I have never had any problem with TrendSource. Just yesterday, I got a small fee for an inspection that I was never able to complete because the company I was to see kept putting me off when I called to make an appointment. I had no idea I would get any compensation as I never left the house.

I do not find logic in your post.

If it were true that an illegal person worked under someone else's social, then "someone else" (the legal worker with the legal social) would end up being responsible for the taxes on that income.

I am working in Texas, where we have many illegal aliens who are usually language challenged and not computer literate. I find them in most cases to be intelligent, curious, and quick learners. In a few years they may very well become citizens and take your job away from you, but I have not run across a single one of them I suspected of being a shopper.

@iiCyou wrote:

I know for a fact how the illegals are working under other legal citizens (relatives) names and SSI. Basically its bait and switch. If a illegal does not have to pay taxes and can hide under the income cap then we will never see more money from these type of shops.
quote]

Mary Davis Nowell. Based close to Fort Worth. Shopping Interstate 20 east and west, Interstate 35 north and south.

I also have never had a problem with getting paid from TS, and it sounds like the attitude starts with the shopper. This is not for the faint of heart. Maybe you need a break from this and re-evaluate if it is for you!??

I've happily used Direct Deposit with all my companies. Except of course for Maritz who just recently quit using telegraphs and still send me checks.

I like TrendSource and work with them fairly often. I have found the schedulers to be reasonable. I like that they have the mobile app, and often times, I can complete the reports for some of the quicker shops right there in the parking lot from the app. I feel the fee is usually proportionate, since most of the shops (at least the ones I take) are quick and simple. If I do not feel the fee is worth it, I don't take the shop. They do offer more PAD toward the end of the month/quarter, similarly to how other companies offer higher bonuses closer to deadline. They pay much more quickly than most MSCs, which I like, and they usually pay on time (or at least within a day or two) via direct deposit.

Trendsource does not pay as well for the same job as another company I work with and they are very reluctant to give PAD. However, they have a decent amount of work near my location and like RedRose wrote, I appreciate that they pay quickly.

What does PAD stand for?

Based on owning and operating a MS Company let me share my perspective. A majority of mystery shop companies compete on price only (cost per mystery shop) with little regard to the lifeblood of the industry, the mystery shopper. A number of posts here suggest that MS Companies don't pay mystery shoppers much because they don't have to or that they simply want to be able to bank that much more. Not true. They pay so little because they are foolishly charging so little resulting in shoppers receiving a pittance. My firm was contacted by a small retailer (under 15 locations) who wanted a newer shopper company to take over because so many of there shops were going unfilled. The shop required about 25 minutes in the store (no purchase or return) and are done monthly. I asked how much they were paying and he said $45.00 per shop. The company who was doing the shops is a big player. Why they were shopping this small retailer at such an absurd low cost is shameful. Out of $45.00 you have scheduling and editing fees, the cost of actually hosting the report on the server, paying the shopper and to an extent covering cost of overhead; rent, insurance, office salaries, phones, computers etc. After that what you have left is called Gross Margin from which taxes are paid on. The last thing these low ball price companies think about is what is a shoppers time and effort worth. Unfortunately too many MS companies don't place a respectable value on a shoppers time. Unfortunately, there are too many shoppers who will take a low paying assignment which feeds the problem.

Far too many shopper companies compete on price only hoping they will make some money while not understanding the full cost of doing business. You shoppers know who the cheap one's are. I hope you are all strong enough to refuse to do shops for them because companies like that should not be in business; they ruin it for the shoppers and create a false expectation among companies looking for a shopper program that its a cheap service. Thus when a shopper company proposes realistic pricing to cover all of the cost components and have a respectable profit, the prospect believes its a gouge price.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/24/2015 01:30PM by Quality necessary.

