Phone Shops (Ranging between $2-$5 each)

This may be a topic that has already been covered but thought I would ask the veteran shoppers how they feel about phone shops. One of the larger MSCs offers unrecorded phone calls to car dealers shops for $4-$5 bucks and I've seen other similar shops to pawn shops and crematories for a measly $2... Are they worth it? I figure if I can get 5-10 shops scheduled with an hour or two it might be worth the time. Let me know your thoughts.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/23/2015 03:53AM by LuxeShopper.

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The lowest I do is $4. It's nice to earn a little while staying home. The reports on these are literally a couple of minutes. Preparing for the call takes a bit of time. I've done phone calls for $12 and a few bonused ones for more, but rarely come across them.

Unfortunately there seems to be a disconnect between price and complexity on phone shops so your best bet is to try one type (or client or company) and see if it works for you, then try another type (or client or company). I have done a $5 phone shop that took about 30 minutes to write up 'the detail' and answer all the questions for a phone call that took 2 minutes and I have done 2 minute phone calls that took another 2 minutes to write up that paid $20. The former are much more frequently available than the later, unfortunately.

I've done a couple of the 'cheaper' phone shops that were worth it. They were quick phone calls and very simple, short forms. These tended to have just one or two points that the client wanted to verify. Then I've done a couple which had detailed narrative along with some basic Qs and yes/no questions. For the $2, it was too much. The crematorium one is more involved and just for the emotional end deserves more than what is offered. For me, it depends on the shop report. It doesn't bother me to spend time on the call, but I don't want to spend a ton of time on a shop report where I am not making an appropriate fee for it. Most calls in my view should be at least $5 if there is narrative involved, but that's just my opinion.

Totally agree with everyone. I signed up for the K-9 School mystery shop for $9. I spent 45 minutes on the call and spent another hour on the report. I am sure I could have shaved off some time here or there but jeesh, I have learned my lesson with this. Not all phone call shops are created equal! On the other hand I did do a few car shops for $5 bucks... those are quick and easy. Highly recommended if you don't have anything better going on.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/23/2015 05:26AM by LuxeShopper.

Also, the ones that 'get' me are the shops where they want you to call two different places. Now, I've done a couple of those where the shop reports were very basic. It didn't bother, but the live and learn ones are again ones with lengthier shop reports with narrative. It's a two-fer in a not-so-good way.

There are some phone shops being offered by a large MSC which requires that you call for 3 successive days if necessary, and leave a good call-back number, and call two different stores. All for $5. I just hit the delete key.

There is another MSC which pays me 2.50 do a non-recorded call. The call sometimes takes as little as 3 minutes (poor call) to a rare 10 minutes and the report is easy. The pay is still probably a little low, but I don't mind doing them as filler. And I have 12 hours per day to make the call over the space of several days.

Shopping Southeast Pennsylvania, Delaware above the canal, and South Jersey since 2008

Personally $4 is my minimum but they must be $20 total time between call and report and guidelines at most. That is $12 per hour. The best I have come across for time vs pay was $7 ones. They took around 20 minutes total time which equaled $21 per hour.

Shopping Western NY, Northeast and Central PA, and parts of Ohio and West Virginia. Have car will travel anywhere if the monies right.

$15 is the least I would take to do a phone shop. As a result, I don't do many and that suits me just fine.

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Phone Shops (Ranging between $2-$5 each)

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