Which Sub-$7.25 (Federal Min. Wage) Shops Do You Find Worthwhile?

@nslinhar wrote:

Whatsits name started the thread talking about $7.50/job for a phone call.

nslinhar - The thread was meant to ask about all shops that you find worthwhile under $7.25 - not just phone shops. My OP wording was all inclusive if you go back and read it. I did, however, mention phone shops in the OP, as those are the ones I mainly see under $7.25 for a fee (and no reimbursement).

I'll occasionally see a $5 bookstore shop or something like that, but it's mostly phone shops that are under $7.25, so that's why I mentioned them in the OP. But, yeah, the wording was not about phone shops.

p.s. I'll send you a PM, nslinhar. I'm not sure why you called me "Whatsits name." I did not like that.

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Okey dokey. Because I couldnt remember your handle. I don't PM.

@nslinhar wrote:

Okey dokey. Because I couldnt remember your handle. I don't PM.

Sorry. Just posted my PM (here that is), but deleted it after thinking it might not be appropriate.

edit: If you want, the PM is still in your private message box, so it's readable there.

Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 11/17/2018 03:11PM by shoptastic.

Good call.

@nslinhar wrote:

Good call.

I'm not sure how else to reach you with this, so I'll let you decide if you want to read the PM. But no worries if you don't - I get some people don't use the feature.

I just said (broad summary) that I wanted to chat with you if you had something against me. I wasn't sure, but sensed some possible tension and wanted to apologize again if I had accidentally transferred my anger (towards the MS industry) toward you in my tone/posts last night. I said my venting wasn't meant to be directed at you and I know your original response to my thread was meant to be helpful to others. I wish I had worded things differently! I reread my posts and they sound like I'm railing against you - but, I assure you, I was not and very much venting at the industry as a whole.

I just ended with saying that I felt the "Whatits name" part felt hurtful.

But, yeah, just wanted to clear the air and apologize for my part, because I was writing in a way that was not careful last night and felt I may have offended you. I know you took the time to write a helpful message and did not deserve a harsh sounding response, nslinhar. I'm sorry about that!

Oh, I've had my fair share of shops that come out to be less than min wage, by the time I"m done reading, doing, and reporting. Here are the ones I don't mind doing because the report is either easy or I'm happy for the discount: bundt cakes (!), ice cream, tire shops. Won't do them again: comic book store, a certain burger chain - not the clown, buy an item online & return it.

Bernie Sanders: "We need a political revolution!!!"

Glad he shamed Amazon into paying $15/hour.

Now, he's got a bill targeting Wal-Mart.

@nslinhar wrote:

@sandyf. While I agree with what you say regarding mimimum wage in terms of hourly pay, Whatsits name started the thread talking about $7.50/job for a phone call. I can sit wherever and make a call which is in a state with higher hourly pay and lower living wage than my location, resulting in a higher shop fee.

My point is that the discussion about whether it is worth the money they pay largely depends on the cost of living where you are sitting and making that phone call. If you live in a state with a lower minimum wage the chances are you also live in a place where the cost of living is lower...this is not necessarily true but on the average it is. There will always be people who spend more to live or less in any place. But in my town where a small apt can be $2,000 rent a month getting paid $5 or $15 or whatever means a different thing towards my cost of living than it does to someone living in a place where rent is $450 a month. To put it mathematically for someone living where their rent is $450 they would have to make 30 of those $15 phone calls to pay the rent. For someone living where the rent is $2000 they would have to make 133 of those same phone calls to pay the rent. Of course there are a lot of other things to figure into your income and expenses but all I am saying is that the worth to someone financially is on a different scale depending on the cost of living where they live. Like, for instance, I have a much smaller heating bill in the winter than Ceasesmith does! It does not get very cold in Los Angeles. But then I have to spend a long time in traffic and time is money for mystery jobs so maybe the phone calls would work on that level...no travel necessary. She travels 60 miles to a job and sometimes the travel time would be the same as traveling 8 miles to a job here. But she also has more gas expense than I do for that trip. Or maybe not. Gas is consumed quicker at a slow speed with stop and go in my car. I spent an hour driving 8 miles just the other day and then could not find free parking when I got there.

Gotcha sandyf. I find phone call shops worthwhile for me.

I may have to rethink phone call shops. If I could average $4 a call, and make 10 a day, that's $40 a day without leaving home. My car just died (AGAIN!), and I'm stuck at home.

Although past experience with phone calls was...."horrid" doesn't do it justice. "Traumatizing" is closer.....If It's a matter of survival, I may just have to put on my big girl panties and git 'er done!

I'm sorry you're having such a rough time, ceasesmith. We have an expedited holiday payment schedule right now, which might help out in the short-term. If you have any specific concerns about doing phone shops with us, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I'm not a phone department scheduler or editor, but I'd be happy to help! I hope things looks up for you soon.

Edited for typos.

Administrative Manager for Shoppers' View
p: 800.264.5677 | e: christinew@shoppersview.com | w: www.shoppersview.com

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/17/2018 10:24PM by ShoppersViewChristine.