@Quality necessary wrote:

Based on owning and operating a MS Company let me share my perspective. A majority of mystery shop companies compete on price only (cost per mystery shop) with little regard to the lifeblood of the industry, the mystery shopper. A number of posts here suggest that MS Companies don't pay mystery shoppers much because they don't have to or that they simply want to be able to bank that much more. Not true. They pay so little because they are foolishly charging so little resulting in shoppers receiving a pittance. My firm was contacted by a small retailer (under 15 locations) who wanted a newer shopper company to take over because so many of there shops were going unfilled. The shop required about 25 minutes in the store (no purchase or return) and are done monthly. I asked how much they were paying and he said $45.00 per shop. The company who was doing the shops is a big player. Why they were shopping this small retailer at such an absurd low cost is shameful. Out of $45.00 you have scheduling and editing fees, the cost of actually hosting the report on the server, paying the shopper and to an extent covering cost of overhead; rent, insurance, office salaries, phones, computers etc. After that what you have left is called Gross Margin from which taxes are paid on. The last thing these low ball price companies think about is what is a shoppers time and effort worth. Unfortunately too many MS companies don't place a respectable value on a shoppers time. Unfortunately, there are too many shoppers who will take a low paying assignment which feeds the problem.

Far too many shopper companies compete on price only hoping they will make some money while not understanding the full cost of doing business. You shoppers know who the cheap one's are. I hope you are all strong enough to refuse to do shops for them because companies like that should not be in business; they ruin it for the shoppers and create a false expectation among companies looking for a shopper program that its a cheap service. Thus when a shopper company proposes realistic pricing to cover all of the cost components and have a respectable profit, the prospect believes its a gouge price.

OMG...a comprehensive, well-thought, well-articulated, spot on, brief commentary on the nuts and bolts of the industry. Very true that we, the shoppers, are partly to blame for taking those ridiculous $6.00, 4 + 1 dudes shops, the arches ones and the like. I have said in the past, folks (and continually get the "just keep passing on these shops cuz it means more shops for me, etc." kinds of stupid comments) grow some and refuse to devalue yourselves and DON'T take the shops that devalue your time, effort and expertise.

@Quality necessary wrote:

Far too many shopper companies compete on price only hoping they will make some money while not understanding the full cost of doing business....

Thus when a shopper company proposes realistic pricing to cover all of the cost components and have a respectable profit, the prospect believes its a gouge price.

I believe you're right.

OMG , I probably would not submitted a report of that magnitude on a burger, and certainly would not take that shop again

My notes say Trendsource pays by direct deposit. On the 5th and the 20th of each month. I've gotten payments from them.

I do like the schedulers at Trend source a lot, but I am sorry I am not going to apologize to Elizabeth, She wasn't especially pleasant or cooperative or sympathetic unlike everyone else I have worked with at Trend Source. I have to agree with the majority of people I read about their experiences at Trend Source. I think the pay is too low for the work involved, except maybe their grocery comparison shops. The other shops take way too long, the stores are huge and there is no way you can in and out in the 30 minutes that they suggest and still do a good job, and I am not going to do it if I can't do a good job no matter how much I like the schedulers. I have finally received one check form Trend source, but as I have done 7 or 8 shops all in the same time frame, I am still wondering about the delay as to where are the rest of them? I never know as to the rate of pay whether it is the store or the MSC who defines the rate. But I can say after the firestorm that was stared with a comment I made last week about a certain MSC wanting too much for the pay rate, they have now raised that rate by $2.00.

Quality, thank you for your input. Some of what you say makes sense to me and some of it does not.

As the owner of a company, you may have employees or an outside firm handling your taxes, but you need to know that taxes are not paid on gross margin. Taxes are paid on net profit. That is a serious misunderstanding. When bidding a contract, if you are calculating your tax amount as figured on the gross margin instead of the net profit you are seriously overstating the amount of the tax. This would affect the amount of your bid and might possibly result in your not being competitive. It would also affect your understanding of the bids of others and might be why you think they are lowballing the bid.

The consistent low bidder will eventually bankrupt himself and the consistent high bidder will eventually go out of business due to lack of market share. Somewhere in the middle is the happy ground which results in reasonable profit for the MSC as well as the shopper.

