Hello everyone,

I am curious to hear your discussion of this.

I recently started a BOYCOTT of $5 mystery shopping assignments.

You can read more about it here:

[mysteryshoponline.com]

I am very curious what you think about this, and also about ways mystery shoppers can band together for higher pay.

With Exxon Mobile earning multiple billions a year, while their shops only pay $5 to start (is that really true!?), and the price of gas skyrocketing...

Something is clearly not right.

What's the minimum amount of money you need before accepting an assignment?

Do you think the businesses that are contracting out their mystery shopping know how little money the mystery shoppers are earning?

Lets hear it...

I think that if anyone that doesn't feel that $5 is enough, then they should not expcept the shops. I already don't except any shop under $10 that is close to home and more depending how far away it is. So I guess I have been boycotting the low prices for two years now. I just wonder if there are enough shoppers who take the $5 shops that the ones who don't will make a difference. I certainly agree to the boycott of these jobs.

I think they all should be at lease 10.00. The time it take to do the survey and
the shop is well over 1:30 Minutes. You are right 5.00 is BS thank you
Jim Stevens

I am new to mystery shopping and haven't done a lot of shops. However when I see the five dollar shops I just look past them. They are not worth my time and gas to complete!! I don't beleive I could make a living mystery shopping but I feel like it is a nice way to make a few extra dollars and maybe eat at some decent restuarants. Currently we are not making our bills and I am just trying to find a way to cut costs and make a little extra money. I am with you....Boycott the $5 dollar shops!!

I'll take a $5.00 shop if it is walking distance, and since I live in the middle of nowhere I don't too many $5.00 shops

I am living 5 miles out of town and drive a big truck. I need $5 in gas, only to drive to town and back home.
By the way the gas stations start at $4.
There is more to a job than going there and input the report.
There is searching for the job,
reading the guidelines and maybe print.
It costs paper, ink, electricity, gas and time - and don't forget the taxes.

I never have done such a low paying job in my live, not even when I learned my job, which was 36 years ago.

In the beginning, to get experience, I did $5 shops but I stopped even before the boycott was announced. It amazes me that at the end of the month those $5 shops are now worth double, and sometimes triple money. At that rate, do the companies actually save any money?

There is another company that I wrote the scheduler about. It's a relatively upscale restaurant that pays a flat $20 for lunch and $40 for dinner. There is no fee and the pay is in the form of a gift card for one of the many restaurant they own. Think about it, you pay for your meal (usually over the $20 or $40 allowable)
and then you're given a certificate to give back to them. You are giving them the reports they want and in the process they get paid again for you doing your work.

I personally, will not accept a job for under $10. Even at that, if you count your shop time and your reporting time it's not much. Especially those that want a paragraph written about each section of questions. Can we do something about that? If everything is positive why should we have to write more than a few words justifying a positive answer.How many times do you have to say you were greeted in a friendly manner?

I don't mean to sound down about shopping, I really enjoy it but if we're going to try to make changes, why not cover as much as we can.

I will NOT take a $5.00 job no matter how close it is. The M.S. companies are surely getting pretty good money from the clients to get these jobs completed. They pay us a big $5.00. We do all the work and the M.S. company gets the big ckecks. NOT FAIR!!! Gas, time to do everything inside the store, then to come home and enter a survey form...For a $5.00 payment is an insult to us. We should all ban together and let the jobs sit on a To-Do list. When they get desperate, they start raising the commision. (So, we know they can give us more money)


There are some GAS shops that are crazy!!!! They pay $3.00 + $1.00 inside store reimbursement + a $1.00 GAS purchase. ARE THEY NUTS??? What they hell am I gonna do with ONE dollar worth of gas in my mid-size SUV??? And, they require photos of the restroom and pumps etc. I emailed the company and asked if I was reading correctly....and yes! I was told that the pay was correct. Who ever takes these shops are out of their minds and ruining it for the rest of us


Lets band together and spread the word that unless these M.S. companies start to open their wallets a bit more, the shops will sit on the 'available' list.

Denise

I don't even take a $5.00 phone shop let alone one that involves leaving my home!

I provide a valuable service to these retailers which are seeking to improve profitability. My feedback on what is going on in their establishments is worth a lot more than what equates to less than the minimum wage!

You don't have to think about real hard. It's not worth it!!!!

I've seen $3 and $4 shops, so, it could be worse, LOL. They weren't easy ones either.

And I laughed when a company posted some shops that were marked urgent, but still only paid $3 (plus a small item, but still).

Then, those merchandising assignments that can take up an hour and pay $6. Pretty funny.

There are some shops I like that are only $0-$7.50, but they give free food too.

