Hey everyone, my brother-in-law has been working on an online mystery shopping spreadsheet replacement and needs some shoppers to test it out for him. In addition to being a spreadsheet replacement, it also offers a match-up feature so shoppers who want to do postal shops can contact each other - its called 'Postal Buddies'

He's also looking for shoppers using a spreadsheet to keep track of mystery shopping jobs who would be interested in having it uploaded into the app.

Anyone interested in signing up, please go to [mysteryshoppery.com] and click the Register button to sign up. Only a few testers are needed for now so each one is being manually approved.

If you want to learn more about how it works, everyone is invited to check out [mysteryshoppery.com]

So it is still a spreadsheet, just available online or through an app?

Good luck but there is no way in hell someone is getting my client list complete with which of their clients I am working for and how much they are paying.

I didn't even consider that part. Through Office 365 and OneDrive mine is already available online and through the Excel app. Since I already pay $99 a year for Office 365, there's no incentive to purchase anything else.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/24/2017 04:47AM by LisaSTL.

Not a spreadsheet, a full blown application with forms built on top of tables. If you are comfortable using a spreadsheet and maintaining it then super. This is meant for those who aren't so comfortable working with spreadsheets. Also, since most new shoppers have to build their own spreadsheet from scratch, its a great start for them. And its free with some premium add-on features like charts, maps and calendars that you don't get with a spreadsheet (well, except charts).

Also, there is the Postal Buddy feature (which is also free) to help match up shoppers across the country to do postal shops. You are not required to enter anything other than your email and zip code. No need to reveal your closely guarded secrets like client lists to the database gods.

To learn more without signing up, click on the 'How To' link in my original post - its the second link in that post. The first link is to sign up.

It looks nice. For someone who is having trouble tracking shops, applicationss, payments, this would be a good fit. It has reporting for payments due, the timeliness on MSC payments, etc. It integrates with the forum and MSC's job boards--it wasn't clear if that was done through hyperlinks or another means. There was no indication of price that I could see.

I'm "fluent" in Excel, so I prefer to work directly with the data rather than using a form, but I can see where it would be helpful if you want the analysis without having to build your own pivot tables and arrays.

I didn't think about letting others have access to my client list and pay history. But, if having that info gets someone else to the same situation I'm currently in, well....let's just say I'm laughing right now

As far as letting other people see your jobs and which shopping companies you work with, it is a secure application where people can only see their own shops. LisaSTL, bgriffin and ChrisCooper would only see what they entered and not what the other entered. The one person who would have access to your data is the support and development team (ie my brother in law).

Not to be flip but being concerned is kind of like not wanting to purchase anything from Amazon because someone on the IT team can see what you purchased and could get your credit card number - other people purchasing things on Amazon have no idea what you purchased.

If your concern is that my brother in law is going to start intercepting all of your jobs from your mystery shopping companies - he can be evil at times but not that evil. We're talking forgetting to call on my birthday level of evil at the worst. Besides, he's too busy fostering puppies and kittens and answering all my computer questions to do much mystery shopping.

OK, I registered. I am terrible at keeping up with my spreadsheet on every shop and end up handwriting my own reports but am glad to send you a copy of what I'm using. It is lacking some obvious things that an app would be wonderful for! Hope I get chosen. What's the shop from H? I've had some but not sure if there is something in particular he is looking for.>? Thanks.

This may be a legitimate app but I cannot give my personal data to anyone. I protect my information and cannot use an unknown app. Again, this isn't a knock against the OP's integrity, but just a personal choice.

It is not like purchasing something on Amazon. I could not care less who knows I purchased the latest Clive Cussler book. I can't think of a good reason to share details about my business with anyone except my accountant. Even he doesn't have this level of detail. I'm not saying your program and app are bad or they would not be a boon to many shoppers who don't have the knowledge or inclination to create their own. Just we should not compare apples to oranges.

"Not to be flip but being concerned is kind of like not wanting to purchase anything from Amazon because someone on the IT team can see what you purchased and could get your credit card number - other people purchasing things on Amazon have no idea what you purchased."

@7star wrote:

This may be a legitimate app but I cannot give my personal data to anyone. I protect my information and cannot use an unknown app. Again, this isn't a knock against the OP's integrity, but just a personal choice.

