Some shops are just not worth doing
15 years ago one of my very first shops ever was 5 hours away, but I would be travelling past on a 9 hour drive to NC. So I took the shop thinking I would just pop off the highway for a minute and have an ice cream break and get $10 for it. Turns out the location was an hour from the highway, and the main road I was on to get there turned into a gravel road, and eventually became a driveway in the woods at the top of a mountain in WV. Missed a turn somewhere 30 miles back. Not worth it. No GPS in 2003.
I like that pizza store and we eat there anyway. Did the shop once and decided that it isn't worth it, even when I was already there and already going to purchase the pizza. It's too bad because I like the company; it just doesn't pay enough. Not even close.@johnb974 wrote:
I agree this shop isn't for everyone. I just don't think it's worth my time and effort. I can make more on shorter shops with less paperwork.
"Let me offer you my definition of social justice: I keep what I earn and you keep what you earn. Do you disagree? Well then tell me how much of what I earn belongs to you - and why?” ~Walter Williams
I've done other shops for pizza that had simple reports. This one shop wanted to note the exact time, hour, mins and secs, through each process. Than they wanted to know the exact mins and secs it took for each sections. They already have that the first time. If you don't get the math right they refuse to pay.
@johnb974 wrote:
I've done other shops for pizza that had simple reports. This one shop wanted to note the exact time, hour, mins and secs, through each process. Than they wanted to know the exact mins and secs it took for each sections. They already have that the first time. If you don't get the math right they refuse to pay.
If you know how to use the lap timer on your smart phone, this is the easiest shop out there. I don't know why you keep harping on it? If you do the math incorrectly, you want to be paid? Doesn't sound right.
You need to be competent in basic addition and subtraction. Verify the numbers up and down. Not a big deal. It's literally junior high math.
Example:
Joined the line: 12:00:16
Step 1 (51 seconds): 12:01:07
Step 2 (28 seconds): 12:01:35
Step 3 (2 min 33 seconds): 12:04:08
Step 4 (1 min 10 seconds): 12:05:18
Total time elapsed: 5:02
If these shops aren't for you then don't do them. Some people are uncomfortable with the timings and stay away from these kinds of shops. For those that can do them, it isn't too much work to get a pizza meal.
This is the ONLY shop I've seen that requires 2 sets of timing for each step. It's not really necessary and just gives them an opportunity to deny the shop. I'm sure they will correct any of your mistakes, turn in the report and get paid themselves. You do all the work and get nothing.
You could also make up your own time. Just start an estimate of when you got in line and estimate your time through the process. It's not like they're going to spend all day timing videos of all the shops.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/16/2018 05:40PM by johnb974.
You could also make up your own time. Just start an estimate of when you got in line and estimate your time through the process. It's not like they're going to spend all day timing videos of all the shops.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/16/2018 05:40PM by johnb974.
Talk about not paying enough...i just did an easy big box for 8.00 (yesterday), and last night I get an email for same job, different location (further away) for 5.00...what is going on????
Live consciously....
They have to pay for their vacations in Cuba somehow.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/16/2018 05:59PM by spicy1.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/16/2018 05:59PM by spicy1.
By the way, for the one company, I corrected my timing mistakes as they asked me to and they still rejected my shop. I was even told they rejected it because I didn't get it right the first time.....even after they asked me to correct it. I deactivated my account with them. I have other pizza shops I do, that pay more and have far less paper work.
@johnb974 wrote:
This is the ONLY shop I've seen that requires 2 sets of timing for each step. It's not really necessary and just gives them an opportunity to deny the shop. I'm sure they will correct any of your mistakes, turn in the report and get paid themselves. You do all the work and get nothing.
You could also make up your own time. Just start an estimate of when you got in line and estimate your time through the process. It's not like they're going to spend all day timing videos of all the shops.
I've done the shop 36 times and been paid 36 times.
Some people just aren't good shoppers. If you are making up times, you are a liar and a fraud.
Yes, they will check video if they want to verify it. Managers' bonuses are based on the timings.
Good shoppers should not be paid or accept such low wages. No one's watch times matches all others. Watches can be a few minutes off from each other. They put the redundancy in there to give a reason for not paying you. I corrected my times and they still refused the shop. I'm sure they will still use the information so the MSC gets paid, while not paying the shopper.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/16/2018 07:59PM by johnb974.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/16/2018 07:59PM by johnb974.
Use the Shop It app to do exact timings as well as elapsed timings.
@AnneAshley wrote:
Use the Shop It app to do exact timings as well as elapsed timings.
I saved the link for this app, will look at it later. Thanks.
I use the Mystery Stopwatch. Made for and by a mystery shopper, well, probably. Best .99 cents I've spent in this industry.
