@retrodaddy wrote:

OP mentioned option-to-return shops. Unless I know there's a competitively-priced item at the shop I want or need, I want no part of those shops. I'm paranoid about something stupid happening which will render item unreturnable.

There are credit cards with return protection coverage. If the store won't take it back, the credit card will refund the money.

My time is invaluable. How I spend it in any given moment may or may not include activities in this industry. I have other jobs and other interests. I have other people's schedules and plans to consider. I have a back which speaks for itself, in a manner of speaking, and it is always a good idea to give it exercise and rest as needed or demanded. Overall, I do as much as I can and want to do in this industry. I might have a more industry-focused attitude if I were in it for the long haul or for a greater portion of revenue. For now, I like my minimal involvement.

Example of my shopping making It worthwhile. I'm going to be driving 35 minutes away from my home tomorrow to visit a friend in the hospital. I will go online and find two shops in that area which will pay for my gas over there and I will have lunch. That's how I shop. If I can pick up 30 $40 tomorrow that makes it worthwhile. There's so many shops in that town.

I as well will be doing my fav lunch shop Tuesday with a 40.00 reimbursement...I eat there on my own spending `$10.00 for their weekday specials, so much food doing it as a shop + an 8.00 fee. Two miles from home. I'll pick up an AT@T in the area for another 15.00, and all and all, a very good day feeling useful and full with diner waiting. Looking for an oil change, my normal company has nothing in my area, may have to drive, but worth it.
Very good for the mind feeling productive..

@roxy1 wrote:

Troy hit the nail on the head. People like to say how much their time is worth and how much they average per hour. But they never average in the hours sitting at home doing nothing because they feel $10 shops are beneath them. If you make $60 in two hours then sit at home for three hours watching tv, then you made $12/hr not $30/hr.

This is simply......not true.

If I make $60 in two hours working and then sit at home for three hours watching TV then I made $30 an hour for my work.

If you have a full time job and you make $800 for 5 8 hour days do you say I only make $14.28 per hour because I sat at home and watched football all weekend? That's basically what you're saying.

I personally make more per hour at my daytime work then I could doing mystery shopping. I don't do it so much for the money, as for what it "saves" me. Kind of like what some other folks said. It feels good to get an oil change I need anyway and know it is paid for plus a few dollars. I like that pizza place that most people are picking on, we get a pie there almost once a week, if it is free, great, if they pay me 15 dollars to get it and it's free? No brainier.

I get that for people doing this to make a living it is much different then my mindset, but that is how I do it.

What is your time worth? This is going to have such a different answer for everybody, depending on their shopping goals, where they live, and their expected standard of living. I live in Seattle, where the minimum wage is $15/hr and the average home is purchased for $600,000. $20 is rather unexciting to me. However, if I were to live in a location where the minimum wage is $8 an the average home price $200,000, that $20 might mean a bit more. Etc.

I do have a set hourly amount I expect to make when I go out shopping ($40/hr) and I do include the time required on site, for travel and to write reports. I also include any "dead" time - where I am stuck on my route and unable to start a shop due to time restrictions. (Though I generally can mediate this by writing reports with this time).

If I am not able to come close to my expected hourly amount, I have a decision to make:
* I could shop anyhow. $20/hr is better than nothing, after all.
* I could decide that it's a good time to relax. We all need down time and a great time to take it is when I can't earn any money.
* I could decide to invest in my business. If I am not finding enough work, It might be worth while to apply to a few more companies - there are at least 150 more listed on this forum to which I have not yet applied. I could also do some planning. For instance, right now there are four $60 shops in a small area - eight hours away from me. I'm interested, but that is certainly not enough money for me to make the trip. So... I should: a) contact the scheduler and see if a bonus might be available, b) look for other shops that would be along the drive, c) look for other shops in the area, d) contact other schedulers I know to see what they might be able to assign me, and e) join social media groups about shopping where I can pick up jobs.

My last bread and butter shop has ended. But when it existed, I loved it and hated it every single day of my life. I have a good friend who understands mystery shopping and she would listen on the bad days.
She is the person, who tells me not to get a new dog and work on being a great mystery shopper. Her advice is always loved and on point.

My bread and butter shops, which paid $10, plus bonus.; rocked my world! I'm not going to have fun with anyone when it comes down & telling any person what I've earned in the last 4 years of my life. I don't give a rat's patootiee, when anyone tells me; I've messed up. I have issues with people on this board. How dare you decide that $5 isn't good enough! I happen to know that $5 is a good thing. Do your self a favor and remember that life goes on!

Very small percentage of the shops I do, I do for money. I already have a job. I do them mostly for the benefits....because they are very close to home, so not having to cook, helping meet a spend goal to get a CC pay off, reward pay off, etc.

I noticed recently that some of the places I had been doing, increased their rotations...and now they are having to offer bonuses to get those same shops done, that I did at the regular rate.