Believe me, security and privacy is a big concern for me too.

The only personal information required is an email address and a user name you create. You can get a one-off email address from Google if privacy is a concern. Other information is purely voluntary and nothing is exposed to other users. This includes your name and answering some questions about your experience with mystery shopping but that's optional.

If you opt to use the Postal Buddy system then you are prompted for your zip code. In the Postal Buddy app (which is purely voluntary to participate in and you have to opt-in), your user name and first three digits of your zip code are exposed to other users (ie 752xx). No one sees your email or any other information. If another user wants to contact you, they use a 'contact' button and you are sent a message which includes the other user's email - you then decide to reply back or not. Similarly, if you want to contact another user, they get a message with your email and they decide if they want to reply back or not. This is just as private as using the PM feature here at the forum to contact other users to participate in postal shops.

If you are concerned about sharing your shopping history - the only people who have access are you and the back end team who have to maintain the database in case there is a problem. By 'team' I mean my brother in law. He lives in Dallas so if you are shopping in that area and are concerned he will try to steal your shops then don't use the app to track your shops. All other areas are safe from his greedy and devious hands.

@Frugal.Lee wrote:

He lives in Dallas so if you are shopping in that area and are concerned he will try to steal your shops then don't use the app to track your shops. All other areas are safe from his greedy and devious hands.

Well, I'm out then
Actually I'll probably give it a try. My system right now honestly is a few word documents and a few folders on my desktop to organize files. It works for me, but probably not the most efficient way of doing things. Especially come tax season.
And really I'm Central Texas anyway, but when I shop Dallas, I find enough jobs to keep me quite busy...I don't imagine that will change with one guy having my job list...if he cares to snoop.

Don't get me wrong, you and your brother may have a fantastic app but for security reasons i won't use an unknown app or website that isn't from a large well known company. There are security risks that i don't even want to take. I'm not concerned about competition for me shopping wise. But i wish you well on your app.

I will definitely give this a look over. Thank you for looking into this. I hooe it all works out.

I'm sorry but I have to disagree with your assessment Frugal. I don't doubt that your brother has very good intentions in creating this app. I want to make sure you understand that I am not speaking to his integrity, but here are my concerns:

1. For 2 years I worked on a project. The end client had a requirement of my client that a large percentage of their shops be done by dedicated shoppers with permanently assigned locations. There was a single shopper who was doing about 20% of the locations per quarter who suddenly disappeared. The MSC was desperate to get back to the required level and I was able to negotiate very large fees on a large number of shops. The contract got renegotiated and the dedicated shopper requirement got removed. Until then I was doing 400 locations per quarter at more the 3x the board rate for the shops on average. The wrong person finding out I was doing those shops in that quantity at that rate could have been devastating to me and/or the MSC. That is not a risk I would take.

2. My largest client is a very secretive project. To the point that I once mentioned discussing my route locations with my brother to the scheduler. We had a 30 minute phone call where I was grilled about exactly what we did and did not discuss. There are less than 10 shoppers who even work for this company. I am not taking a risk of putting that information anywhere.

3. One of my largest clients is a very large MSC that has a very large video division that is rarely advertised to shoppers, few video shoppers are even aware of the volume of shops they have, and they work with maybe 20 shoppers in volume. It took 3 different recommendations before I was even contacted. Again, I'm not taking a risk of putting that information out there.

On top of that, I think either you and he have failed to recognize what the data you are collecting would be worth, or you're failing to admit it. Let's take a single client that has been recently discussed. There is a shopper that gets a Five Guys location for $53. There are several that seem to be able to negotiate $20-$25 fees. There are some that take them at the board rate of $6. The discussion in that thread definitely contains valuable information, but it's practically worthless compared to the information this database would have. If only 100 shoppers were using it, and those 100 shoppers input their shop information for their Five Guys shops, you now have a large sample with matching locations. The shopper names are irrelevant. You now have a database of Five Guys locations along with a range of associated fees. Do that over 50 clients and 2 years and suddenly that database is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/24/2017 08:02PM by bgriffin.

"I'm sorry but I have to disagree with your assessment Frugal. I don't doubt that your brother has very good intentions in creating this app. I want to make sure you understand that I am not speaking to his integrity, but here are my concerns"

Pretty legitimate concerns. If I were in your position, I would guard my data as well and clearly this app isn't for you. And if your situation is representative of most shoppers, this might be a very short-lived experiment.