A mystery shopping company with no jobs to offer is of no benefit to shoppers. The moral high ground of bidding higher to pay higher shopper fees is admirable, but the fact is that all MSCs will have to compete for contracts and must bid competitively to stay in business. As they bid less, we will be paid less. If they bid too low to pay shoppers an amount acceptable to the shoppers, then they won't have shoppers and will either fail to deliver reports or will be forced to pay unplanned bonuses in order to attract shoppers so they can honor their contracts.

I have no problem with what any company offers to get a job done. I have no problem with what someone else accepts to do a job. What I might think is unacceptable may look entirely different to someone whose circumstances are different. For example, we cannot expect the same response to a job offer of $12.50 from a financially stressed single mother and from an older established single woman with other income and no responsibilities such as myself.

All of us are different and I do not believe criticizing what any other shopper accepts will result in any change in the dollar level of shops accepted.

It is taking you so long to get paid because it takes much longer to process paper checks. Being a mystery shopper and wanting paper checks instead of direct deposit or paypal is an anomaly.

Also as you notice MSC are about smaller amounts of money being paid...and you're making them pay for postage, handling etc. which they don't deduct. These are people that haggle over $1-2....they'll spend an hour and waste money on a scheduler and resources to "save" $1-2.....them.

Has anyone noticed that the fees at Trend Source are going down.. Business inspections now start at $13,rather than $17. At $17 the fee was bad.

I spoke to a Trendsource scheduler who told me she would never work for the same pay they offer the shoppers.

I do a similar shop to one of there's for another company and get paid 3X the amount...I'm not embellishing. Their pay is so low it qualifies as "morally reprehensible." It's sad people are so desperate as to do that particular shop. It's not remotely minimum wage....

@aprilredbird wrote:

Hell I would just be happy if I could actually get paid from Trend source. I have done about 8 shops over a 7 week period for them and haven't seen a thin dime. Its bad enough that they are cheap and call you expecting you to drop everything at a moments notice to take last minute jobs and then give you these narrative heavy jobs for little pay, but when they just don't pay you, it is not an acceptble way to do business. When I fussed about this and asked to see about maybe canceling a check because it seemed to be lost in the mail I got a really snitty response from Elizabeth the office manager who made comments like as a free agent I should be paying attention to when my money is due blah blah and I told her I was perfectly are of when payment is rendered the 5 and the 20th but I still have received no money. Now I did move in the middle of this, but didn't put my change of address in until the 3rd of August but supposedly they sent a check on the 20th and I moved on the 31st, Are you going to tell me the postal system can't get a envelope from San Diego to Denver in 2 weeks!!! I am rethinking doing business with them. I have already dropped GFK and I am not sure I want to keep Sentry Marketing either . They have some really ridiculous requirements. I just did a burger shop for them for the vast sum of $4.00 plus reimbursement, had to drive 66 miles one way and then they returned my narrative to me and said I wasn't descriptive enough about my burger that they needed to be able to taste it through my words. That narrative + form took me close to 2 hours to do ...

I have never had a problem getting paid by TS or GFK; I had issues with Sentry, their rules, their "gracious" decision to pay me even though happenings at the client's location during grand opening kept me from meeting the requirement to only accept a table indoors, and their scheduler who lies as a matter of course(I have since found out said scheduler did this at a previous MSC). As a matter of fact, TS has also paid me a small fee when a client cancelled a BVI before I went out to do the BVI.

@daveclark5 wrote:

I've happily used Direct Deposit with all my companies. Except of course for Maritz who just recently quit using telegraphs and still send me checks.

Bless their hearts! But they do pay me reasonably well and quite regularly. Telephone conversations have recently indicated they might be moving into the current century!

@december baby wrote:

Has anyone noticed that the fees at Trend Source are going down.. Business inspections now start at $13,rather than $17. At $17 the fee was bad.

There are different levels of pay for different BVIs. The range I have seen is $13-$27; I have never done one that was less than $15 base pay and it was all photos, and don't tell them I said so but the $27 one was just as easy as the $17 ones are! I did 3 of the $17 ones today at the same location; it happens to be a business I have been to at least twice before and its super easy. (The nature of their business is such that they require working relationships with many resellers.)