I don't think it's going to change. The companies will always find newbies to do those assignments. They may be hurting themselves in the long run, because those newbies will have a bad experience and not continue to shop for them, but it's how things work. There's low end and high end.

I think it would take a huge number of mystery shoppers to boycott ALL shops from a company in order to make a difference. Meaning that we'd ALL have to agree to not accept any, even the better paying shops, from the company. So that won't happen.

> I don't think it's going to change. The companies
> will always find newbies to do those assignments.
> They may be hurting themselves in the long run,
> because those newbies will have a bad experience
> and not continue to shop for them, but it's how
> things work. There's low end and high end.
>
> I think it would take a huge number of mystery
> shoppers to boycott ALL shops from a company in
> order to make a difference. Meaning that we'd ALL
> have to agree to not accept any, even the better
> paying shops, from the company. So that won't
> happen.


You see, I think it will change. What with everything always going up so must the shop fees.

If the vast majority of us don't give up and warn the newbies about those shops we will prevail!! I only took a few $7.00 shops when I started, and that was back in March. I learned very quickly that I have something they want and my favorite saying comes to mind, "You must pay!. . . for what you want!"

I, for one, will not take anything less than $10 AND it has to be within 10 miles of my home.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/13/2008 12:58PM by modario.

This discussion certainly has me rethinking my priorities. A $5.00 shop is insulting when you think about it. You spend your gas to get to the site, then you spend a minimum of 15 minutes doing your observation. That is sometimes much longer. In addition to the time it takes to research the opportunity, material to read, sometimes a test to take and the cost of printing out forms, we then need to spend 15 minutes to as much as an hour filling our a report. Shops under $10.00 which do not include an adequate expense reimbursement are only for people who are doing this strictly as a hobby or to get out of the house.''I will do a $5.00 shop when I am being reimbursed for meals or purchases and I don't mean $2.50 reimbursement.

We need to use this forum to gather statements from shoppers and submit the results to the companies who feel that they are treating us fairly.

I am with all of you. I was taking the $5 shops, until the boycott was called,if I was going to go by the location anyway, but the time and expense it takes to do the shop and enter the report are not worth it. I understand that the mystery shop companies have overhead costs and are trying to make the best profit they can, but they are doing it at our expense, and they will continue to do so unless we stand up together and JUST SAY NO! Thanks Jacob for uniting us and giving us the forum to comunicate such important issues.

I AM NOW DOING DEMOS IN GROCERY STORES FOR $10.00 PER HOUR. WILL NOT DO MYSTERY SHOPPING FOR ANY LESS THAN THAT. SORRY BUT I AM WORTH MORE THAN $5.00 AN HOUR. ELEANOR

I think all shoppers need to band together to make mystery shopping company's pay more for all shops. They are writing contracts with these company's and they are making money or would not be in business. I already will not take shops that pay only $5. I will on except for a very easy shop, with very little required on the reporting. Then I must have more than one $10 shop in order to take any of them. With the price of fuel going up and has gone up, I will only take shops that will pay for the fuel and put money in my pocket. If I am not making money, I am not taking the shops. The company referred to in the Exxon has nortoriously been a low payer and I do not work for them. I am registered and they are always contacting me, but I am not taking $5 shop, it is a waste of my time and an insult to my abilities and an insult to me as a professional. How much are they charging Exxon per shop? And then only want to give you $5. Not this guy.

I used to take those $5.00 gas shops. Not any more. They want 5 photos; their way and then complain if they cannot see the entire bathroom. Then they reject the sho!!!!!! Who are they kidding? I am sure they used it and submitted it to their client.

Hi All,

I am pretty new and I have not taken a $5.00 shop yet and never will.

I am also done with the "watch this 25 min. training video, pass this test THAN we will tell you how much we will pay you." I do not want to watch a training video and pass a test unless its big bucks! T

Well, if you really figure it out, at even $15.00 a shop you have your time, which is worth something, your gas (at $4.00 a gallon), time filling out reports, time actually performing the shop = you are paying THEM to shop!

I will not do a shop for less than $10.00. If it is very detailed, I will not do it for less than $15.00 or $20.00. This is a service that we offer to the companies and they expect to get paid a decent wage. We in turn should also expect a decent wage. Without the shoppers actually performing the job, no one gets paid. The shopping companies would not exist without the shoppers. I don't beleive that all of the contracting companies know how little the shoppers are paid.

Let's Go! JJ Plan it, Post it and Do it, the end of the month is near - the bonuses are getting ready to crash your email soon. Make theirs slow down.

I don't take $4-$5 dollar shops either. I get emails a mile long with $4 and $5 shops and just delete them. It has to be at least $10 before I will even consider a shop.
I've more or less quit doing the so called "mystery shops" for such little pay and a big pay out to shop the shop. We are paying them to allow us to shop.