I will be working more mobile soon, so I will be curious to see what kind of shopping can be done via zip codes that are newer for me.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/16/2018 11:03AM by BarefootBliss.

bgriffin,
No that's NOT what I am saying at all. I'll clarify. If you have a 40 hour regular job and decide you want to take an unpaid day off, then you missed out on earning money during hours you typically have set aside to work.
Shoppers who don't take low paying jobs because of their egos are certainly free to do so as that's what being an IC is about. But at the end of the day, it's all about how much you've banked, not some average.

I don't have any EGO in this business. The time investment is either worth it, or not. When not, I choose to not do the shop.

There's not enough working hours in a week for me to make a living with $10 shops, or even $25 shops (the nearest shop to me is 45 minutes away, so by the time I drive there, do the prep, and complete the report, I'm making quite a bit less than minimum wage for the $25 shop).

By law, all credit cars and debit cards (and PayPal when they wish) offer this protection.

@MisterBill wrote:

There are credit cards with return protection coverage. If the store won't take it back, the credit card will refund the money.

@roxy1 wrote:

Shoppers who don't take low paying jobs because of their egos are certainly free to do so

You're making a presumption about the motivations of other shoppers. "Ego" as you are using the word probably does not enter into the decision for many (most?) shoppers. It would be comparable to writing, "Shoppers who take low paying jobs because of their lack of self-confidence in their value as a person are certainly free to do so."

I don’t take low paying jobs because of an ego issue. I don’t take them because I know I can earn more. After all, unless you actively want to do the lower paying shop, why would you settle for $10 if $40 is available?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/17/2018 12:53AM by MFJohnston.

Picture it: you are on the way to your next shop and you notice 'easy shop'. It's right there. Riiiight Theeeeere. Like, one hundred feet away from where you are standing after you exit your vehicle. You can see the front door and other customers entering and exiting the place. You know it is open for business. This is a self-assign job.


So will you pick up the shop? Or, will you let the $5 go?

@Shop-et-alDepending on the report, so I would have had to have completed one already, I would do it! I want to do a shop right nowwwww! lol

1. That's just it: If I am outside of my vehicle, walking to the next shop, there *can't* be an easy shop "right there." Why? I am walking to an apartment leasing office. I am walking up to the sales center at a new home. I am at a casino or bank (okay, these could be in a strip mall). The vast majority of the locations I shop won't have an "easy" shop "right there." There is an exception: I am doing a video shop where I am likely required to record my entire shop from the time I get out of my car from the time I return, I won't be diverting to another location. Moreover, I'm generally focused enough of my camera angles and not inadvertently unplugging my camera that I won't notice another shop.

2. Aside from a gas station shop and a post office shop that I do regularly (for a healthy bonus), I don't remember the last time I have really read the guidelines for such a shop. So, the odds of me noticing one are nil. For instance, I know that there are a million Jack-in-the-Box shops. However, I have not read the requirements and do not see which ones are still on the job boards. So, if I am standing at at Jack-in-the-Box, I would have to verify that it still needs to be shopped, self-assign, read the guidelines and do the shop. Suddenly, the shop is not that quick.

3. If I am out on a route, I have planned out the time pretty well. Every shop has a chance to go sideways and take longer than it should. (Can't find an item. Sales associate is busy. Long checkout line. Whatever.) Sure, I have a cushion in my routes, but when I am on a route of eight to ten $40-$100 shops, is using some of my cushion or risking not finishing my route (should something go sideways) really worth $5?

There is a value to the quick shops - especially if you spend time in shopping areas regularly where you would stumble across them frequently. Adding a few quickly $5 shops can turn a trip to the mall from being "meh" to "pretty darn good." That's just not my gig. Even when I'm not mystery shopping, I avoid malls and shopping centers. If I must go into one, my goal is simple: Find what I need and get out. Making an extra quick stop for $5 is complete unappealing to me. (Yes, this might be different if I liked shopping for the sake of shopping and frequently shopping malls.)

@Shop-et-al wrote:

Picture it: you are on the way to your next shop and you notice 'easy shop'. It's right there. Riiiight Theeeeere. Like, one hundred feet away from where you are standing after you exit your vehicle. You can see the front door and other customers entering and exiting the place. You know it is open for business. This is a self-assign job.


So will pick up the shop? Or, will you let the $5 go?

Ahh. MF Johnson is very busy with video shops. i will never do those, so in future I might have time for on-the-fly shops. All is well.,

All of these varied responses only show us that each answer and each individual is unique. I will never do the types of shops that MFJ does, and I doubt that MFJ would do the jobs I like. That is why we will always see varied answers. What works for one doesn't for another and vice versa. It is all good.

I really don't have a rate for myself, I basically do what I want, 99% rate would be 15/20$, but I've been known to do an 8.00 big box next door to a market I always go to....who really cares, many times doing these brings you larger jobs with same MSC.....go home, do an easy 10 minute report, does it really hurt the industry???? That's the bigger question.