@rasky wrote:

I do a similar shop to one of there's for another company and get paid 3X the amount...I'm not embellishing. Their pay is so low it qualifies as "morally reprehensible." It's sad people are so desperate as to do that particular shop. It's not remotely minimum wage....

Absolutely....I do a fair amount of assignments for TS but I always, always, always insist on PADs and/or bonuses and I do get them.

yeah, Maritz is a trip but the peeps are all pretty nice and helpful so it's a tradeoff.

I have been following this forum for several months and this is the first comment I have made. For the first time, I think Quality has hit the nail on the head. I agree with him 1000%. I have asked several companies if they ever consider a shoppers content or accuracy rather the who will do it the cheapest. I have never had a return mail, probably because the reviewer never sends it to the client. I am fairly new but feel insulted at some of the pay. I am older and retired and started this to learn a new profession and not primarily interested in making money but only to do a good job. I have done over 100 shops and have received one email complimenting me on a good job even though most of my scores average 9. I just got video certified as a result since their pay is more in line with time spent.

@gebmd123 wrote:

I have been following this forum for several months and this is the first comment I have made. For the first time, I think Quality has hit the nail on the head. I agree with him 1000%. I have asked several companies if they ever consider a shoppers content or accuracy rather the who will do it the cheapest. I have never had a return mail, probably because the reviewer never sends it to the client. I am fairly new but feel insulted at some of the pay. I am older and retired and started this to learn a new profession and not primarily interested in making money but only to do a good job. I have done over 100 shops and have received one email complimenting me on a good job even though most of my scores average 9. I just got video certified as a result since their pay is more in line with time spent.

well said & I too am insulted at some of fees being offered. $3.00 & $4.00 fees but the sad part is that there are folks out there accepting them which has a trickle-down effect & further devalues the effort & expertise that some of us bring to the table.

I have a feeling some of the shoppers accepting the low fees may do little prep and just the minimum to complete. That is why I always ask if content is considered. I am surprised the good clients accept such inferior work - or - do the reviewers alter the reports to meet the clients request. I just wonder because of some of the stories some store managers have told me the type of individual they have encountered on revealed audits, etc. Poorly dressed, smell of alcohol and smoke, wearing flip flops, poor hygiene etc.

@aprilredbird wrote:

I got a really snitty response from Elizabeth the office manager who made comments like as a free agent I should be paying attention to when my money is due blah blah.

I had a accounts payable man for another company be really rude to me once (after waiting over 60 days for payment) and I immediately deactivated myself from the company. They only did a few mattress shops in my area, anyway. About a year later they called me with a bonus to do a shop. I asked them why they even called me, as I had deactivated myself because their payable guy was horribly rude and I did not need to be disrespected. The woman apologized, said he was always like that, gave me her phone number if he ever did that again, and schmoozed me into reactivating. I have not had payment problems with them since (which is a good thing, as I lost her number). The thing is, we have to take so much crap in our daily lives, I don't think we should take any from MSC's, period.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/30/2015 06:38PM by Crickettt.

@Crickettt wrote:

@aprilredbird wrote:

I got a really snitty response from Elizabeth the office manager who made comments like as a free agent I should be paying attention to when my money is due blah blah.

I had a accounts payable man for another company be really rude to me once (after waiting over 60 days for payment) and I immediately deactivated myself from the company. They only did a few mattress shops in my area, anyway. About a year later they called me with a bonus to do a shop. I asked them why they even called me, as I had deactivated myself because their payable guy was horribly rude and I did not need to be disrespected. The woman apologized, said he was always like that, gave me her phone number if he ever did that again, and schmoozed me into reactivating. I have not had payment problems with them since (which is a good thing, as I lost her number). The thing is, we have to take so much crap in our daily lives, I don't think we should take any from MSC's, period.

exactly and well-said.

On my first reply on this forum I was speaking in general not just Trendsource. I have done many jobs with them and have found them very receptive and helpful, especially the schedulers. Some reviewers maybe aren't quite as nice. I don't know about their pay because I don't check. All in all, I have had no major problems. Are there any video shoppers here that might give me a little help on securing the button camera. Thanks