Internet enables low paying jobs-Is mystery shopping one of them?

I just read this article and thought it applies to mystery shopping as well. No wonder there are MS companies that believe people will work only for food at the fast food nearby. [www.theatlantic.com]
"The Internet Is Enabling a New Kind of Poorly Paid Hell" from the Atlantic.

"This low-paid work arrives via sites like CrowdFlower, Clickworker, Toluna, and Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, to name a few. Largely unregulated, these sites allow businesses and individuals to post short tasks and pay workers—in cash or, sometimes, gift cards—to complete them. A recent Mechanical Turk listing, for example, offered workers 80 cents to read a restaurant review and then answer a survey about their impressions of it; the time limit was 45 minutes. Another, which asked workers to fill out a 15-minute psychological questionnaire about what motivates people to do certain tasks, offered $1, but allowed that the job could take three hours."

On the other side, I can see the need of people without other options, or inability to leave the house, to get these jobs to supplement their income so may be this article introduces new paying sources for others.

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To me it's apples and oranges.

My posts are solely based on my opinions and for my entertainment, contact a professional if you need real advice.

When you get in debt you become a slave. - Andrew Jackson
@KateH
If you take the time to plan and avoid accepting shops that you find to be very poorly compensated, you can earn well more than minimum wage mystery shopping, even after calculating drive times and time to write reports.

Hard work builds character and homework is good for your soul.
At the other end of the spectrum, the Internet also allows telecommuting (saving fuel and commuting time) for workers at many high pay grades; permits stay-at-home parents to make some money, permits many folks with mobility and other impairments to improve their opportunities for paid work; allow many workers to live one place and work halfway around the world. So, like most technological advances, it has huge benefit, but also opportunities for huge problems. Remember, the first thing produced by the printing press was the Bible; the second thing was porn.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.
I did some Mechanical Turk stuff before I started mystery shopping. I also did some evaluating websites which actually paid a little better than mechanical Turk.
I make more mystery shopping, by far, than with the Turk stuff.
However, when I first started mystery shopping, I did not make as much per hour as I do now. With any industry, you have to learn and get experienced to move up the ladder. Learning from others on this forum helped me.

________________________________________
Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.
I look for surveys to complete while I'm stuck at home and nada to do. One day, I sat around and made $21 and some change after I had browsed all the shop boards and decided to do a few surveys. That's atypical, but I am always surprised when I have $50 or so to cash out into my account or gift cards.

MegglesKat
I have noticed some MSCs are decreasing payment fees so far this year.
I do work on Amazon Turk when I need some quick cash. I have been doing it for four years, and you get more pay and better opportunities as time goes on. Not everyone likes doing that though but I just work from home now. Every little bit helps.
For the mystery shopping industry, I feel that you have both sides of the scale. I think for a number of jobs (high volume), the pay is getting lower as it is easier to recruit people who will accept a lower payment for such work and the Internet is more accessible to a larger pool of workers. I think the same is true for people who become uber or lyft drivers. If there was indeed a shortage of drivers, rates could be more higher to make it a more profitable job being a driver.

On the other end, I think the expectations for high-end jobs (not casual dining or other low cost services) is also there to find unique people or finding someone to match a particular profile. I don't know how this translates to pay, but perhaps better fitting jobs. This allows more industries to try such program.
You can make decent money with mystery shopping if you find the right shops with good bonuses and make a route out of them. On a per hour basis, I easily make over double the minimum wage. Just takes some time to gain experience and put in the work to gain a good reputation.

I signed for a 15.00 Jack and my acceptance email stated 8.00 for job. I promptly declined telling them I signed for 15.00...jobs are same location, same job, range from $8 to 15.00. they found someone to do it for 8.00 and could care less that I cancelled, writing me a note saying not to do job, it's been filled, but keep other jobs in tact.
There are always others to take the low hanging fee and after 11 years, not much has changed

Live consciously....
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