I agree everything is not as good as it used to be and it really never was. I shop for two reasons:

1. I can't get a real job. Too old, 77 next month.
2. If I could, I wouldn't take it. Too independent, 77 next month.

This is flexible and all the contracts are voluntary. I don't want to be harsh, but no one has to do this. There are always other options. The other options may be even worse, but then that's another problem entirely.

You're funny, hahahaha. You ol' bat you!

Something else that I just discovered is that tomorrow's $35 mystery shop I mentioned a little while ago is right by a major mall....this means I can use my Shopkick, Jingit, and Checkpoints apps to get close to gift cards and cashouts.....gotta make these trips work for me somehow, you know?

MDavisnowell:

I can appreciate your situation. but your travel costs are the same as everyone else...unless you are driving an electric golf cart like many residents of local retirement communities. You have to consider your cost-per-mile to get to/from the shopping destination and to combine trips to minimize that cost. Otherwise, 77 years old or not, and employed or not, there are still out-of-pocket costs that go along with every shop...unless the shop is in the exact same shopping plaza where you were going anyway on a personal errand, regardless of having the shop to perform.

Also do receiptpal, punchcard and receipt hog.

@squireparty wrote:

Something else that I just discovered is that tomorrow's $35 mystery shop I mentioned a little while ago is right by a major mall....this means I can use my Shopkick, Jingit, and Checkpoints apps to get close to gift cards and cashouts.....gotta make these trips work for me somehow, you know?

frank860, thanks for your concern. I'm on top of my expenses to do this and I understand the cost of doing business. As to going somewhere on an errand and picking up a shop on the way, that's not how I do it. I schedule my work and then I tuck my errands into my work route. The only personal driving I do that doesn't involve my work is to attend family events. Whenever I'm feeling well I do large numbers of shops. For example, I have done 108 so far this month for Maritz plus seven additional. Yesterday I took an off day; today I'll be back out there.

This is not real lucrative work, but it pays better than any part time job I could pick up in my area. I don't understand the continual stress that many shoppers have that this doesn't pay well enough. My question is, well enough for what? After all, this is not brain surgery. This work is simple and the entry level investment is almost zero. Most of us already have a car, a phone, and a computer so we're good to go. Yes, we'll wear out the car and the computer and we have to consider that. I do consider that. Since beginning to do this work, I've replaced a car and bought five computers (two of which are working great and another one will limp along).

My main argument to prove this pays well enough is that we have too many shoppers. Yes, the entry level investment is almost zero and that brings many new shoppers in, but regardless of the turnover we still have too many shoppers.
If shoppers can earn more money doing something else, nine times out of eight they will opt to do something else. More shoppers stay in the pool than are needed and that's why fees don't have to go up to fill jobs. If the Dixie Pig can hire all the counter help it wants and needs for $10.00 an hour why should it pay $15.00?

Those who are successful in this will figure out which shops they want to do and how to make that work. The answer is with the individual and not with the business overall. At every level, everyone is trying to do a better job to generate more profit at the end of the day. The shopper, at the bottom of the pile, is not exempt from needing to make this effort.

If I spend an hour on a ABC job and Joe spends thirty minutes on the same job producing the same quality work, Joe has done much better. I can whine about how much I make an hour on the job, but Joe makes twice as much because he's twice as good at the same job. ABC is indifferent whether they pay me or they pay Joe as long as they get the report they need. Why should they pay me twice as much because I'm only half as good?

If we want to do better and make more money we have to look to ourselves to make that happen. There will be no freebies from up the line to make up for our disorganization and incompetence. We are responsible individually for running our own businesses and supervising ourselves. We have to expect the same performance from ourselves that we would expect if we were appraising the quality of the work and cutting the pay check. If we accept mediocre performance from ourselves we will see a mediocre check. If the mediocre check is not what we want, we have to address the issue at home.

Most of my career background was in retail sporting goods management, high volume convenience store management, and sales. I found all those fields challenging and much more frustrating than this. I absolutely love the way this business is set up and consider this the best job overall I've ever had. I love being able to move from job to job and company to company at will. The flexibility is necessary at this point in life but it's really hard to find. I appreciate the opportunities here and I find the constant complaints about the state of the business to be unexpected and surprising.
Any time spent complaining about a situation rather than actually doing something to improve our own position inside the situation is a waste of time and energy.

