Every time I open a MS forum, I read posts from shoppers lamenting that there are not enough shops. The schedulers say there are not enough shoppers. Why is there a paradox? I have been full-time mystery shopping since late 2008, and I have yet to experience a month (except Christmas and New Year holidays) in which I did not decline more shop offers than I accepted. So why do some shoppers have so much trouble finding available shops, while others sometimes wish they had a clone or two to help with all the available work?

After giving this some thought, the only thing I can come up with is that maybe I am fortunate to live in a big city where there are more opportunities. Are the shoppers who say they cannot find work those who live in small towns? Is full time mystery shopping only feasible for a shopper who lives in a large metropolitan area? Are there regional areas of the country that do not have many shops available? Are there other reasons that some shoppers have dry spells in which job opportunities are few?

There definitely parts of the country where the population density is low and the nearest population center is an hour or more away. Shops would then be concentrated in the population center and it would depend upon whether there is a large mall, etc. to attract a range of clients. Even the number of banks and fast food outlets will be limited.

I have a ton of shops available to me yet I don't have as much work as I'd like. Reason being that I'm not willing to work for the pittance that is the un'bonused' shop fee. I'm willing to wait and work less for more money.

I would like to do more shops but basically accept everything available in my area that pays decent. I'm wondering how far others drive? I do watch shops available in cities nearby to see if I can make it worth my while to drive out of town but have yet to do so. I have been shopping since October and regularly sign up with new MSCs.

All of the above, plus for many the number of MSCs they're signed up for is probably part of the problem. Then there's the whole difference between work available and work they actually want to do that's available.

Shoppers should do what they want to do about their independent contractor businesses. They should be as free as possible to emphasize whatever in life suits them, including mystery shopping. Those who just need more msc's or stronger negotiating skills will find what they need right here in this very fine forum.

I'm one of the shoppers who needs a clone. And there are days that my clone would need a clone. I did not even get home last night until close to midnight. My clone was working on reports while I tried to get four hours of sleep.

Shoppers in more sparsely populated areas can add to their shop by doing 2 things, besides signing up with 200 MSCs.

1. Let schedulers know that you are willing to travel to small towns that have hard-to-staff shops for bonuses AND that you will make a long day route of such shops if the deadlines are adjusted to provide for an extra day to do reports;
2. Learn to make profitable routes to the nearest large population center. One way to do this is to line up 1-2 parking shops in a city center and use those to build an on-foot route around each parking spot. Oddly enough, many city-center shops languish because parking is so expensive. If you solve the parking problem you have a good chance to negotiate bonuses on nearby shops. AND/ OR, some shops will become profitable because you will have paid parking.

Thanks for the tip walesmaven as I am well on my way to signing up with 200 MSCs if I keep going as I am!

Lol Sybil2.

I live in a very rural area and there are not any large metropolitan areas that aren't over 60 miles away. If not more than that. There are medium size cities that have mystery shops but they go very fast. Plus, it is not worth it to spend $10 in gas to make $20, maybe $30 I would go out for but that still is not a lot, unless it is in an area you have other things to do. I have done a lot of the banks that I can, the car shops that I can, the storage shops, fast food, gas stations, It might be a slow time right now. I have found reveal gas stations but they were between 7-10 and maybe in the spring I might try getting more than one at a time because they are reveals. I do search for the bigger cities around where I live and see numerous shops, but they are three hours away. There aren't apartment shops or hotel shops in the cities close to me.
Recently, I think editors or schedulers have been referring me to other companies because I am getting more shops in my email. When the weather is warmer I probably will drive father away, but for now I can work from home doing other work. Plus, I realize, I might have to take jobs that don't pay a lot to get more jobs. You should not assume that people are not signing up with enough companies. It takes awhile to get established and some people really do live in rural areas.
Some jobs require a high shop rating, and that is very frustrating because you start out with a 5, and you can't do any shops without a higher rating. Yesterday, there were phone shops in my area for Sea Level and I could not get them because my shopper rating was not a 9, and how can you bring your rating up if you can't get the jobs. They are Beyond Hello now also, and they had phone shops a couple months ago, and they would not assign them to me. It is very frustrating. It would be nice to contact those mystery shopping companies and let them know that I have experiences doing phone calls, but I can not find any phone numbers. Even if I did, they might give them to their shoppers that have been working there longer. New shoppers have to try and coordinate more than one $10 shop in a city at a time, and that is hard to do. I did get 10 gas stations last month, that I did in two days and that was great.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/14/2016 12:39AM by breestjon.

breestjon,
I was making recommendations based on what rural shoppers who are actually making a living from MS have shared at many IMSC conferences about who they make this work. A couple more tips from those folks!


1. Developing good relationships with schedulers who have small town or distant shops is very important. Unless you are dealing with one of the HUGE MSCs, be sure to contact your schedule to share some good news, or praise or thanks. They mostly get only bad news!

