Yea I tend to shy away from petty payments allot of work but small payments it's just not worth it...

I always thought that this shop paid so little because the client thinks it's an honor to get to shop there and you just want to do it because it's so cool. Nope. I made the mistake of doing it for $5 and $5 reimbursement. Noob mistake.

The world of mystery shopping is slowing fizzling out. The only thing left will be UPS, FEDEx, USPS and home shopping channels. Heck, we won't even have to leave the house!! LOL

I have been doing MSh for only a year, so I am curious to know what kind of trends you have been observing. Why do you think it is going down and what do you think are the reasons.

With some companies Make an Offer button appears only at the end of cycle for the last week or so.

I do that particular shop but wait till it's up to $28. Even at $28 it's a lot of work.

In reply to Shop2drop...I have been mystery shopping since 1998 and I can certainly tell you that it's not what it used to be. I haven't done much work in the last couple of years due to health issues and now I'm trying to make some money. Things were changing slowly, but now I've noticed drastic changes. I'm not sure I want to do this anymore and it makes me sad.

I’m fairly certain some noob will come along & grab it think they are so lucky to get the shop. Not me!!

@Maggieg55
I know what you mean. There have been times where I would be out at the end of the month 60 miles away from home having schedulers call me begging me to do one more for them with a $20 bonus & now it’s hard to find a good bonus. Times are changing and not for the better.

Completely absurd! I wonder how much they make for calling us to take these shops? If they’d offer appropriate fee to begin with they’d save the money they pay employees to try to find someone when no one takes it. In the end, it costs them more. Simple business knowledge....

I do that when I sell my soap at the flea market. I sell 85 percent at a whopping 600 percent profit and then it goes down as the day and season end to selling about 5 percent at a 120 percent loss. I still make my quota though. Probably same with them.

I have done the outlet shops. They typically give you 10 or so stores, not the entire outlet. I first did them for $5 each because I was new at shopping and I wanted to go to the Outlet anyway. The second time each shop was $10. The third time they went back to $5 per shop and I say NO WAY, JOSE!

That is what I try to do but then they call me and say "Can you do this shop for us and we will pay you x$ and then I ask can you up it little because it is quite a distance from me and most of the time they will get to the amount I have in mind.

When I was new (I'm still fairly new), I picked up the cheap shops because I knew it was an easy way to get started and build my ratings. Most of them were self assigns, or the schedulers were willing to try me for the low end shops. Now that I have higher ratings and some experience I, too avoid them. I don't understand why they think they'll get a quality job for next to nothing. By the time you prepare, drive there, do the assignment, drive back and write the report, you get paid about a dollar an hour.

This is why I am not a scheduler. I feel sorry for whoever has to try to schedule this.

All I see posted are the low ball shops and I'm signed up with over 20 companies. Granted, I've just been at it since April, but the highest paying shop I've had was an overnight casino for $150. It was like 10 shops in one. I did it to get into the bigger casino shops. I've had a few $40+ shops that were short and sweet. Does it depend on the area you're located in? I'm in Oklahoma, not close to a major city. Is that the reason few good paying shops are here?

These companies always want to pay the least, sometimes I wonder how much they are getting when they are willing to double or triple the pay sometimes... Then what happens when you do a shop they don't like and don't pay and yet it never gets put back on the board to see if another shopper will do it. I've been doing this a long time. Even if they advertise the pay at 9.50 for 15 minutes then double the pay. I don't know anyone who can do one of these shops, drive there and back plus down load 4-5 or more pics of the forms they gave you. What a joke. I have learned I don't do shops until they are bonused and then take my chances of someone else getting it first.

You really have to do some research. I had one company that had a restaurant/bar shop, reimbursement $45 and $10 pay while another company had the SAME shop with only the reimbursement and this one had a much more in depth questionnaire. I saw this several times. Needless to say I opted out of that company

Don't assume the shop was not redone just because you don't see it posted again. Some systems have the ability to block you from seeing assignments if you are no longer eligible. More often if a shop is invalidated, especially later in the month, the scheduler will contact their go to shoppers directly.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/12/2017 01:50AM by LisaSTL.

@loghomelover wrote:

The world of mystery shopping is slowing fizzling out. The only thing left will be UPS, FEDEx, USPS and home shopping channels. Heck, we won't even have to leave the house!! LOL

I don't think mystery shopping is fizzling out; it seems more and more industries embrace it. Heck, it's hardly about "shopping" anymore. Then again I haven't been at it for too long. I've just been surprised at how it's expanded from retail from the time when I first heard of it.
Home shopping channels?! They get shopped? Please tell me the MSCs!
Never leaving the house is fine with me! Ordering delivery online is the simplest shop I've ever done. I'm doing my first pizza shop tonight. I always get nervous for new shops though.

