Can you believe this! As it has not been bad enough for us poor souls,one paticular company are offering $3 gas shops. I suppose it was not insulting enough to deal with $5 commissions.Has it really gotten that bad? We are professional and do not deserve to literally get slapped in the face in such a way.

This post was in response to HReid's ridiculous sniper rant. He has been deactivated and had his posts removed. As such, I deleted it.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/15/2010 08:35AM by dee shops.

Its supply and demand. I just lost my job. Was told that my job move to Asia because they pay 1/4 or less of my salary. If no one take the $3 job, then they have no choice but bumping the pay. Unfortunately, some poor soul would do it for $3. Btw, I have seen $2 but I forget what job was that.

Not many of the $3 gas shops have been taken in my area. I'm pretty sure they will be raised.

lisams901 Wrote:
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> Not many of the $3 gas shops have been taken in my
> area. I'm pretty sure they will be raised.


Same here. Will wait and see what happens with them. I still rather do 1 shop at $12 than to do 5 shops at $3.

Emdisco Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> lisams901 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Not many of the $3 gas shops have been taken in
> my
> > area. I'm pretty sure they will be raised.
>
>
> Same here. Will wait and see what happens with
> them. I still rather do 1 shop at $12 than to do 5
> shops at $3.

I agree.

I just found this company last night, If we are talking about the same shops, which I assume we all are, this shop has a lot of questions to fill. Way too complicated and too much effort for $3. They going to need to increase the fee significantly before I even consider it.

Everyone just needs to sit tight and wait until they have to increase the shoppers fee....

Heck it might even be worthwhile taking their quiz to be ready to pick them up in a couple or three weeks

I did and passed it. It requires more observations than previously...:p

How can that even be legal? I thought it was a misprint!

It is 'what the market will bear'. If you are around the internet much you have probably stumbled on question answering services and software writing services that are put up for competitive bid with the work being given to the lowest bidder, regardless of how low it goes. Your local, state and federal government issue out work based on competitive bids to the lowest bidder (all other things being equal). I know of contractors who have been so anxious to build their reputation with local government that they have put in bids at a loss to get them. It is only employees in this country who are protected by minimum wage laws.

sequoia Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> I just found this company last night, If we are
> talking about the same shops, which I assume we
> all are, this shop has a lot of questions to fill.
> Way too complicated and too much effort for $3.

I do agree $3 is way too low for almost any report form, but " a lot of questions and way too complicated?" Their forms are short and easy compared to 90% of the other companies I shop with.

It has been quite some time since I fell for one of their gas shops (they get snagged here at bottom dollar) but my memory of photos and reports are that they were nowhere near fair pay. Yes, they are less complicated than the $40 shops I do and a lot faster to 'dispose of', but they require much more than a number of jobs I do at twice the bonused fee or more. But to each his own. I find it absurd to pull up to a gas pump to buy $1 of gas for starters. . .

lisams901 Wrote:

> I do agree $3 is way too low for almost any report
> form, but " a lot of questions and way too
> complicated?" Their forms are short and easy
> compared to 90% of the other companies I shop
> with.

Not sure if we are talking about the same gas shop or not, maybe we are NOT talking about the same shop? The one I saw require minimum 2 pics or more, and a few pages of questions. You will need to observe the interior, exterior, bathroom, etc and make both gas and merchandise purchases.

Compare this to the one of the shop I regularly do, it pay 7-12 x $3 depending of the bonus, for 3 pictures and about half the amount of questions. Usually take me about 30 min to finish the report. So yes, for me, this is a lot of questions and complications for very pay. Now, not all shop pay this high, and I understand that I am not trying to bad mouth this shop, its just I am comparing with what I usually do, and this one, IMHO, pay too little.

Flash Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It has been quite some time since I fell for one
> of their gas shops (they get snagged here at
> bottom dollar) but my memory of photos and reports
> are that they were nowhere near fair pay. Yes,
> they are less complicated than the $40 shops I do
> and a lot faster to 'dispose of', but they require
> much more than a number of jobs I do at twice the
> bonused fee or more. But to each his own. I find
> it absurd to pull up to a gas pump to buy $1 of
> gas for starters. . .


Gas right now is $2.69 or so in my area. I cant imagine pumping less than 1/2 gallon. Wouldn't this make the employee suspicious that you are mystery shopper?

sequoia Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Flash Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > It has been quite some time since I fell for
> one
> > of their gas shops (they get snagged here at
> > bottom dollar) but my memory of photos and
> reports
> > are that they were nowhere near fair pay. Yes,
> > they are less complicated than the $40 shops I
> do
> > and a lot faster to 'dispose of', but they
> require
> > much more than a number of jobs I do at twice
> the
> > bonused fee or more. But to each his own. I
> find
> > it absurd to pull up to a gas pump to buy $1 of
> > gas for starters. . .
>
>
> Gas right now is $2.69 or so in my area. I cant
> imagine pumping less than 1/2 gallon. Wouldn't
> this make the employee suspicious that you are
> mystery shopper?


