Explain to me why anybody would do $10-$15 shops?
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Since Lisa mentioned a pretty good "Trifecta" option with Auntie Annie's, I have to say that it is so, so difficult to turn down AA. That cinnamon pretzel is almost as good as a Krispy Kreme glazed doughnut with the hot light sign on a cold & rainy day.
I did say almost, FYI.
I did say almost, FYI.
I do the bank shops that the AA MSC offers in my area. I haven't taken the certification for AA. There are two not far from me, and the Parmesan Garlic pretzel would have my name on it. Backwards.
"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton
I shop for a living. I combine shops all the time and make a full day of it. If I can pull in $100/day for 5 days in a week, that pays the bills. If they're a bunch of easy $15 shops, even better.
It worked out I had time to hit Starbuck's while at the mall and had a $4 gift card a manager at another store had given me so it really was a trifecta with two freebies and $15.
I actually have the Auntie Anne's app and the funny thing is I rarely go to malls so rarely buy one. Despite that I've gotten several free and decided to try the shop. It is in the mall five minutes from home with the store being right inside an entrance. The shop was just so easy. It also doesn't hurt I hate doughnuts so AA is the better choice
I actually have the Auntie Anne's app and the funny thing is I rarely go to malls so rarely buy one. Despite that I've gotten several free and decided to try the shop. It is in the mall five minutes from home with the store being right inside an entrance. The shop was just so easy. It also doesn't hurt I hate doughnuts so AA is the better choice
Equal rights for others does not mean fewer rights for you. It's not pie.
"I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag." -Molly Ivins
Never try to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of your time and it really annoys the pig.
"I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag." -Molly Ivins
Never try to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of your time and it really annoys the pig.
Try fecta. Hmm..... Is there a shop for that?
*big, blank-eyed innocent-looking emoji*
*big, blank-eyed innocent-looking emoji*
Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. - Lao-Tzu
When I first arrived in the US, I was completely broke (after spending all my money on immigration) and mystery shopping was the perfect job to start my life in Los Angeles, juggling with a TV writing career at the same time. So yes, it might sound like it's not worth it to do a $10 shop, but when you really need cash, those $10, added to other $10 shops (and even less!) provided a living. Sure, now that I'm established in the US and earn a living through my TV writing, I do not often take those $10 shops, but I sure was happy they were available when I needed them!!
@LisaSTL wrote:
It worked out I had time to hit Starbuck's while at the mall and had a $4 gift card a manager at another store had given me so it really was a trifecta with two freebies and $15.
Do you have the Starbucks app?
Do you have Visa Checkout?
Open the Starbucks app and add $10 using Visa Checkout and get an extra $10. While supplies last,
If you are in Canada and the shops pay in US$, of course you will not turn down a $10/$15 shop especially if you are doing a number of them a day. And most especially if they are bonused and you like the shops. Everyone has a reason for accepting a shop which others may not even consider. One may be looking down at shoppers who may be doing better than him just based on the fact that their choice of shops are on his 10-foot-pole category. As we always say, to each his own.
My first MS job was shopping Albertsons and the total comp plus reimb. totaled $12 way back in 1995. I believe that is all they are paying today and they jump off the board. In fact, when i first started getting serious about MSing after retirement in 2012, I would take about 4 of those Albertsons shops and I looked at as getting a couple weeks groceries for me as I live alone. I knew I had to pay my dues and shops have been done over the past several years I am at the point where I pick and choose. And, yes, I will do a Texas Roadhouse for reimbursement only because I like their food and the report is easy. With the way you are looking at it, you might pass on that shop. So just doing my MS work parttime I still average about 800 mo. income and about 2/3/400 reimbursements. Leaves me a whole lot more dollars to "play" with since I am on a pension and SS.
Completed a $14 shop at the airport yesterday. Why? Well, I needed something to cover my travel expenses ($9 for an all-day bus / lightrail pass) and used the $5 reimbursement for supplement my lunch. I ended up getting one of those cheese and salami sticks to help fill in my macros for the day.
For a 10 minute visit and 20 minute report, I made $14, got my travel expenses to the airport paid for and got in nice balance of fats and protein to supplement my diet.
This is just another example why $10 to $15 shouldn't be thought of automatically as low-paying.... This shop ultimately amounted to $28 per hour (excluding my commute to the airport which I would've needed to have done anyways), paid for parking expenses and covered a small portion of my diet.
All these projects benefit us differently. What matters the most is how we value the pay, reimbursements, etc. and how it can be placed into our schedules.
For a 10 minute visit and 20 minute report, I made $14, got my travel expenses to the airport paid for and got in nice balance of fats and protein to supplement my diet.
This is just another example why $10 to $15 shouldn't be thought of automatically as low-paying.... This shop ultimately amounted to $28 per hour (excluding my commute to the airport which I would've needed to have done anyways), paid for parking expenses and covered a small portion of my diet.
All these projects benefit us differently. What matters the most is how we value the pay, reimbursements, etc. and how it can be placed into our schedules.
Shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado. 33 year old male and willing to travel!
I take on plenty of shops for $5, $10, $15. I need the cash, I am not a full time shopper, and I can type 140-160 wpm so that helps a lot with data input. I also have voice to text, which is nifty in and of itself. But overall, those little shops can add up to a days worth of decent cash for me if I pick up a routes worth. Plus, they look good to get your foot in with companies who want you to "get experience" before doing other shops such as hotels and luxury dining.
