Some shops are just not worth doing

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@johnb974 wrote:

@jlovesnyc wrote:

Knowing which shops are not worth the time takes a little time to figure out at first. Market force is currently peddling a 39 question, 20+ photo audit shop for $10. I accepted them at first in handfuls, once I printed out the 25 page guidelines I cancelled every single one. Even if these shops were across the street from me they are a no go.

I agree. They have mystery shops for the same stations. You get 2 gallons of gas, make a $5 purchase, look at the inside, take 4 pictures and your done. For the same pay as a full audit. I'll do the mystery shop, but not the audits.

Just so you know, the requirements have changed. You now have to get at least $3 in gas and a purchase in the store of any amount. The reimbursement is still $5 but it's a bit more flexible for areas like California where gas is over $3 a gallon.

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I do the ones around here that don't have a store. I buy $5 of gas and get the full reimbursement. I used to buy $6 of gas to get the 2 gallons, but now don't have to do that. Easiest shop going. Shhhhhh

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The more I learn about people...the more I like my dog..

Mark Twain

@spicy1 wrote:

Its the AT&T, same ss Cricket, 15-25 in store and do audit on tablet while you're there. Let the price go up.

Good to know, I was looking at that job and thought about picking it up. Thanks for the info!

The orange box store paint shop. I did it once at the previous rate of $15 and decided it was too much work. Then I did it again for a bonus of $30. It was still too much work. Now it has been sitting at $9 and just was bonused for $11.

I've never done the paint shop, is the report narrative heavy or otherwise a strange report? I've only done the pizza shop with that company because the fee scale is a bummer. I think at the ones near me I could manage a double dip with the credit card check and maybe triple dip with that flex tape merchandising shop.

I did one paint shop a few years ago. It was awkward to say the least, plus photos were needed. I won't repeat that one, but YMMV.

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The more I learn about people...the more I like my dog..

Mark Twain

@mcav0y wrote:

The orange box store paint shop. I did it once at the previous rate of $15 and decided it was too much work. Then I did it again for a bonus of $30. It was still too much work. Now it has been sitting at $9 and just was bonused for $11.

I absolutely agree. Especially the one that requires 2 interactions. You have more flexibility as to date and time, but the pays the same and it's a lot more work.

What's done is done. An egg cracked cannot be cured.
There are 3 kinds of lies. Lies, Damn lies, and statistics.

I think it's great when other people don't want to do the timed pizza shop because it makes it more likely that I'll get a (modest) bonus when I pick up four at a time. But for those who are doing it I've found the report is a tad easier if you enter the line at zero seconds past the minute. If you enter at 7:05:00 and were greeted 13 seconds in and the sauce was applied 34 seconds in you know the times were 7:05:13 and 7:05:34 etc.

I thought about just making a templet on this shop, just fill in a few details here and there. Still too much work for the low pay.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/22/2018 04:17AM by johnb974.

It's ACL, right?

@ShopperFun99 wrote:

It's ACL, right?

Yes. I deactivated my account with them.

Four shops at a time? I thought there was a rotation requirement.

How do you track the times? Do you touch a timer on your phone for each time? Click, click?

I wonder why a company with such a lovely and professional name, imo, has a purchase a garment for $13 fee and a return a day later for a $5 fee

I know that when I buy Charmin toilet paper, there's a whole lot of different between that and Scott 1000.

Deactivated - that is a dark word in the world of Mystery Shopping. As an active shopper always looking to increase revenues, I try to sign up with as many companies as I can, but in reality there are 3-4 MSC's that are the bread and butter. I recently had to, gulp, deactivate an account that was producing nothing but reimbursement only shops and email clutter (secret shopper). It takes some time, but over time, the cream rises to the top and I've been left with 3, maybe 4 MSC's that give me a constant volume of shops and that are worth the time of reading emails, planning routes, and taking the quizzes and so on. Saying no to a scheduler, or deactivating an MSC is at times necessary in order to focus on the proven winners and maximize $.

It is ironic that a drug test pays $15 but a doughnut shop pays twice as much at $30 as reimbursement.

I now have just a few companies I shop for.

Deactivating Accounts: I see no reason to ever do this. Companies will get new clients and new schedulers. A company who is not finding enough shoppers in a particular reason will change its pay structure. Things change.