@MFJohnston wrote:

...That's just not my gig...

@guysmom wrote:

All of these varied responses only show us that each answer and each individual is unique. I will never do the types of shops that MFJ does, and I doubt that MFJ would do the jobs I like. That is why we will always see varied answers. What works for one doesn't for another and vice versa. It is all good.

Exactly!

@Shop-et-al wrote:

Picture it: you are on the way to your next shop and you notice 'easy shop'. It's right there. Riiiight Theeeeere. Like, one hundred feet away from where you are standing after you exit your vehicle. You can see the front door and other customers entering and exiting the place. You know it is open for business. This is a self-assign job.

So will you pick up the shop? Or, will you let the $5 go?

Is it $5 PLUS something of value (like gas or postage)? Maybe then. Otherwise, if there's any sort of report at all, $5 is not worth walking in the door.

$5.00 is a bit low, I have done these shops for 8.00 not going out of my way, there anyway....5.00, probably not.
Usually I'll leave my house for 17.00, but if I'm in the mall anyway, depends on the day for 8.00.

When I get a phone call and ask to drive 30 miles for a MS that is offering $5, no, its not worth it. That's what Im saying. Please don't judge me here. I have been MSing along time and one thing about this industry is that we know what shops are worth our while and we can pick and chose. Like I said, visited a friend 30-40 miles away yesterday and picked up a shop paying $25. Have done it a few times so I know it well and how long report is. Live and learn. Trust me, I have worked for Intell and have done plenty of $7 gas stations that every time I swear I would never do them again, but I did pick them up instead of sitting on my a** at home.

@Irene_L.A. wrote:

$5.00 is a bit low, I have done these shops for 8.00 not going out of my way, there anyway....5.00, probably not.
Usually I'll leave my house for 17.00, but if I'm in the mall anyway, depends on the day for 8.00.

Thanks Irene..

@MFJohnston wrote:

What is your time worth? This is going to have such a different answer for everybody, depending on their shopping goals, where they live, and their expected standard of living. I live in Seattle, where the minimum wage is $15/hr and the average home is purchased for $600,000. $20 is rather unexciting to me. However, if I were to live in a location where the minimum wage is $8 an the average home price $200,000, that $20 might mean a bit more. Etc.

I do have a set hourly amount I expect to make when I go out shopping ($40/hr) and I do include the time required on site, for travel and to write reports. I also include any "dead" time - where I am stuck on my route and unable to start a shop due to time restrictions. (Though I generally can mediate this by writing reports with this time).

If I am not able to come close to my expected hourly amount, I have a decision to make:
* I could shop anyhow. $20/hr is better than nothing, after all.
* I could decide that it's a good time to relax. We all need down time and a great time to take it is when I can't earn any money.
* I could decide to invest in my business. If I am not finding enough work, It might be worth while to apply to a few more companies - there are at least 150 more listed on this forum to which I have not yet applied. I could also do some planning. For instance, right now there are four $60 shops in a small area - eight hours away from me. I'm interested, but that is certainly not enough money for me to make the trip. So... I should: a) contact the scheduler and see if a bonus might be available, b) look for other shops that would be along the drive, c) look for other shops in the area, d) contact other schedulers I know to see what they might be able to assign me, and e) join social media groups about shopping where I can pick up jobs.

Im in Monterey, California. A bit expensive here, so $5 does not sound like a lot of money here either.

I keep an eye on shops I enjoy and once they get bonused to where they feel “worth it,” I scoop them up. If pay is good, I’ll work a few long days, make my money, and then use non-shop days for my to-do list/clean my house/take my dog to the park.

I *could* fill time with low paying shops and make a few bucks rather than zero bucks, but it would cost me in the long run.

For example: I could assign myself 20 shops paying $10 and spend 20 hours making $200. Or I could garden & watch tv with my dog while waiting for the shops to be bonused to $40 each. There is a finite number of shops, and I have a finite number of hours in each day. If I trade my available hours for shops paying chump change, I’m costing myself the bonus money I could make by being patient.

And yeah, I realize that some areas don’t see the same bonuses. I’m willing to travel though if it means I work hard for a couple of days, and then have several days off to do what I want.

Here is a good example to add to this discussion. There is a pizza shop, not the one you all talk alot about, but a chain in the mall here. I've done other shops with this msc and they are very particular about timings from the time you order to when you get the food after it's ordered and how long you stand in line. The questionnaire isn't really that bad, not alot of narrative but some...so this shop they are paying $5 dollar with a $10 dollar reimbursement. In this case, I work Monday through Friday and leave at 5p.m, which means for me I would have to sit in rush hour traffic for 30 to 45 minutes on my to the mall and on my wayback to where I live, not worth it in that case in my opinion. However, sometimes I do go to that same mall for other shops on the weekend, so if I was going to already be there, I probably would add on the shop then.

If you get a jumbo jack, medium fry, and a water it comes to under 5 dollars. I use those when the kids want jack in the box.