I'm not driving an electric golf cart but I am driving a Toyota Camry which gets respectable mileage. The price of gas is not a factor for me as I do enough shops with reimbursed gas to cover my gas expense. Whether gas is $1.50 or $4.00 a gallon, I don't feel it as long as I get my gas reimbursed on shops. If gas is eating you alive, I suggest you consider adding some station shops each day to get the benefit of reimbursed gas along with some extra cash inflow.

I find it inefficient to do a lot of different types of shops in a day and that may be a reflection of my age. I prefer to do the same shops over and over on any given day and I certainly don't like to reinvent the wheel by doing a "new to me" shop in the middle of the day. I like to book my work well in advance so I know what's coming and I can organize it. I hardly ever pick up a last minute shop unless it's a real sweet deal. Most of my work is base pay shops and I do lots of it. You'll find other shoppers who won't touch base pay and do fewer shops and bring in just as much or more money per day.

I'm not saying this is perfect. What I'm saying is that anything that gives me flexibility and lets me bring in from $100 - $200 a day is okay for a part time job for the elderly or anyone else who can use that money. For those who feel underpaid at this, my question is: Why do you stay? If you find yourself underpaid here and more valuable elsewhere, you should make the choice of being more valued elsewhere.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/27/2015 01:01AM by MDavisnowell.

Glad you are aware of all the factors. Some people obviously are not as well informed as you seem to be.

Complainers shouldn't work if they greedy

We are all in business for ourselves. Greed does not play into it any more than with any other business owner.

Video shopping is where the money is and I am currently looking for them in FL for Sinclair. Are you registered with us?

This is what bothers me. You can get a good bonus end of month at the bank shops but, they will allow you only one. Towards the last few days of the month banks that were not performed are bonus ed $25-50 more that what I received doing the exact same scenario. I guess I should wait to shop the last three days of the month.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/30/2015 08:15PM by mollycosmo.

@Sybil2 wrote:

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.

Thank you Sybil2, I started last March without a clue. Around July, I thought I had a decent handle on managing my time and still being able to do my best. That was a disaster. The majority of my shops required I spend cash. I didn't budget accordingly, so I was in the hole every month until a paycheck dropped.

My shops were high single digits with a $5 reimbursement. Didn't understand how to max that cash. It wasn't until September, it finally occurred to me to use the reimbursement for staples.

If it hadn't been for the main scheduler I shopped for; I never would have learned to ask for bonuses, gas and scheduling flexibility. She also explained the error I made in July.

I've learned quite a bit through trial and error, my scheduler and this board. I still have lots more to learn. And from what I've read on this board, learning part of the job requirements.

The school of hard knocks is the best teacher there is.

I am new to this forum and I very much like it. I fell into MS more than a decade ago and found that more than the pay, I was lowering my expenses. What I mean is, instead of paying $5 for lunch, I was getting reinbursed for lunch. I always saw the cash as an added bonus. Later, I saw an opportunity to actually make a few dollars and I started saving the earnings to use at Christmas time. At a training seminar for a certain Mexican Grill restaurant I met a woman who claimed (and I believe her) to make her living doing contract MS work. She said the she averaged around 40 shops per week and included gas stations and FF so that her expenses were mitigated. I think making a living doing this is hard, but can be done if you are willing to put the hours in finding the MSC that have openings in your area. The suggestion previously about not taking certain shops is a good one. Life is short, so take the ones you want, let the rest go by. My best days are when more than one company offeres a gas bonus to go to a remote location, which makes for a better payday. With gas prices dropping, things are even better. Specifically, I like 5 Guys because of the high quality food. I would do one every week if it were available!

Question - Does anyone know, or is it common knowledge how much big companies pay the MSCs for shops? How can they afford to pay $40 and up for a shop where the regular fee is only $7 or 8? What about the schedulers - are they on comission or salary? Are they contractors too? Did they get that job after being a shopper?

I hope that everyone has a fun and safe weekend!

will some of you email me privately on your favorite companies to work for. I started MS'ing in 1999 but have done it off and on. I want to know the goods ones to work for now. They pay so little and expect a lot. my email is valisejackson@yahoo.com. I already work for Second TO None

Just took a Popeyes they offered $6 Iasked for $10 and got it, its less than a mile away and I want to see what's envolved.

All of you are correct that the fees have indeed gone down and just in the past year or two. I noted recently some phone shops that pay $3 and a few on-site shops that are paying the great sum of $6 and $7. As long as we accept those shops the fees will continue to go down. The companies that are paying these kinds of fees are taking us for a ride and they know it. When we quit accepting those shops the fees will start increasing.