But maybe there are some shoppers out there who shop like me - pick up a several shops each week at the regular rate, occasionally negotiate a small bonus but not often and hate fiddling with spreadsheets. I think that is more the target audience (especially since my brother-in-law built this thing based on my shopping experiences).

If there are enough shoppers like me, then maybe this service can keep going to help shoppers like me. If most shoppers have inside information or special knowledge or other methods for getting more pay out of shopping companies that they don't want to run the risk of leaking out, then at least we gave it a shot. And my brother-in-law is going to have to pick up a lot of mystery shopping jobs to pay the bills he racked up getting this thing off the ground.

At least you know your target audience. I'm sure there are quite a few shoppers in exactly the same place. Now you just have to reach them

Even if I did not have the concerns personally, I still would have the concern about the aggregated data. Let's go back to that Five Guys shop I was talking about.

Let's say there are enough shoppers using the application the sample size becomes statistically relevant. In 2 years Five Guys decides to shop out their contract and MSC A decides to bid. They come to your brother in law and says hey, I don't care about shopper information, but I'll pay you $50,000 for the aggregated data on all Five Guys shops in your database for the last 2 years. So now they have a fairly accurate baseline for how much those shops are costing the current MSC. That gives them a pricing advantage. Now let's say 5 MSC's pay for the data. Now suddenly all 7 MSC's in the bidding war have more confidence in their pricing, which creates competition. Good for Five Guys, they're gonna get a lower priced contract. Bad for shoppers because now MSCs have lower margins which result in lower prices.

Or what if I call up your brother in 2 years and say I'll give you $500 for the aggregated data on the 5 locations nearest me. Now I have a fairly accurate idea of what others are getting paid, even though I don't know the shoppers themselves. That puts me at an advantage.

And then there are the ICA problems. If I were an MSC there is no way in HELL I would allow my fees to be aggregated anywhere and I would consider it an ICA violation if a shopper did so.

The ONLY way this application would be ok in my opinion is if there was not a shared database (ie the database was designed in a way that there could be no aggregation of data) and individual shopper databases were encrypted in a way that the back end of the system could not access them.

I think you're doing a pretty good job of scaring away potential users most of whom I don't think are in the boat you describe but I could be wrong - I'm not in that boat to know who else is in it.

Unfortunately, such a secure application would be so expensive to run that he would have to charge a lot per user. This would be too much for the vast majority of shoppers to even consider - and forget about offering a free version.

And to the ICA concern, my brother-in-law took that into consideration. The app tracks MSC and shop address but does not expose a 'Customer' or 'Client' field specifically to avoid running into the situation of a shopper revealing MSC and Client association. I have done quite a few shops for different MSCs contracted by different clients at the same address - I've hit the local Walmart for 3 different MSCs (a phone shop, a grocery shop and a end-cap verification shop). So in your Five Guys example, while the data is there to probably figure out its a Five Guys shop based on the address, there is no place to actually record that it is a Five Guys shop unless you write it down in the Comments section. And if you are still concerned, maybe do something like just specify the zip code or don't provide an address at all (though you lose the Mapping functionality).

So consider the elite and savvy shoppers duly notified and hopefully the remaining shoppers who shop more like me and who might benefit from this service are still open to considering using it.

And now I anticipate the next response to be "Doesn't track Client??!! Why, it's useless then! No value, whatsover!" Well, I think its pretty cool and I find value in it. Maybe others will think its cool also.

I'm sorry you feel like I am trying to scare away potential clients. You posted it in the open forum which opens it up to opinions. I'm giving mine. You are unhappy about it and I'm fine with that. I do think though, that you are failing to understand my concern about aggregated data. A shopper who does a single shop a year, who uses this app, will have their shop added to the big database of shops done. Sure I won't be able to access that information, and no other shopper will be able to access that information, but your brother in law absolutely can access that information. I was in IT for 13 years and honestly had very little exposure to databases, but I know enough to know that it would take all of 4 seconds to run a query across all records and pull out a single address if you were an admin that had access to all records. That absolutely affects every single shopper, not only the ones who use the application. I'm sure you find value in it, and if enough shoppers use it your brother in law will find tremendous value in selling it's data.

