I am now realizing there a lot of little "perks" that come with MSing, some I didnt notice til recently when chatting with a friend about shopping and such. How does it benefit you??

Lets start a list....

1. Write your own schedule (most of the time)
2. Make as little or as much as you like (never enough though...)
3. Reimbursed for stuff you would've bought anyway
4. Mileage!
5. Networking
6. You do SOOO many of the same type of shop (ie. cell phones, banking, cars) you now are an expert in that field
7. Learning the local area and routes
8. You always find the best sales because you get around.

jjage Wrote:
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> I am now realizing there a lot of little "perks"
> that come with MSing, some I didnt notice til
> recently when chatting with a friend about
> shopping and such. How does it benefit you??
>
> Lets start a list....
>
> 1. Write your own schedule (most of the time)

A huge reason why I do this, as I can work it around my other job and my family responsibilities.

> 2. Make as little or as much as you like (never
> enough though...)

Never enough is right. It keeps getting less!


> 3. Reimbursed for stuff you would've bought
> anyway

This is a huge perk in my opinion. It is why I do this vs. some other things I could do on top of my other job.

> 4. Mileage!

Yup. If you needed to go there, or have to go by it anyway, why not stop to shop and write it off? (Fees or other bene's being sufficient for the work anyway...)

> 5. Networking
> 6. You do SOOO many of the same type of shop (ie.
> cell phones, banking, cars) you now are an expert
> in that field

Yes. That comes with the job, but I am now an "expert" on things I could care less about being an expert about! :-)


> 7. Learning the local area and routes
> 8. You always find the best sales because you get
> around.

I was good at that before. :-)

How about-

Being reimbursed for things you WOULDN'T have bought otherwise, like a shirt from Abercrombie, $200 sunglasses, $65 at a furniture/accessory outlet, treats for the kids at a party store, free admission to Six Flags, lunch at Panera Bread.

-and-

Being able to experience the fun of buying luxury goods like True Religion Jeans, Prada Sunglasses, Brighton Purses, etc, even if you have to return them...

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/27/2009 01:07PM by SusanMB.

Should this be moved to the Mystery Shopping Discussion section?

The shared experiences with family.

Last evening we did a hotel shop here in town. After we put away the livestock and had dinner we were off to the hotel for a lovely twilight swim in a large, well maintained and empty pool. Took along sodas and microwave popcorn and had a pleasant evening propped up in bed watching movies together. The only thing we could no have done at home was swim in the pool. And this morning after a 'continental breakfast' (wonder what continent they think THAT came from) we checked out and headed home.

I already have scheduled a bunch of dinner shops for August because those too are nice shared experiences.

All of the dinner and hotel shops I have available to me are NO CHILDREN, 2 adults only. Bummer.

There are some restaurants I have seen that allow children. They tend to be the very casual dining and they may or may not cover kid costs. I did two for Reflectons MS last week that fit the category. I believe the TNS timeshare ones allow children if there is someone who can keep an eye on them while you & spouse listen to the blurb. And it seems to me that the Anonymous Insights ones may sometimes allow children.

Jimmy Buffets will allow children; Sometimes Roy's will do the 3 person shop encouraging bringing one (sorry, you have to make the choice who's been naughty and who's been nice. Some of the ones I can bring kids are local places so don't apply unless you come here to vacation. Outback allowed kids when shopped, IHOP does.

Heck, the Jimmy Buffets in my area doesn't even let ME shop because I'm too old . . .

Oh, I missed this the first time around-for sure, TNS's timeshares allow kids. If the kids are not of certain age, you should either not bring them or bring you MIL for a sitter. If they are of a certain age where htye can read while you are shopping the sales stff without them interupting a 2 hour presenation, you are good to go! This was one of my fav shops ever. Yes, the 2 hrs were painful, but the free 3 night condo, parking,$200 visa debit gift made it worthwhile.

SusanMB Wrote:
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> All of the dinner and hotel shops I have available
> to me are NO CHILDREN, 2 adults only. Bummer.


Oh, I dunno....those type of dinners are perks too!! "Cmon honey we HAVE TO get a babysitter tonight because I HAVE TO get this shop done...sigh,..."