Does Trendsource start their shops low at the beginning of the month (like Cori) and then increase?
Do they bonus?

I just signed on and their fees seem very low . . .

what you see is what you get. If you ask for a bonus
they will sometimes pay it depending on the program
and how much more time they have to get them done.

Their bonus is called PAD. When you click to apply for a shop, you can check-mark the PAD box and then fill in the amount you're requesting and the reason (time, distance, etc.) Because their fees are generally low, I usually only apply with a request for PAD (typically in the $5-$10 range). I don't *expect* to get those assignments -- and I usually don't -- but, as techman said, they will sometimes approve the bonus request. TrendSource certainly isn't a bread-and-butter MSC for me.

They also give a range of distance for the PADs. I would like more money for some of their jobs, but, if I use their chart, I'd be 50 miles away! Pizza is right: Don't expect to get assignments if you've requested a PAD. If you do request one, make your reason(s) convincing! I've gotten a couple of bonuses from desperate schedulers, but not many.

Toward the end of the month, TrendSource will email hard-to-fill shops and offer PAD. (Pre-approved distance, I think is what that stands for) Shoppers can accept, request, or request additional PAD. I have received generous PADs, for locations which I am aware are hard to fill.

I put in a request for PAD yesterday and today they sent an email about it offering $3 PAD (less than I asked for). It's still there, though. I like their pizza shops because I enjoy the pizza. They're okay to fill the gaps, but their pay is low in my opinion.

Won't do their pizza shops any more. Only company to ever reject a photo of mine. A supervisor worked it out in the end after I redid the shop, got rejected again, then sent the supervisor the photos directly, who declared them perfect and got me paid for the original shop and the reshop.
That to illustrate that besides the one apparently color blind far sighted editor, their staff is great. Very supportive. I love working with them for site audits and business verifications.
Prices are low for the mystery shops, but there are a few flakes every month that get "bonused" via email, and a few locations that aren't popular and consistently get PAD approved. I average two shops per month with them, never at face value.
If you're going to request PAD, keep track by location of what you ask for. If it's rejected, lower your request by a buck or two next month.

I love working with them. Great communication over the phone or e-mail. Some of the PAD have been higher than what I asked for because of the location.

I typically love this company, but I recently got a deduction that made no sense. I was deducted for letting them know that I thought I had all of the info, but since it was my first shop of that kind, if I missed anything, I could visit the location easily to correct it. They wrote back to say, no, that was what the question meant, and I provided the correct information. And then deducted me for a clarification request! I wonder if I have the same editor as the pizza shop mentioned above.

I have mystery shopped for more than 15 years and now do it full time. I used to do a lot of assignments for Trendsource but rarely do any assignment for them now because I can’t afford them. One of the things they do in advertising their jobs is combine the reimbursement for shopper expenditures with the fee being paid as if the whole payment is the fee. I used to get caught in this, but now have learned to question the distribution of their payments.

I don’t even apply for jobs requiring PAD. Again, it is because they consider PAD to be part of the fee they pay you, when in reality it is just reimbursement for travel expense. Also, the PAD amounts they will accept are not realistic given the actual cost of operating a car to get to and from the assignment.
I used to do business verifications for them. When I stopped accepting other types of assignments, they still would contact me to do the verifications, but gradually stopped letting me know when they were available. I don’t know if they still do them, but they paid a fair rate for the job being done and it was worth it to become certified to do them.

I liked the payment policy Trendsource used when I was shopping for them. They made direct deposit payments twice monthly so shoppers didn’t have to wait 6 to 8 weeks to be paid.

I hope this answers some of the questions out there.