Perhaps your brother-in-law should add a non-disclosure agreement to the terms of service that state no data will ever be aggregated and make it iron clad enough that a change in ownership wouldn't void that agreement.

I do agree that not having a client field is a great idea though.

I'm not seeing where the data would be aggregated. My understanding is that each user has discrete, password-protected space on the host's server where the user-data is stored.

Fugal.lee's BIL put a lot of effort into programming this app. If he wanted to steal data, there must be easier and faster ways! The cost per month is less than the fee for one phone shop, so it's priced well. The standard version is recommended for shoppers who do 4 shops/week. If I were struggling to find a way to organize my shops, as many new shoppers say on the forum, I would definitely give this a whirl.

It looks like a good and useful app. I hope the beta testers will update the forum with their thoughts.

@ChrisCooper wrote:

I'm not seeing where the data would be aggregated. My understanding is that each user has discrete, password-protected space on the host's server where the user-data is stored.

Ok. Lets say you, me, and frugal all shop the same five guys. Frugal always asks for 15 when he is called, you always ask for 10, amd I'm a shopper who takes them off the board at 6. You, me, and frugal do not have a clue what the other gets, but all of that information is in one single database, even though the data is kept seperate. While we can't see it, there is absolutely nothing stopping frugals BIL from running a query on the database to list all records for that particular location. Now we have a problem. That data has been aggregated (combined) and has tremendous value. On a micro scale he could call me up and say hey, for $25 I could show you how much you should be getting for a shop you are tak8ng too cheap. Multiply that by 1000 locations and he has $25,000 worth of data on 1 single client. On a macro scale, when the five guys contract goes up for bid he could contact 10 other MSCs that would pay him $25,000 (on a multimillion dollar contract that would be peanuts). Now out of one client he has turnes this data into a $250,000 profit while at the same time causing MSC bidding competition, which lowers fees for all of us.

Also he would not be stealing data, shoppers would be giving it to him.

Hey everyone, its Lee's brother-in-law here. Lee and I have been discussing this thread. I've done some research and hosting on a secure database is freakin expensive - we're talking at least $1,000/month which is crazy. I wanted to build something that was
1) useful to the community and
2) affordable for the community.

Please do raise concerns and I will see what I can do to address them. Not including a 'Customer' field was my way of heading off ICA violations but as Lee pointed out earlier, if you really want to track customers and clients, you can use the 'Comments' section. I'll check with a lawyer about writing up something to be included in the Terms and Conditions when ready to go live as bgriffin suggested.

For now, I invite everyone to register. Get a throw-away email address and enter dummy data if you like, check it out and see if there is anything else you think should be addressed. I want to make this a positive contribution to the community just like mysteryshopforums.com has been. Hopefully the adverting and the premium content that costs less than an extra shop a month is enough to keep the lights on and benefit shoppers.

deleted since no longer pertinent after BIL's post.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/25/2017 12:25AM by ChrisCooper.

Ha! I write out names and addresses. The reason is simple. I would never remember my own abbreviations

My typing is slow and accuracy suffers, so I'm great at creating and remembering codes and mnemonics. I've been doing it since high school, so it's second nature now.

I'm going to try it, it sounds great. It does sound like it's for the everyday shopper and not the "elite" shopper. I wouldn't think that an "elite" shopper with "elite" shops would be concerned about the pricing across the board for all shoppers since they are an "elite" shopper.

All you would need to do is provide the same disclaimer that mystery shopping companies provide regarding privacy and selling of YOUR information. You can't provide a disclaimer, and should NOT make a promise to and about selling aggregated data because that is the American way and Capitalism rules and we live in the USA!

You may want to read some of your ICAs again. They specifically address proprietary data. If a shopper is providing information that would violate their ICA they are culpable meaning possible legal issues if the aggregate data is sold to another MSC. By providing a disclaimer guaranteeing data won't be sold, the developer is protecting both himself and the end users.

@Patrick.Bee wrote:

Hey everyone, its Lee's brother-in-law here. Lee and I have been discussing this thread. I've done some research and hosting on a secure database is freakin expensive - we're talking at least $1,000/month which is crazy.

So you're saying the data isn't even secure?