Probably. :-)

Has anyone done any of these gas shops yet? They were raised to $3.75 and $4.00 in my area, so I did two. The way I saw it was, I was there at those stations anyway. I would be buying gas there anyway and I would be buying something in the store already, so considering it was money I would be spending to begin with, they were worth more like $6.00 to me.

Anyways, for anyone who has done one, how long did it take to get approved? I did these on Saturday and they still are not approved.

Nope, I have not done any of these, but I appreciate the update. Keep us informed

By doing these at that price, you continue the problem...

Long as $3 (some in my market) shops are accepted, they will continue...PERIOD!

Lumber Yard Shops have been dropped from $5 to $4. They need to sit, also....

Mrcomp101, I get your point, to a point. Those prices really are too low and the more people do them, the more the norm will head that way.

But out of the probably 60 of those shops that are within a 50 mile radius of me, four have been done. The rest are still sitting there, and the price is being raised. Not by much, but they are raising the prices.

Now, I would not go out of my way to do a shop for that amount. But everything I did for that shop, minus the two pictures, I would have been doing anyways. So the way I see it, for filling out the fast form (and those forms are pretty short and simple) I earned back $5.75 and $6.00 on something that I would have already been doing.

While I would not condemn you personally for taking the jobs, it is precisely that kind of thinking that is why the shops CAN be priced that way. And obviously there are many shoppers in my area desperate enough to do them at that price or who are thinking that way because the bulk of them have been taken.

As long as some MSP is willing to underbid the current company when contracts are up, the jobs will go to the cheaper MSP. It is only when MSPs are forced to lose money on the contract that they won't squeeze the shopper for the discount they offer the client on the contract.

Flash Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> While I would not condemn you personally for
> taking the jobs, it is precisely that kind of
> thinking that is why the shops CAN be priced that
> way. And obviously there are many shoppers in my
> area desperate enough to do them at that price or
> who are thinking that way because the bulk of them
> have been taken.
>
> As long as some MSP is willing to underbid the
> current company when contracts are up, the jobs
> will go to the cheaper MSP. It is only when MSPs
> are forced to lose money on the contract that they
> won't squeeze the shopper for the discount they
> offer the client on the contract.

At the end of the day, it is always simple supply and demand principle. If someone wants to do it at $3, then maybe the next one will be $2 and so on. If noone take it at $3, then it goes to $4, etc, until someone did the shops.

For me personally, I have to account for cost of gas driving there, my computer, etc, plus my time, which is not free, even right now while I am unemployed, my time is still not free I rather be doing something else. This one is just does not pay enough for me, even if I happen to be in that area. I cant justify a shop when I am actually losing money at the end. Maybe this shop works for others, and thats more power to them. Just not for me.

Last I checked, in my area, it was raised to $3.75 Woohoo! LOL...

lisams901 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Mrcomp101, I get your point, to a point. Those
> prices really are too low and the more people do
> them, the more the norm will head that way.
>
> But out of the probably 60 of those shops that are
> within a 50 mile radius of me, four have been
> done. The rest are still sitting there, and the
> price is being raised. Not by much, but they are
> raising the prices.
>
> Now, I would not go out of my way to do a shop for
> that amount. But everything I did for that shop,
> minus the two pictures, I would have been doing
> anyways. So the way I see it, for filling out the
> fast form (and those forms are pretty short and
> simple) I earned back $5.75 and $6.00 on something
> that I would have already been doing.

Lisa,
I hear what you saying, but I wouldn't have touched those shops with a ten foot pole. That's how the win the war. I am passing on 2 shops they have on a route that I am doing today because they are only paying $7.96 each. They don't pass the double digit test($10), so I don't do them. Do I miss a lot of shops; Yes,that is the price I have to pay. Technically, I did take two shops for under $10, they were $9.96 and $9.98 so I did sacrifice my principles for expediency this time(I'm only humam ), if we can't win the war then we have to win our personal battles. Time is on our side not theirs. They have to get these shops done to keep the contract. We don't have to do them. That is the key for us individually and collectively.

Emdisco Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

Technically, I did take two shops for
> under $10, they were $9.96 and $9.98 so I did
> sacrifice my principles for expediency this
> time(I'm only humam ), if we can't win the war
> then we have to win our personal battles. Time is
> on our side not theirs. They have to get these
> shops done to keep the contract. We don't have to
> do them. That is the key for us individually and
> collectively

I agree with you that it's a personal decision, but your statement that we don't have to do them may not apply to all.

They only reimburse $1, but if you need gas anyway, just put in more.

razberrylily Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> They only reimburse $1, but if you need gas
> anyway, just put in more.


Exactly. I would not pump just $1 in gas. But I was already getting gas at that station so I got reimbursed $1 for something I was already getting.

How far did $1 in gas get you? Thats just over 1/3 gallon in most states. Were you able to get to the next station?...

mrcomputer101 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> How far did $1 in gas get you? Thats just over 1/3
> gallon in most states. Were you able to get to the
> next station?...


Did I say the $1 filled my tank? Did I say it got me a substantial amount of gas? I said I was reimbursed $1 of what I was already buying.