You mentioned scenario 6. I often do a run of these shops alone. This week I did 37 in one day. These were paying a $2 bonus and I got compensated for the expenditure of $1.75 at each location. I got the bonus because I did 37 shops. I got an extension on the reporting and the average time per report was 10 minutes. It took me 9.66 hours round trip, front door to front door to complete the 37 shops and about 4 hours to report. I made $333, spent a tank of gas at $25.16 and worked for 13.66 hours, making $22.54 cents an hour, minus the wear and tear on my car. It all boils down to how one looks at these jobs.

My out of state payday was talked down. What was your total miles? I thought I was being reasonable with the 150 and was offered 100.
I personally hate having to price a job #1 They always come back cheaper #2 They seem to act shocked or insulted.

A really quick read through and I noticed the OP referring to shop fees as wages. The definition of wages is a fixed regular payment, typically paid on a daily or weekly basis, made by an employer to an employee, especially to a manual or unskilled worker.

The first thing a mystery shopper needs to understand is they are not an employee, they are a small business owner who works for a fee whether that fee is set by the MSC or by the shopper. The second is one of the foundations of independent contractor work is negotiating.The idea anyone on either side of the negotiations would be shocked or insulted is absurd. None of this is personal, it's just business. Your job is get the highest fee possible for your work, the MSC and/or scheduler's job is to get the work done for the least amount of money.

Along with that, a mystery shopper needs to understand that not only are we not the MSCs employee, we are also not their customer. It is quite the opposite as they are OUR customers.

ANY $2.00 phone shop and a certain popular ice cream shop that pays $5.00 and you must pay for, without reimbursement, your own ice cream in which the cheapest item on the menu is slightly more than $5.00 plus a lengthy survey with several detailed narratives involved, need I go on?

Being paid reimbursement only (for anything), your spending not only money but time and gas which is close to 3.00 where I live and my car is a gas eater. I work for so many companies that pay an 8.00 fee along with a decent food reimbursement where many others think a dinner is enough. The client pays for the dinner, so we're working for these companies for free...can't believe their not making money. I was asked to take a grocery shop 60 miles RT. for the usual 5.00 fee and when I asked for a pad, was refused......it's pouring in L.A., streets are opening up, trees are falling, it's been a messy winter. I said I'd do it, no they can't afford an extra 5.00 pad. I have helped this Co. over and over, please!!! I'm getting so select, I have decided to only work in my town, unless they pay for my travel. Don't misunderstand, I'm happy to have this and work at home, but, fair is fair.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/18/2017 07:26PM by Irene_L.A..

@Irene_L.A. wrote:

Being paid reimbursement only (for anything), your spending not only money but time and gas which is close to 3.00 where I live and my car is a gas eater. I work for so many companies that pay an 8.00 fee along with a decent food reimbursement where many others think a dinner is enough. The client pays for the dinner, so we're working for these companies for free...can't believe their not making money. I was asked to take a grocery shop 60 miles RT. for the usual 5.00 fee and when I asked for a pad, was refused......it's pouring in L.A., streets are opening up, trees are falling, it's been a messy winter. I said I'd do it, no they can't afford an extra 5.00 pad. I have helped this Co. over and over, please!!! I'm getting so select, I have decided to only work in my town, unless they pay for my travel. Don't misunderstand, I'm happy to have this and work at home, but, fair is fair.

If you mean Los Angeles, I couldn't imagine doing mystery shopping with the freeway system there. I'd imagine I would be asking for huge gas reimbursements + time sitting in my car doing nothing in traffic.

I'm already annoyed by traffic where I live and it's nowhere near as bad as LA.

@shoptastic wrote:

@Irene_L.A. wrote:

Being paid reimbursement only (for anything), your spending not only money but time and gas which is close to 3.00 where I live and my car is a gas eater. I work for so many companies that pay an 8.00 fee along with a decent food reimbursement where many others think a dinner is enough. The client pays for the dinner, so we're working for these companies for free...can't believe their not making money. I was asked to take a grocery shop 60 miles RT. for the usual 5.00 fee and when I asked for a pad, was refused......it's pouring in L.A., streets are opening up, trees are falling, it's been a messy winter. I said I'd do it, no they can't afford an extra 5.00 pad. I have helped this Co. over and over, please!!! I'm getting so select, I have decided to only work in my town, unless they pay for my travel. Don't misunderstand, I'm happy to have this and work at home, but, fair is fair.

If you mean Los Angeles, I couldn't imagine doing mystery shopping with the freeway system there. I'd imagine I would be asking for huge gas reimbursements + time sitting in my car doing nothing in traffic.