What is worst is that are still several MSC that the commission is $0 (only reimbursement which will taken at least 30 days). Yep.....some restaurant and hotel MSC's.

Same Year and new low pay------->Earlier this month, (January, 2015), I performed an "fun" shop for a well known MSC. This was my second entertainment shop for this MSC. Both times the shopper's fee was $45 with a reimbursement factor of up to $50. meaning when the shop was accepted by the Client, I would be paid----->$95. That would be fine with me. The first shop was canceled by the client, so the expenses were nulled and void, because the shop was never completed. Plus the Client was going through management problems.

Another shop came along I assigned it------>same shopper's fee and the "up to" reimbursements. The reimbursements include at least five purchases, at the Clients only vendors. Their is no distinction among the vendors so the dilemma is yours, the Shopper. I was informed by a vendor that each venue can charge what they want, unlike the list that was included within the guidelines. There is a limit on how much to spend at each vendor. I have a problem paying $4.50 for a 13 oz bottled water, when "normally" I paying $4.50 with deposit for 24 bottles of 13 ozs bottled water. How many bottles of water, do you really want to purchase at a reimbursed shop? I completed the shop and was paid.

Now the Client has advertised his Mid-Winter Spring shops, but the MSC has thrown a wrench into the mix. The shopper's fee is $9 with the reimbursements adding up to the total of $45. <-------a really low pay. It does not look like the Client reduce the pay but the MSC did. A $4 bottle of water is still too much to pay for something to drink. I would be surprised as to the cost of ETOH. (The Client does not control the prices of the vendors merchandise.)

For this turn of events, I wonder how many Shoppers will be assigning to said shops. Some will I know, but............

I don't care what pay starts at or says. I know what shops I'll do and for what price. I pick up the phone or email scheduler for the shop I want and ask for price I need. This is my business so cost and time associated with it are part of being a business owner. So looking for and booking work would be the same as a small business owner looking for clients and time and money spent advertising.

Another example are some menu board shops I have done for the past three years at $10.00 each. This year they went down to $7.00 each. Needless to say I let them go, but they were gobbled up soon by a hungry shopper.

I never signed up with MF due to all the complaints ad-nauseum I have seen on this forum in my early days of mystery shopping. Life is too short and mystery shopping can be lots of fun. Why work with a low paying company that does not appreciate their shoppers? Yet the complaints go on and on....

How about a gas shop for $4 fee, and then $2 reimburse for gas, and $1 in the store. Who in the heck pumps $2 worth of gas? And how many packs of gum do I have to buy that I don't want and coffee is at least $1.59. I finally decided that these shops are no longer worth my time.

It's bad enough to be corrected and under the microscope by "editors" - now shoppers are correcting (making comments) other shoppers? Really? I agree with you DJC - it is a snide slap for a shopper to comment like that - and I hate reading the tit or tat back and forth on this forum. It is not productive for anyone -- and the off-topic posts drive me crazy! The original post is about seeing a customer photographing a price tag and before you know it the posts are about the price of alcohol in other states/countries and the do's and don'ts of shipping alcohol. I just click off. Just wanted you to know that I agree with you!

You can always ask for higher fees for yourself and let the bottom feeders do what they will do.

@DNinCA wrote:

and the off-topic posts drive me crazy! The original post is about seeing a customer photographing a price tag and before you know it the posts are about the price of alcohol in other states/countries and the do's and don'ts of shipping alcohol.

And yet many of us love the forum for this very reason. I suppose it's dependent upon personality. There is another forum where the Nazi ruler ensures every single post is on topic. Perhaps that is more your style?

What I don't understand is why are we not the one setting the fees. Other self employed people set their own fees. How did it come about that we let the mystery shopping companies set the fees for us?

Supply and demand. There are too many of us available for a limited number of assignments and many of us apparently will work for whatever we are offered. So only a few hard-to-fill jobs and secluded locations allow for raised fees.

^What she said. I still don't see this as being all that much different. Potential clients often advertise for anything from a babysitter to a house painter and include the fee they want to pay. If a contractor wants the job they have a couple of choices, agree to the offered fee or attempt to negotiate a higher one. I have begun to look at shop fees as a bid. The MSC throws out the bid hoping to get a contractor willing to take it while we decide if it is acceptable. If it is not we either wait for them to sweeten the pot or make a counter offer.

The fees for video shops can be very attractive. I recently signed up with Elite Shopper Force.