Yes! As I've said before and are in the annals of mystery shopping conferences (on the other side) , when you buy a $10 reimbursed widget you're actually getting $2.25 or whatever from the client. They must be soooooo excited that we will accept it and think us fools. Yes, yes, yes we would (many of us would) pay retail of $10 for that widget but that doesn't mean, still, that we are being paid the equivalent of $10. I do food reimbursement and consider Sentry the only fair reimbursement MSC since the cosmetics shops ended.

@spicy1 wrote:

Yes! As I've said before and are in the annals of mystery shopping conferences (on the other side) , when you buy a $10 reimbursed widget you're actually getting $2.25 or whatever from the client. They must be soooooo excited that we will accept it and think us fools. Yes, yes, yes we would (many of us would) pay retail of $10 for that widget but that doesn't mean, still, that we are being paid the equivalent of $10. I do food reimbursement and consider Sentry the only fair reimbursement MSC since the cosmetics shops ended.

Unless you have access to those reimbursed items for the $2.25 price, then yes, it's $10 for that widget for us consumers. Only exceptions would be if you have access to discounts, coupons, etc. that you may or may not be able to use on the shop and only outside of the shop....

That is not the point

@spicy1 wrote:

That is not the point

It digresses from the topic, yes, but since you’re mentioning reimbursed costs vs. fees..... Why utilize the values of a product from a retailer for how much the MSC’s end-client value it whether it be because that’s how much they’re obtaining from their supplier and/or how much it costs them to direct-manufacture the item, as we can’t obtain the same products at those same prices, such as your example of $2.25 for a $10 MSRP item?

If any msc owners or employees are reading this thread I hope you will clarify your return policy. I for one am not interested in returning an item with the extra work involved even if it is two seconds after the shop. Nor am I interested in fighting it out with a msc if I am found out. Do please remember everyone that Big Brother is watching us these days where ever we go. I point to the parking garage I do where they scan your license plate on the way in and then you do not even need a ticket to exit as they know exactly how long you parked by scanning your plate again on the way out. It would be very easy for a msc to check by receipt number to see if an item was returned. They could certainly do this randomly if this practice got out of control for them.

I have never seen a fee large enough to cover my time and the return time therefore I will only do a retail shop when I actually want to purchase something at the store. Most all my companies have the return policy spelled out. Retail (( which I almost never pay on my own dime) makes sense when I add together my savings based on the price I would have paid plus the fee. I always wonder about those who do pizza shops and then throw the pizza away. Those shops are not worth it to me for the fee but then we do not get big bonuses here.

Here is my math on the question of retail value....$10 fee plus $10 reimbursement for something that costs the store $2.25 means the client is laying out 12.25 for your shop if you do not return the item. If you return the item the same shop costs the client $20.00 plus the extra time it takes for the return process, putting the item back on the shelf and checking to make sure it is in pristine condition to sell again. If you were the client and had hundreds of shops out there your bottom line would be woefully impacted. But for my bottom line I got $20 worth or perhaps $18 worth if I had been able to use a coupon either way if I wanted the item. And I did not spend time in a store shopping for something to get a small fee. The reimbursement for something wanted is what attracts me to these shops, not the fee in most cases. Again those of you that get bonuses I can understand where the fee is enough to warrant the shop and the time it takes to return it.

If I find that my Christmas gift is s regift, it has a different value. If I find that a company is asking that I do a task for them that they say is valued at $10 but they purchased it for $2, the value of that item is only $2, not $10. Can I allow them to take the whatever percent profit margin from my purchase and call that portion reimbursement to me? no

If a person really likes pizza, s/he may not be disciplined enough to eat one slice and freeze the rest of the pie. S/he will get the pizza fix from eating one slice, a fee, and the waistline won't explode.

@sandyf wrote:

I always wonder about those who do pizza shops and then throw the pizza away. Those shops are not worth it to me for the fee but then we do not get big bonuses here. .

@spicy1 wrote:

If I find that my Christmas gift is s regift, it has a different value. If I find that a company is asking that I do a task for them that they say is valued at $10 but they purchased it for $2, the value of that item is only $2, not $10. Can I allow them to take the whatever percent profit margin from my purchase and call that portion reimbursement to me? no

I see. Let's say I have a shop where I had to sign up for a credit card... Is the $60 worth of reimbursements and the $250 flight credit excluding the actual fees for the project not be considered a $310 value since you know, whoever the end-client is has their percent profit-margins they aren't giving me? Same goes for gas station shops, where you're reimbursed 2 gallons per shop. Is the ~$5-6 excluded from value since the oil/gas operators obtain the fuel for pennies on the dollar?

When I sign up for any shop, I consider what the value is for *me.* If I am happy with the compensation, I don't care if the MSC is raking in billions. If the MSC cannot offer me enough to entice me to do the shop without taking a loss, that's not my problem. I don't do the shop unless they are willing to take the loss. Either they need to find somebody who finds more value in the shop than I do, or they need to have a talk with their client.

As for a retail item.... If I am looking to purchase a $20 gadget and I can do so as part of a $20 shop reimbursement, that shop has a $20 value to me. It's not my concern of the client only spent a quarter on it. To me, it was a $20 shop. However, if I am not looking to purchase said item, the shop has zero value to me.

If the MSC does not specify a return or not I would wait until I get paid, than return the item. I don't think the MSC is about the purchase, it is how the purchase is performed. I have not returned an item, but if I had to purchase an item I have no use for I would return it. I wouldn't feel like I am double dipping or cheating anyone.
I have done many shops that are purchase and return, the MSC is only interested in the service you received.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/24/2018 07:48PM by shopper8.