If I am tired of the onslaught of emails for a company for which I never shop, I can turn off email notifications in my preferences. I can then feel free to quickly check the company's job board whenever my most regular work hits a lull. Personally, I don't turn off the email notifications as I find that, every once in a while, those companies for which I never work have something I want to do.

Hard work builds character and homework is good for your soul.

There are good reason to deactivate an account. If it's a company that never changes their low pay. A company that only offers one shop. such as a pizza. One your rarely do business with. Or one where you make the changes in the report they asked for, and they still deny you the shop. Such as happened to me.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/22/2018 02:39PM by johnb974.

Was at the pizza place not on a shop. Watched employee dump all the pizza trays on the floor accidentally. Then promptly picked them up and carried right around to the stack they were using as clean. Left. No pizza for me .

I agree with MFJ. I never deactivate, because I want to keep my options open. Even a company which consistently pays low has a high-paying shop every now and then. It's my option to pass up all the low-paying shops if I think they are not worth my time, but also my option to take anything that comes along that meets my standards. I do those shops that I want to do and ignore those shops I don't want to do.

The "Shop it" app on my iPhone costs $17.99!

Deactivating accounts--I will without the slightest hesitation if I deem the MSC to be in violation of standard business practices. Ex. 1--I need clarification, but the scheduler ignores my requests. I then submit a second and even a third, with the same outcome; they are fired. Ex. 2--A scheduler sends me dozens of offers in the same day. After the third request to consolidate, they are fired. Ex. 3--I am lied to concerning my pay; again after third shots, I fire the MSC.

To those who subscribe to the adage that one should never burn a bridge, if you have found success and are happy with that stance, to each his/her own. I am currently in my 55th year of self-employment and I have no doubt that adhering to the principle of Ohio bridges falling down has been instrumental in my longevity.

$17.99? Holy canoly!! No way I would pay that.

I track the pizza times using the stopwatch function with the lap feature. Add the sauce, hit lap. Pay for pizza, hit lap. etc. I meant I pick up four locations at a time.

It wasn't just the timing for me. It was the length of the report. Too many questions and some just repeated.

@NinS wrote:

I track the pizza times using the stopwatch function with the lap feature. Add the sauce, hit lap. Pay for pizza, hit lap. etc. I meant I pick up four locations at a time.

(From Page 2)
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

I'd never deactivate from an MSC. I have had to stop the emails (Intellishop), but most every MSC has good shops. Not all are available to every shopper though.

One of the most hated companies flew me internationally and paid me a huge fee to do a special shop. I never do any of their other shops. It has been 15 years since I did a basic shop for them. So I ignore their emails. I don't deactivate.

If the company only offers one kind of shop for one specific customer, that I will not do again....I see no need to keep then active. I have many MSC I will not do certain shops, but keep them because they offer many other types of shops.

@SoCalMama wrote:

@johnb974 wrote:

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 this is the shop I do where you make your own Pizza (sorry I dropped in to this thread half way through so I am guessing here,) I have always wondered how the timing should be recorded. I put the exact times in the recording such as if I entered the line at noon and 16 seconds (12:00:16) I would put the exact time I got to step one as 12:01:07 PM etc. But I have always wondered if since they say minutes and seconds they do not want the actual time but the time elapsed where you would say 0 minutes and 51 seconds for that step. That would be easier to figure out. They have never questioned me using the exact time with hours and minutes and seconds so I have never tried the other method just using time elapsed ( 0:51 in the above example). Does anyone record their times in the amt of time it took to get to the next step rather than the clock time?

What you don't know is when they will pick up a different client. I also learned recently that two MSC that I only use from time-to-time have video shops that they don't put on their job boards. I don't deactivate because I often don't know what I don't know.

@johnb974 wrote:

If the company only offers one kind of shop for one specific customer, that I will not do again....I see no need to keep then active. I have many MSC I will not do certain shops, but keep them because they offer many other types of shops.

Hard work builds character and homework is good for your soul.

In the 3 years I've done shops for them, off and on, they only offered one other shop for a hot dog. They don't offer them anymore. In my area, they only offer pizza shops for one company.

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