@MamawSly
I'm in a good-sized city and the best shops get scooped up right away. So while a city has more shops to do, it also has more shoppers to do them. A lot of people on these forums do a lot of shops because they are willing to travel FAR. Me, I complain about going 12 miles. I'd rather stay in a 5 mile radius if I can! My favorite shop is right across the street.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/12/2017 02:39AM by ShopWhisperer.

Some of the shops that are online ordering types have a purchase/return scenario, what a PITA I imagine for the $$ involved. I tell ya, I have not had a problem getting decent paying shops in my area though without hassle of purchase return. Really, I am so glad. And, with the stock market, real estate, and other financials on an upswing, MS companies will be able to get more money from cients but will hope that shoppers will settle for less.

Whenever someone suggests MS is on it's way out, they always talk about retail. I chuckle because most months I don't have any retail shops. They can be good fillers, but there is so much more out there.

Yes, you read the requirements, the guidelines, purchase something, return it, do the report, any follow up and you get $20. You can make the same $20 in 20 minutes with a fairly easy report. But it would be 6 miles away.

It's variable, that's for sure.

Well, mystery shopping really is/was about shopping, so, well, people shop at retail stores, so that makes sense. Banks, hotels, auto sales etc is about integrity auditing, not at all mystery shopping really. I mean, now it's all been thrown into one group but that's only because it changed; morphed, consolidated. It used to be that you had to be a PI or work under a licensed one to do those integrity shops. Turns out it's cheaper to hire unskilled, unqualified really unless someone has worked in banking/hospitality, every day people at those levels.

New cars, banks, apartments and senior living are absolutely about shopping. The evaluations are all about salesmanship and customer service.

@Gail K wrote:

When I was new (I'm still fairly new), I picked up the cheap shops because I knew it was an easy way to get started and build my ratings. Most of them were self-assigns, or the schedulers were willing to try me for the low-end shops. Now that I have higher ratings and some experience I, too avoid them. I don't understand why they think they'll get a quality job for next to nothing. By the time you prepare, drive there, do the assignment, drive back and write the report, you get paid about a dollar an hour.

To the extent that I was paying THEM to do the work, I can not work for charity when I know they are making money. The same story as the grocery stores where it is review 4-6 departments, get names and descriptions, tell us what you asked and how they answered. Don't forget the bathrooms. All for $6-8 and a $10 reimbursement. Some of these should be offered at either $10 and maybe a $20-25 reimbursement (this is a company expense, so it is a write-off at the end of the year anywhere) Why cheap us out.
They say that is all the client will pay, well then, Make better deals with them. Tell them your employees (US mystery shoppers) are requesting better pay.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/12/2017 03:39AM by KanusWeb.

I have been in mystery shopping for 15 years. I am just amazed that anyone would even consider this type of shop. This is appalling that a MSC would even offer this nonsense to shoppers out there. Yet, shoppers do not understand that they are in business to make a profit and not to play at mystery shopping. Those that take this type of shop make if difficult for those of us that consider this a serious business.

That is astonishing. On my own time and my own dime, I frequently do essentially what the shop requires. That is because I so love books and things that I enjoy bookstores and related businesses. For me, this shop is less of work and more of a discount for a typical purchase during a typical visit. I would be paid for doing what I often do, with one exception-- putting information in a report. Technically, that would be work. For me, I would get at least ten bucks in exchange for going to a type of place that I love and doing what I usually do and providing a little information about an experience. That is neither play nor bad business. It is an opportunity for me to receive a wee reward for being me. Yes. Just for being me, I could get money. What a concept.

I am wondering about how much time people spend in places that sell books and things... How many people are unlike me regarding books and things? How many people would find it onerous to be in a bookstore? For how many people would this shop be torture? How many would not do this shop for any fee or bonus?

Is the groaning less about the fee for the tasks (not difficult; variations of these appear in many other shops that many of us have completed) and more about the dislike of the locations?

I do not understand how doing what is easy and/or enjoyable for me could make anything difficult for any other shopper. If the tasks in this shop are difficult for another shopper, the shopper can consider their shopping skills, available time, and interests instead of insinuating that I or anyone else who completes and/or likes this shop is making things difficult for others.

The Secret Service - www.thesecretservice.co.uk pay three times the fee and reimbursement of other MSC's and they pay within 24 hours if not less after the assignment has been completed. Its an insult to pay less