2. Create a sig line to use with all emails to schedulers/project managers. That is your "business card" in a digital world. Example:

Sam Houston
phone: xxx-xxx-xxxx email:samh@pioneer.com
Serving San Antonio/Austin Region, as far west as Del Rio and north to the Hill Country since xxxx
Seeking routes for your hard-to-fill shops

This will definitely make you much more memorable to your schedulers.

@walesmaven, my post wasn't directed at you. Thanks for the advice! A signature line and asking for bonuses are good ideas.

When asking for bonuses, how is this done? If I see a shop I would like to do but it is "far" away and consequently does not pay enough, are my fellow bloggers suggesting I email the scheduler about a possible travel bonus? Just about every email I receive states "Do not email the scheduler!" Seriously, do some of you call or email individual schedulers about individual jobs?

Fellow bloggers? Who is a blogger?

I negotiate for bonuses all the time. Usually by phone because they have called me but then I get the bonus offer in writing with a follow-up email. It has not failed me yet.

Location, location, location!
Seriously if you are in a rural area with no metropolitan areas nearby then you are more limited.

@soo7mile wrote:

Location, location, location!
Seriously if you are in a rural area with no metropolitan areas nearby then you are more limited.

Yes but at the same time you are worth WAY more per shop.

@Shopperfest wrote:

Seriously, do some of you call or email individual schedulers about individual jobs?

I don't deal in the "individual jobs" market. Normally when I email a scheduler I'm asking about anywhere from 5-100 shops. But the other answer to your question is yes. There are times that I might ask about an individual shop but if that's the case it's either a shop that I particularly want to do or a shop that I think might be particularly lucrative.

There are beaucoup threads about the subject. We negotiate fees, expenses and shop/report extensions on a regular basis. Threads about route shopping are a good place to start. Rarely will you find a route shopper taking work at the base rate and agreeing to a 6 or 8 hour report deadline.

@Shopperfest wrote:

When asking for bonuses, how is this done? Seriously, do some of you call or email individual schedulers about individual jobs?

@bgriffin wrote:

@soo7mile wrote:

Location, location, location!
Seriously if you are in a rural area with no metropolitan areas nearby then you are more limited.

Yes but at the same time you are worth WAY more per shop.

Quantity/Quality is like Apples/Oranges.


Did you mean that even an unskilled or poorly performing shopper can get the big bucks just because no one else will do some shop and a client or scheduler will overpay relative to job/worker in order to have a completed shop or project?

Yes

@Shop-et-al wrote:

Did you mean that even an unskilled or poorly performing shopper can get the big bucks just because no one else will do some shop and a client or scheduler will overpay relative to job/worker in order to have a completed shop or project?

Yes, yes and yes! After those unskilled and poorly performing shoppers flake or screw-up, those desperate schedulers will contact the skilled and reliable shoppers with even higher incentives. Desperation can be a wonderful thing.

I usually try and schedule routes as I know how much my expenses are. I want to make sure I make money on these shops.

It is when one lives in the 'boonies' that the lack of jobs becomes a problem. Major cities are 100 miles from where I live. Small towns are 30+. So, yes most of the time I do not have enough work, That is the price I pay for living in the country, hearing the birds sing, watching wildlife, no cars honking, no sirenes and seeing a beautiful sunset. You are correct in saying the large cities do not lack in work.

@5842meg wrote:

You are correct in saying the large cities do not lack in work.

But large cities have A LOT more competition and a constant influx of new shoppers who snatch up shops with very low fees because they do not know any better. Us city mice hardly ever see the big bonus bonanzas that the country mice see. Either way the fat cat is getting fatter.

My rule of thumb is if I can't clear at least $1/mile, my vehicle doesn't move

Some people don't take what we do serious enough also. They will give up because they didn't make enough money, like we do, because we are 'seasoned and paid our dues" and have earned the right for the "bonus" or they just shop until they make enough "extra spending holiday money" and the quit stating there isn't enough shops available There are also schedulers who "favor" and schedule the same people over and over with no regard to the "other" shopper who may want to do that shop every other week.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/15/2016 09:34PM by redvettemama.

I agree. It's about demographics, and they don't always fit the need.

There must be a new shopper in my area where shops are scarce. I was sitting at my computer when a shop came through and I immediately applied. The shop was a few blocks from me and I have done these before so I thought the shop would be assigned to me. Wrong. I received an email stating the shop was assigned to someone else.

I don't understand the problem with this at all. As long as things like client imposed rotations are not be subverted, why should a scheduler consider anything except getting the shop done? When you hire plumbers do you call a different one every time to spread the wealth around or do you choose the one you know will do a good job?

@redvettemama wrote:

There are also schedulers who "favor" and schedule the same people over and over with no regard to the "other" shopper who may want to do that shop every other week.