MegglesKat
I am with you 100% I took on a reimbursement only movie theater shop. Really easy input of data and pics. Took 20 minutes, tops. Paid $30 for two tix and $25 for concessions. My honey and I go every other weekend, or at least once a month so this is a date night out for us without paying out of pocket! Plus they have $1 beers we can grab afterwards!!! (I dont usually get drinks unless a shop requires, but after I shopped the location, those $1 beers were mighty refreshing and you can afford to have 2 each without going in the hole!)
MegglesKat
What? You can type 140-160 wpm? I have a medical transcriptionist degree and have taken all kinds of typing and computer classes, and I have never known anyone personally who can type that fast. I type 95 wpm on a five-minute test and I was in the top 10 fastest typists in my class. The average typing speed is only about 40 wpm for the average person and 65-75 for professionals (in the English language). Barbara Blackburn of Salem, Oregon holds the record as the fastest typist of all time at 150 WPM over a stretch of 50 minutes and with occasional bursts at 212 WPM. You have missed your calling if you can type that fast, you should be some high powered secretary for a major firm instead of a mystery shopper.
@JASFLALMT wrote:
What? You can type 140-160 wpm? I have a medical transcriptionist degree and have taken all kinds of typing and computer classes, and I have never known anyone personally who can type that fast. I type 95 wpm on a five-minute test and I was in the top 10 fastest typists in my class. The average typing speed is only about 40 wpm for the average person and 65-75 for professionals (in the English language). Barbara Blackburn of Salem, Oregon holds the record as the fastest typist of all time at 150 WPM over a stretch of 50 minutes and with occasional bursts at 212 WPM. You have missed your calling if you can type that fast, you should be some high powered secretary for a major firm instead of a mystery shopper.
Maybe the person meant character per minute vs. words per minute.
I was curious myself, so I did a quick test, then ended up with 370 CPM and 74 WPM.
Shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado. 33 year old male and willing to travel!
I think 140 characters per minute would be pretty slow.
Thanks for posting that info JASFLALMT. I found those speeds a little much. At one time I could type in the 75 to 80 wpm range. Now it is probably around 55 to 60. I can't imagine typing a narrative quite that fast for the simple reason one has to think about everything that happened and how to convey the information rather than just transcribing.
Equal rights for others does not mean fewer rights for you. It's not pie.
"I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag." -Molly Ivins
Never try to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of your time and it really annoys the pig.
"I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag." -Molly Ivins
Never try to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of your time and it really annoys the pig.
Exactly, Lisa. I had on headphones and was transcribing from a recording, not typing from my thoughts. When I am typing a narrative for a shop, I also am much slower. And though I do use voice to text when I am actually texting someone on a phone, I always just type from my thoughts when creating a narrative. Not saying that there is anything wrong with using that feature, I just don't think it would work well for me.
So, 140 characters per minute, if all of the words were only 5 letters each, would come out to 28 wpm. That's slow. I am pretty sure that clinen meant 140 wpm, though I think perhaps clinen was just taking a wild guess and hasn't actually taken any tests to measure typing speed.
So, 140 characters per minute, if all of the words were only 5 letters each, would come out to 28 wpm. That's slow. I am pretty sure that clinen meant 140 wpm, though I think perhaps clinen was just taking a wild guess and hasn't actually taken any tests to measure typing speed.
I worked with someone who typed 120 wpm. Surprisingly, she did not win every contest she entered. Most, but not all. She said playing piano for years is what made her so fast.
There was a study done that mapped a standard typing keyboard on to a piano and pianists with no prior typing experience typed at 80 wpm. The assumption was with practice, the pianist would type faster. [www.mpg.de]
There was a study done that mapped a standard typing keyboard on to a piano and pianists with no prior typing experience typed at 80 wpm. The assumption was with practice, the pianist would type faster. [www.mpg.de]
That's interesting; I actually played piano from the time I was a young child on into my early 20s. I don't play anymore, though.
I perform these shops, but on a route. I will plan a route of several miles and hit quite a few of these shops within the route. I can only shop on weekends and have to travel many miles to complete these shops, but in the end it is worth it for me because they are all along the way.
Previous piano, typing, and keyboarding experience did not prepare me for ever-smaller keypads. My hands still prefer the piano and big, old-world keyboards. My hands do not like today's itty bitty cramp makers, I mean convenient and efficient devices.
How does this translate into job fees? Perhaps someday dinosaurs like me will be rare and scarce and worth thousands per job...
?
How does this translate into job fees? Perhaps someday dinosaurs like me will be rare and scarce and worth thousands per job...
?
Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. - Lao-Tzu
I ended up doing those fast food menu board assignments from BARE for $4 each. The assignments were no purchases needed and took literally 1-2 minutes to perform and submit while on-site.
Another example on why the project fee isn't a clear determining factor on whether it's a "good" or "bad" project....
Another example on why the project fee isn't a clear determining factor on whether it's a "good" or "bad" project....
Shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado. 33 year old male and willing to travel!
The OP would have many pearls to clutch if they knew there are people just fine with $2 or $3 shops.
Did we really need to revive this thread? The OP has not been back since September 11th. @msmsmshopper, pearls to clutch? You must have been talking to PCB, the President of The Pearl Clutchers Association. 
Why? Because every other thread is answered with "This topic has been discussed many times before."
"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton
I did 5 in 2 1/2 hours the other day. $75 that is why.
I once did eighteen 12.50 bank shops in one day. $225 that's why.
Mary Davis Nowell. Based close to Fort Worth. Shopping Interstate 20 east and west, Interstate 35 north and south.
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