@johnb974 wrote:
Good shoppers should not be paid or accept such low wages. No one's watch times matches all others. Watches can be a few minutes off from each other. They put the redundancy in there to give a reason for not paying you. I corrected my times and they still refused the shop. I'm sure they will still use the information so the MSC gets paid, while not paying the shopper.
Wrong on so many levels.
Everyone with a smart phone has the same time. Satellite technology. Who is doing timings on a watch nowadays?
I know of very few excellent shoppers who haven't worked for that company. You know, the ones who get airfare, travel, expensive stuff, etc.
MSC's don't use the shops if you don't get paid (well, except for Hilli Dunlap). They just don't. If you think that you do, you know very little about this industry.
I have had months where I have pulled in $5,000. Now, I shop very little and pull $1000 easily on top of my full time job.
"MSC's don't use the shops if you don't get paid (well, except for Hilli Dunlap). "....you make a statement and than throw in an exception. If the company doesn't get paid, until the shopper is paid, why do some, like this company reject a shop AFTER I corrected it.? It's true about the timing on the smart phones. Unless they view every video of every shop, they can't know when you got in line and when you reached each station.
$5000 a month? You have got to be kidding. LOL
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/17/2018 03:04PM by johnb974.
$5000 a month? You have got to be kidding. LOL
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/17/2018 03:04PM by johnb974.
@johnb974 wrote:
$5000 a month? You have got to be kidding. LOL
No, I am not kidding. Minimum daily rate for me is $200/day fee for any on site work (hotels, casinos, etc). That is if I don't find other things to do in addition to the main job I am doing.
@SoCalMama wrote:
@johnb974 wrote:
$5000 a month? You have got to be kidding. LOL
No, I am not kidding. Minimum daily rate for me is $200/day fee for any on site work (hotels, casinos, etc). That is if I don't find other things to do in addition to the main job I am doing.
[www.indeed.com]
Secret Shopper Mystery Shopper yearly salaries in the United States.....Average salary
$30,663 per year
@johnb974
I don't know @SoCalMama. However, I have read her posts the last two years and I totally believe her numbers. I only do this part time and make enough to know that I could hit $5K/mo. if I were not working full time. And, no, that does not include reimbursement amounts. If you are extremely reliable, do fantastic work, video shop and are willing to travel, the money is there. It just takes some time to establish yourself and find the right MSC's for you. My eight shops yesterday scored me better that $300. I would have topped $400 if it were not a bad traffic day, making me a little too slow to hit a last shop. I'm relaxing today and tomorrow. I'll top $400 on Monday.
The vast majority of mystery shoppers only do this part time - and quite casually at that. Any "average salary" stats are not going to tell a proper story. We are all different.
I don't know @SoCalMama. However, I have read her posts the last two years and I totally believe her numbers. I only do this part time and make enough to know that I could hit $5K/mo. if I were not working full time. And, no, that does not include reimbursement amounts. If you are extremely reliable, do fantastic work, video shop and are willing to travel, the money is there. It just takes some time to establish yourself and find the right MSC's for you. My eight shops yesterday scored me better that $300. I would have topped $400 if it were not a bad traffic day, making me a little too slow to hit a last shop. I'm relaxing today and tomorrow. I'll top $400 on Monday.
The vast majority of mystery shoppers only do this part time - and quite casually at that. Any "average salary" stats are not going to tell a proper story. We are all different.
Hard work builds character and homework is good for your soul.
Pretty good for a target employee, lol
Unless you have special certifications, such as video, or a private investigator, I doubt anyone will make $50,000 a year. You would be way outside the norm. If you're going to say you make $50,000 a year, tell us what certifications or degrees you have to accomplish this. Are you doing mystery shops as a hotel employee?
None of us really know SoCalMoma, so I don't just take her word for it. No one should. I go by what the sites, that keep track of mystery shops pay, have to say. They are more reliable than one person on here.
None of us really know SoCalMoma, so I don't just take her word for it. No one should. I go by what the sites, that keep track of mystery shops pay, have to say. They are more reliable than one person on here.
Funny you should mention the $10 audits. That audit paid about 25-35 when I did it two years ago. Mostly settled at 25. I will not touch it until it goes way up. I hope everybody else does that too. Used to be appt. I never saw it on my board at all last calendar year, so I thought it moved or I did enough when I started, hit a limit. Once you do the first couple, if never done before or in case it is much altered from before, it should go fast. But you are at the mercy of customer flow...so. I definitely need more, even if it becomes like second nature.
@johnb974
You are going by the job boards... That's where you miss.