I'm already annoyed by traffic where I live and it's nowhere near as bad as LA.

I used to drive into Beverly Hills for 3 or four jobs in the same location which worked. Lately we've had rain so I'm not driving, just doing jobs within my town, no freeway driving....it is the worst, but working in my town is the best.

I love the reimbursement only shops, when their feasible, where I'll be already, something I've wanted to try etc, because I don't have to pay taxes on them and so once I've done the shop I can forget about it completely. The $20 apartment shop, that I did with $10 bonus, and wouldn't do again unless it was $40 bonus. The first car shop I did with bestmark for $17, never, ever again.

There are definitely so many different opinions on this topic. I saw someone said up above that for them, restaurant reimbursement only (no fee) is something they do not want to do. Those are my preference! I use a credit card that has extra cash back at restaurants and it doesn't count toward taxable income. That being said, I would not do a restaurant reimbursement shop for under $50.

If something is out of my way and going to take significant time to get to and/or I have to pay for gas, subway fare, etc., I don't think it's worth it.

At my old apartment, there was an electronics store that was shopped 1 mile away. I would take the $9-$14 shops there if I had a day off coming up. It would make me get out of the apartment for a jog or walk. If I had to take the train there or hunt for parking...no way would I have done those shops.

I have seen folks state that they couldn't believe others were picking up phone/web inquiry shops for just a few dollars. I will happily take a $4-$5 phone shop for a day when I don't have much work. If I can make a few bucks while wearing pajamas, I'm all for it.

The MSC I am signed up with (yep, I'm only signed up with one) does not require me to enter my SS# until I hit a specific dollar amount. My goal is to do mostly restaurant reimbursement shops and phone/web inquiry shops every so often so that I make around $125 or so in cash pay for the year and the rest is reimbursement. Anything that would put me over that amount and make my taxes even a tiny bit more annoying, I would consider not worth it. MSing is definitely more of a hobby than a job for me. I'm sure I would have a very different opinion if MSing was a main source of income for me.

I do not know where you people live, but in my city, apartment shops are 25-30 tops. They only go for $50 when they are video shops. I agree that the $4 phone shops are terrible, but the $2 ones are worse. I won't even consider the $7 gas station shops. I completed a new car shop yesterday for $75. It consisted of an online inquiry, telephone inquiry, and an in-person shop. I ended up at the dealership for 3.25 hours then I had to take several pictures and write the narrative. There again, I made less than minimum wage.

@shoptastic wrote:

...Who on Earth would do a standard apt. shop for $25 or less?

Me. I do apt shops for $25 all the time. The ones i do are not targeted, don't reqire a phone call, and are given a due date about 10 days out so it's easy to fit into my schedule. The MSC is respectful of the shoppers, pays on time, and sometimes throws in a bonus. The reports require comments and one medium length narrative. Plus, the client has made changes based on my reports (other shoppers probably made the same comments, but the point is that our efforts are valued). If i could do 4 of these shops every week, i'd be in shopper heaven and wouldn't bother with any other shops.

The beauty of every shop is in the eye of the beholder.

I did a beautiful one, became informed and it paid 30.00. Manager on call, no problem, rather enjoyed myself.
When the check came rolling in with many 20 and 30 dollar others, was happy.

New car shops should never take three plus hours. On average, a shop with a test drive should be in the 45-60 minute range. On occasion I've gotten stuck in one for 90 minutes. I have never completed one of the two visit negotiation shops and have no clue how long the first visit would take, but would think it to still be within that range.

@cakerladi wrote:

I ended up at the dealership for 3.25 hours then I had to take several pictures and write the narrative. There again, I made less than minimum wage.

@LisaSTL wrote:

New car shops should never take three plus hours. On average, a shop with a test drive should be in the 45-60 minute range. On occasion I've gotten stuck in one for 90 minutes. I have never completed one of the two visit negotiation shops and have no clue how long the first visit would take, but would think it to still be within that range.

@cakerladi wrote:

I ended up at the dealership for 3.25 hours then I had to take several pictures and write the narrative. There again, I made less than minimum wage.

The Tesla Dealership takes 2 hours on site (I did it), 1 1/2 hours to write up....but I now get 100.00.
Normal car dealerships should take 45 minutes onsite, and an hour to write up. I may do a two visit
one but have to have the conference call first.

The only ones I would do on that list are #1 and #2 if it was a restaurant I liked or was close to my work. I have to eat, so it is like a "free lunch" to me. I dont eat fries and cant stand greasy burgers, but ones with salad or veggie options are always a treat.