@ceasesmith wrote:

I may have to rethink phone call shops. If I could average $4 a call, and make 10 a day, that's $40 a day without leaving home. My car just died (AGAIN!), and I'm stuck at home.

Although past experience with phone calls was...."horrid" doesn't do it justice. "Traumatizing" is closer.....If It's a matter of survival, I may just have to put on my big girl panties and git 'er done!

If they are short payday lender types, you can do them quickly!

The main trouble I had was not being able to schedule a lot to stay home that day. They cap you at 5 and afterwards you have to apply and be approved for more.

So, it can be risky staying home that day and not doing shops outside if you can't get phone shops to fill your day with. Sometimes, they are all taken as well.

Maybe if you can work with a scheduler, they can set you up with a day's worth, ceasesmith.

I hope your car can be repaired and things work out okay! I would avoid Baird Group's phone shops, as they are report-heavy and drove me nuts when I did them. They do pay higher, though ($8), because they are almost all medical ones.

Although, you seem like one of the most organized shoppers on this forum, so maybe you'd do well!

I've mentioned this many times before in advice posts, but I like to do phone shops and grocery shops ALL during the first two weeks of a month. Both never seem to get bonused, so there is no advantage to me doing them later in the month. The bonused shops that occur in week 3 and 4, I'll try to make routes for.

When I don't have good routes, I try to stay home and do phone shops or do grocery shops. I always feel like I have to shop for groceries anyways (whereas, I don't have to eat a single meal out for, say, $40 reimbursement only - as that's more of a luxury), so I don't feel I "lose" too much in mileage or time. A grocery route is always worth it to me. But, I do them the first two weeks of the month, so as to have the later half open to bonused routed shops (away from the house).

I've had days where I did phone shops (morning/afternoon) and grocery ones (night) only.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/17/2018 10:57PM by shoptastic.

@ceasesmith

Think of this for the future, when your car is fixed and you are on those long stretches of road. Safely, mind you.

Cruise control, phone number queued up or linked so you don't have to be distracted entering a string of numbers, and notes to glance at which are clearly written with different parts highlighted in different colors.

You can make money on top of getting mileage/PAD while talking on the phone and driving.

Thank you, Christine -- I'll check the job board and make sure I'm signed up with your company.

Nslnhar, oh, boy -- no way can I make a phone call and drive at the same time. Kudos to those who can, but not I! Also, out here in the boonies, one drives in and out of cell phone coverage. It would be a bummer to be in the middle of a call when it drops!

Coyle also has phone shops and usually pay between $5 and $7

I always enjoy reading posts like this. They make me smile. I have been mystery shopping for 30 years, including 5 years as a paid road supervisor dropping off teams at every location of a nation-wide retail chain and doing the report editing and submission. We traveled the country in a van and stayed at motels along the way. In all of that time, I have never had an assignment that was court-ordered. Neither have any of you. You get full disclosure before you apply for the shop, and the amount that is a "ripoff" is whatever you've set your own level at. If $2 is not worth your time, don't do it. Quoting the federal minimum wage is not relevant because you are an independent contractor and not an employee of the MSP. I currently work for a company that has a large recurring number of shops in my market, They take 20 minutes and pay $20, These are revealed shops, so you fill in your report, on your phone, while you are performing the assignment. When you leave the location, you press submit and you're done. I only take assignments in a 5 mile radius of my home,

Removed

Moderator Note:

Forum guidelines state that we not reveal the clients of mystery shopping companies. Also, naming the client and MSC may be an ICA violation.

Currently there is one phone shop I will grab when my rotation is up because there is no narrative and I think it actually pays $7. But awhile back a scheduler sweetly assigned me 4 $5 shops and while the shops weren't the worst; I got a little frustrated when an editor bounced back two of them for there not being much narrative. I was like - these are only $5. I gave you $5 worth of narrative (The other two had the exact same amount of narrative, so I believe it was a different editor). I decided I wasn't going to do any more of those shops simply because I didn't want to risk getting that editor again (because it was really hard for me to not give him/her a piece of my mind that first time).

@fredshuback wrote:

I do the xyz calls for $4. Easy to knock off, and obviously very popular because if you don’t respond immediately, someone else is snatching them up.

Just an FYI you named both the client and the MSC in the post. But also; I really miss that client SO BADLY. Heh.

There are so many factors that one could consider to be an issue with low paying shops - some of those might be a deal breaker for me, but not necessarily for you. Personally, I won't take any "less than minimum" (actually my threshold is higher than that, but tht's beside the point) that I have to leave my home specifically to go do. However, if I'm already going out to do some good paying jobs (or sometimes just if I happen to be going out for any other reason), I'll pick some of those up if I feel I have time to do them or don't have some other commitment causing me to rush home, or if they just happen to be close to where I'm going. I mean, why not? If I'm not doing anything else, 5 extra dollars is better than 0 extra dollars every day. I am especially more likely to pick up these "filler" jobs if I'm planning a route. You might be surprised to see how fast they add up to an extra $50-$60 on a road trip

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Which Sub-$7.25 (Federal Min. Wage) Shops Do You Find Worthwhile?

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