wrote:

Not for me.. I've made 6x the money I made last January doing less work. I don't know what you're talking about!!

I've consistently made more money every year than the year before. But that does not have anything to do with FF shops since I have never even performed one. Getting certified, attending conferences, networking, building relationships with schedulers and doing great work is what has been bringing in the money.

That's great, I don't do FF shops or do low paying shops though. I was directing my post at OP. I disagree strongly that it is same low pay. There are lots of good paying shops out there. You don't have to attend conferences in order to find them. Great if you can but not necessary Getting to know your schedulers is a great idea and a good way to get high paying shops/bonuses and be considered for shops you really want..

@dixiewhiskey wrote:

That's great, I don't do FF shops or do low paying shops though. I was directing my post at OP. I disagree strongly that it is same low pay. There are lots of good paying shops out there. You don't have to attend conferences in order to find them. Great if you can but not necessary Getting to know your schedulers is a great idea and a good way to get high paying shops/bonuses and be considered for shops you really want..

Great response. There are many different shops for many different shoppers. For me, I work retail sales so I have the potential ti make more money putting in extra time at work than mystery shopping. I like restaurant shops. FF, Casual and Fine Dining. They work for me. I see plenty of shops that pay more, most do not appeal to me. That's my choice, and also the beauty of how this all works. I see a Audit shop for $85/$95 but it takes 8 hours. Great for most people, but for me I appreciate my day off too much, it isn't worth it to me. Maybe one day it will be worth it!?!?

I know that I take low paying and reimbursement only shops for the experience. I am rusty, and I am trying to build experience. I know that when I was mystery shopping a several years ago in 2007-2008, I would get calls for $60.00 shops. Sounds like that isn't happening as much anymore?

The economy has produced many people that are hurting due to a multitude of reasons. Every experienced shopper who takes a low paying shop knows when they are being paid less than minimum wage. Sometimes it is simply a choice of making sure their budget is on track. The msc's track multiple details, and management knows what they can get away with. It is strictly business.

But I believe, ultimately, it is the msc that suffers for it in the long run. Lowering the prices and increasing the requirements of the shop without additional compensation will cause the experienced shoppers to avoid those msc's if at all possible. Inexperienced shoppers and worse, shoppers who don't care, result in additional editing, phone calls, and delays in getting the information to the client. That is my humble opinion and my two cents worth.

BillBryan, get over the MF thing already. You keep making comments in various threads whining about MF and their low-paying shops. Here's a novel idea. Don't work for them. Sign up with more MSCs and branch out. Maybe you will be happier.

As I mentioned above, I have proof in my Excel spreadsheet and checking account that I have had several shops that HAVE increased their fees consistently in the past couple of years. And guess what? None of them were with MF because I barely do work for them.

@Sybil2 wrote:

BillBryan, get over the MF thing already. You keep making comments in various threads whining about MF and their low-paying shops. Here's a novel idea. Don't work for them. Sign up with more MSCs and branch out. Maybe you will be happier.

As I mentioned above, I have proof in my Excel spreadsheet and checking account that I have had several shops that HAVE increased their fees consistently in the past couple of years. And guess what? None of them were with MF because I barely do work for them.

Some people live to complain!

I think I would've done it, but that's me. Only a mile away, huh?

@James Bond 007.5 wrote:

I just got off the phone with a scheduler for Five Guys. She offered me $10, the location is a mile away from me. I told her the least I could do it for is $14. It is what it is.

There is one shop that I like to do of a storage facility chain here in Phoenix that is fairly easy and paid $20. For this price it was worth it. Then it went down to $18 and I just passed it on by as my living costs are rising like anyone else's and I'm not down with a 10% decrease in the amount of pay for this shop on principle.

Funny thing though, the $18 fee didn't stick and now it's back to $20 and I just completed one of these shops yesterday. I wonder why it went back to $20 - more flakes, lower quality of work, ??? Whatever, for $20 I will do this shop.

And tomorrow I am excited as I have a reveal shop that pays $35 of a Medicare presentation. So I have been impacted by lowering fees - but I am learning to draw a line as to how low I will go and I stick to this line. It helps that I have other streams of income of course but I have an idea of what I believe I'm worth and I'm sticking to it!!!!