@bgriffin wrote:

Along with that, a mystery shopper needs to understand that not only are we not the MSCs employee, we are also not their customer. It is quite the opposite as they are OUR customers.

I agree with you and we have to sign the IC agreement that we are not employees - we are independent contractors and that they are our customers. I would add however, that we actually are their customers. Every business has their external customers - the ones that purchase their products or services but they also have internal customers - which are their employees, independent contractors or consultants. If you look at it from a different perspective....if the MSC treats their shoppers poorly, rudely, etc - then they take the chance of losing shoppers (especially the good ones). If the MSC looses the good shoppers and then starts losing the not so good shoppers - they have no one to do all the shops; if that happens they lose their customers thus loose revenue and clients. My point is that without shoppers, they will go out of business (at least that division of the company, if they provide other services). Make sense?

You make some great points. My last job was for a corporation with multiple divisions. Mine was expected to treat the others as our customers. Since it was also my first job at a large corporation, I found it all rather odd. In my mind we should have been a team working toward the same goal which was always the climate at smaller companies. The whole set up seemed to foster more adversarial relationships.

I would take any of those if they fit in with my regular job schedule. I drive 4k to 5k miles a month and often have to wait an hour or two between appointments if someone cancels. If I'm caught up on my write ups for that job, I might as well make some extra cash. I don't pay for my gas, so that isn't a factor. My employer reimburses me for food expenses when I stay overnight somewhere for them, so even a low paying dining shop can be a good money maker for me.

Hey, MMS, a big High-Five to someone who drives as much as, or actually maybe more than I do!!!

This month I've done three of those gas station shops on my way to somewhere else. Each took about ten minutes, and another ten minutes of reporting when I got home. Why not get paid for going somewhere I had to be anyway?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/20/2017 03:00AM by KathyG.

For me the criteria is simple. The shop must be mutually beneficial and be FUN. Translated that means the shops are so diverse in their guidelines it would be impossible for me to catalog them for you.

When you have been Mystery shopping for about 10 years you get to know who the good guys are and who gets vicarious pleasure by sticking it to you and playing a game. of "gotcha I do not play games.

In my "former life" I proof read papers and things jumped out at me if they needed attention, like when you read guidelines and "I AM A MYSTERY SHOPPER" pops out on the page. Schedulers thank me as they do not want to send shoppers out to be compromised by poor guidelines.. If the client does not wish to amend the guidelines I know they are looking for a free report. when I get revealed for doing or saying something no shopper would do or say. .

Agreed!

The volume of low paying shops that I did close to my high paying shops helped me meet or exceed my monthly $ goals.

I'm the masochist who did the IKEA shop once. I enjoyed it and it was flawless, but that MSC has too many issues for my personal taste.

@walesmaven wrote:

No shop is a sucker shop if it actually fills a need of the shopper. It's just that some shops, like the Ikea shop, may be feeding the needs of masochists, IMHO.

Not being a masochist, heck I don't even like criticism from the forum...lol. I knew Ikea was the ultimate , and ran, didn't walk away.....and their MSC, the company that doesn't like to pay, and yes Honny, I remember you liked that job....the question remaining is, would you do it again????

Some jobs are sooooo easy that they are jobs in name only. Other jobs, not so much. I can only determine what is reasonable after doing a shop at least once. By then, it might be too late... Oh, well.

I would do the shop again, Irene, but for a different MSC with the same guidelines.

I really enjoyed walking around the store. I took my time and got decorating ideas. When I had lunch, I took notes on my phone. I also took notes when I waited for my return to be processed.

Despite that, I did not like the idea of getting paid four months after the shop and chasing the payment.

@Irene_L.A. wrote:

Not being a masochist, heck I don't even like criticism from the forum...lol. I knew Ikea was the ultimate , and ran, didn't walk away.....and their MSC, the company that doesn't like to pay, and yes Honny, I remember you liked that job....the question remaining is, would you do it again????

The OP didn't even mention the $3 grocery store shops that only reimburse $5. Ugh.

That's like, 8 minutes in the store and max 15 minute report!

Nope. The guidelines clearly state you must be in the store for a minimum of 20 minutes. How are you doing the shop in 8 minutes And not getting it rejected? And the fee was $5, then they cut it to $4, now $3? Forget that!

Aww, no. I wouldn't be able to take those. I try and find the time I'd allow for each step based on the fee. So, for 8 bucks and need to be in the store for 20 minutes that leaves 10 minutes max for the report if I'd be in the area already.