Again, I cannot speak for @SoCalMama, so I'll speak for myself:
My best jobs come from the telephone and personal email requests. I (almost) never do work from job boards that does not have a significant bonus. I'll ask for a bonus if I am asked to do a job.
I have no special certifications. (MSPA Silver). I do own video equipment and the most profitable shops are video.
You are going by the job boards... That's where you miss.
Again, I cannot speak for @SoCalMama, so I'll speak for myself:
My best jobs come from the telephone and personal email requests. I (almost) never do work from job boards that does not have a significant bonus. I'll ask for a bonus if I am asked to do a job.
I have no special certifications. (MSPA Silver). I do own video equipment and the most profitable shops are video.
Hard work builds character and homework is good for your soul.
I believe someone could hit $5,000 a month but not without a very long day and absolutely not every month and certain not very many months. Most of the very high paying assignments are completed by mystery shopping company owners, employees and their I.C. hired on editors and schedulers anyway. eta: owners
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/17/2018 10:58PM by spicy1.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/17/2018 10:58PM by spicy1.
@spicy1 wrote:
I believe someone could hit $5,000 a month but not without a very long day and absolutely not every month and certain not very many months. Most of the very high paying assignments are completed by mystery shopping company owners, employees and their I.C. hired on editors and schedulers anyway. eta: owners
Now that I agree with.
@CABZmom wrote:
Funny you should mention the $10 audits. That audit paid about 25-35 when I did it two years ago. Mostly settled at 25. I will not touch it until it goes way up. I hope everybody else does that too. Used to be appt. I never saw it on my board at all last calendar year, so I thought it moved or I did enough when I started, hit a limit. Once you do the first couple, if never done before or in case it is much altered from before, it should go fast. But you are at the mercy of customer flow...so. I definitely need more, even if it becomes like second nature.
I've seen a number of those $10 audits around me, wouldn't touch them. I got a call yesterday to do a pizza shop I've done many times. I asked for a little more, they said no, so I wouldn't do the shop. It's out of my way and I did it when I had other shops in the area.
There are gas station shops around me. The mystery shops pay $8 fee and $5 reimbursement for a store purchase. They have an open audit shops for the same station. These pay the same as the mystery shops, but require you to take many more pictures, get the prices of items in the store and get the temps of the coolers. I only do the mystery shops. Far less work for the same pay.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/17/2018 11:15PM by johnb974.
A few of the posters on here who talk about their extraordinary earnings actually are, in fact, heavily immersed as an employee, owner or promoter. Having conversations about how you can make a very good living at this makes people want to go ahead and do those $7 - $10 jobs so they can "get there" and make them believe that they just haven't "found it" yet or they just aren't good enough or well connected enough. How many video shops are there, total, per year? Maybe 8,000, I think that's stretching it, at $100 bucks each? Another couple thousand at $50 - $65 each. Maybe a million to keep 20 full timers going? That info isn't published, I'm guessing that's the extent of it in the U.S.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/17/2018 11:17PM by spicy1.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/17/2018 11:17PM by spicy1.
Numbers.... Looking at just the job boards and being willing to work for lots of companies... I am certain that I could pick up seven $30 + shops every day, five days a week. $30 x 7 x 5 = $1050/week. With 52 weeks in a year, that's $54,600 annually. If those shops were to average a mere $40, the numbers change to $1400/week and $72,800 annually.
It's not hard to do seven moderate shops in a day if you are doing this full time and willing to drive a little. The only question is whether or not you can find that many shops. Well, as of today, there is one MSC that has 44 shops within 75 miles from me: ranging from $35 to $70.
It's not hard to do seven moderate shops in a day if you are doing this full time and willing to drive a little. The only question is whether or not you can find that many shops. Well, as of today, there is one MSC that has 44 shops within 75 miles from me: ranging from $35 to $70.
Hard work builds character and homework is good for your soul.
I stay within 15 miles of my home. In So. Calif any further out and you can be stuck in traffic for hours. I make about $200 a month on profits, another $150 on reimbursements. If I lived 20 miles on either side of where I live, I could make much more. But who wants to be stuck in traffic for an hour, just to get back home. It's funny, I look at maps for shops in my area. You can draw a circle 20 miles out and see hundreds of shops, but within that 20 mile radius, you see an almost empty circle. LOL
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/18/2018 12:54AM by johnb974.
I make about $200 a month on profits, another $150 on reimbursements. If I lived 20 miles on either side of where I live, I could make much more. But who wants to be stuck in traffic for an hour, just to get back home. It's funny, I look at maps for shops in my area. You can draw a circle 20 miles out and see hundreds of shops, but within that 20 mile radius, you see an almost empty circle. LOLEdited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/18/2018 12:54AM by johnb974.
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