I'm only doing a few restaurant shops these days and thinking seriously about stopping doing them.

I'm being picky about my shops. I'm doing many other things and getting paid a fair price for doing them.

I did a shop last week took me 5 minutes and about 5minutes to upload the pictures and the pay was $20. Now I'll do these all day long at that rate.

I'm focusing on doing shops that there is NO payout on my part except gas. And I have been very busy this month.

NOPE no $4-$5 shops for me..

I have stopped performing the $5 shops. I agree, it is rather insulting, as well as there is no consideration for the gas which we utilize to perform them. I find this rather disconcerting. A boycott is an excellent strategy.

I don't take $5 dollar shops anymore. I even discontinued CRI. I don't know what they expect. I don't take shops unless they are $12 and up. Now that I have do audits for sony I don't do mystery shops unless I have to fill a hole somewhere.
Where I live in Washington state there are shops that are sometimes over on the islands and it cost more than $5 to take a ferry with your vehicle. And I laugh when they say they will pay for the ferry but not the shops. But I think with the times that as they are especially with the gas situation it doesn't pay to do a $5 shop. So I don't mind boycotting the shops but there is usually someone out there that will do it. But it won't be me.

Hear hear!

I feel that anything under $10 is extremely low. Not only do we spend time on gas coming and going; we also spend riding time; time and expenses for filling out forms; time at the computer to enter report.

I received an urgent request to do some shops at $10.00 each. The only restriction was that I could not do more than 4 a day. Sounded reasonable. Then I looked at the locations and emailed my regrets.

Next they increased the shop pay to $15.00, then $25.00, then asked me what I would take to do the shops. As I told them the first time, a couple of the locations were over 6 hours driving time *one way*!!! It would take three days, at best, to do the 4 shops.

I may be on their "do not contact" list for turning down the job but I simply cannot take 3 days from my other jobs to do this one. Sometimes there is more to consider than just the pay. Three days, almost 700 miles and I'm sure they are *not* desparate enough to pay what this would be worth to me, to do.

I like my other part time jobs too much. You know, the ones where I get $50-75.00 for an hour and a half of work? I'll take all of those I can get, every time they call me!!!

I don't do shops for under $15.00. Here in California, it costs just about that to start my car. Now obviously, that's an exageration, but at over $4.00 a gallon, anything under $15.00 wouldn't be enough of a profit for me. I think a lot of people forget that the report counts as work time too, so even if the shop takes only 15 minutes,few shops take less than that, you still have, at the very least 20 minutes for the report. So here you are with 35 minutes of your time, plus, if the shop is close, $4.00 for gas. Do the math, you just made a little less than $2.00 an hour. I don't know about you but I find that insulting.

Hi...I too took the $5 shops to build my experience resume. I have done everything from gas to mall shops but only if I could do 3 or more in the same area. I have (since April 2008) stopped doing them all together since audits and merchandising pay more. I average $15 to $20 on mystery shops but only $10 per assignment on merchandising. But if the Merch company promises me 10 or more I will continue to do them. I made $180.00 one day on $8 of gas. Not bad... I feel bad for the newbies though because it will be the only way they will get their foot in the door with a lot of the MS companies. They should try to at least group multiple shops from different companies on the same trip to make a profit if there is no other way. I am now getting calls from schedulers also asking me to take low paying assignments. I don't want to step on any toes so I just tell them I am booked up and to call me back if no one takes it. By that time, I have something else lined up and its a bonus shop. But, no matter what I won't do a new one unless I know what the report entails. I hate those shops that have you chained to CPU for 3 to 4 hours for a free meal; I will only do it to a restaurant I love or 5 star dining. Good luck everyone and count me in.

Great, that's what we need, we has to be together against low pay and high demands; Exxon was mentioned at the begining, what about Chevron with $12.oo, minus not reimbursable $5.00 at the pump, $l.oo at the Store and you has to drive 15, 20 miles with a car with 8 Cylinders, paying for Internet service, Electricity, paper, ink and then you has to submit corrections to read this: YOUR CORRECTIONS WERE LATE YOUR ASSIGNMENT BEEN REJECTED, I say Thanks a lot.
Thanks Jacob; Shoppers we need to unite and be together.

Looks like everyone here is on the same page. I think the only time I've taken a $5 shop is when I was already planning on visiting the business. I consider it a "cash discount." I've got a few phone shops set up for $5 each, but I won't be leaving my house to do them. Other than that, I only do the shops that interest me like retail clothing and restaurants. I don't believe I'll ever make a living with mystery shopping (thank goodness for my "regular" job!), but it is nice getting reimbursed for something I have to do anyway, like EAT!