I'm relatively new to mystery shopping. I started earlier this year, only doing a shop here and there. Now I've been trying to apply to many different types of shops. Previously I always completed either phone, fast food or retail shops. I'll continue to stick to my tried and true, but I see there's a lot more money to be made in other kinds of shops.

In the process of trying new shops, I've been applying for shops at a ton of companies, many of which I've never worked with before. I find myself running into the same issue multiple times and am never sure what to do in the situation, so hopefully you guys can help!

A few shops that I've found, I have realized that after reading the title, details, deciding the pay works for me, then finding a suitable location and applying for or accepting the shop, I receive the guidelines and evaluation and all of a sudden that shopper's pay I thought would be acceptable seems not worth the effort and time to complete a shop with such a complicated scenario and detailed evaluation. For example, I accepted a job where the pay was $12 at a place within a mile from my house with details I felt would suit me, so $12 seemed fine. Once I opened up the guidelines, saw the detailed scenario I'd have to memorize and practice for, I realize that the shop will probably take a newbie like me at least two or three hours. Then after taking a peek at the evaluation that would alone take a few hours to complete, I don't feel like $12 is worth 4-6 hours of my time, but I'm now in a situation. If I cancel, it reflects badly on me, and I doubt I can ask for a bonus after I've already accepted the original fee, so I usually end up completing the shop and feeling as if I wasted hours of my time for nothing more than the experience (which although wonderful does not pay any bills). So, how would an experienced shopper handle this type of situation? Obviously being more experienced means you wouldn't end up in this kind of situation since you've learned over time the shops to apply for and the shops to steer clear from, how to ask for bonuses, etc. Also, I know being more experienced means you don't take as long as someone new like me does to complete everything. So please, help me out before I find myself in this situation again! Also any tips on cutting down the time it takes to complete a shop would be much appreciated. I always seem to try to perfect every little detail and end up spending way longer on a shop than I anticipated I would. Thanks in advance!

Generally, if I accept a job, I do it.
If it's a job that you can repeat at another location, do it. Even low paying jobs become lucrative if you do them over and over. Some jobs, I have done 100's of times, maybe 1000's by now (mailing and gas stations).

There are three times when I have accepted a shop and didn't do it. For two of the shops, it was because I got in a fender bender while doing them. It was a long time ago. The other shop was more recent.

I live north of Denver. Recently, I accepted a great paying shop that I love doing; only 5 miles away. On the day of the shop, I had a sick 6 year old. Also, I realized, on the day of....(BELIEVE ME: I have NO IDEA where my brain was when I was clicking "accept," and where my brain was as I was reading through the guidelines....!)...that my shop was NOT five miles away. It was a shop that had the same name...but it was in Colorado Springs, a 2+ hour drive from me.

@@@!!!#!(*$&%!! I did the shop, though. It was a nearly five hours of driving. On the way to Colo Springs, as my husb drove, I picked up two other shops on the spur of the moment to offset the costs.

Bottom line: I want to be able to continue to pick up these and other shops. And I know that schedulers speak to one another. So there's that.

It sucked. But I want to keep working in this business. And the more you work, the better you get and the more you will make for your time....

Once you have committed you really should see it through but the good news is, soon will have your very own ten-foot-pole list!

After completing many of your "dogs", you will find your "gems." Don't get discouraged. It is sort of the learning curve in this business. You can also request the guidelines and forms from the scheduler before accepting the shop. You also might find that the shop you think will be horrible, turns out to not be so bad. You really need to try several types to determine what works best for you.

After you have your favorite shops selected, you can try adding one or two "new-to-you" shops once in awhile to see if you like them. After awhile you will know just about every type of shop and what is expected and which MSCs require more detail and narrative and which have the best designed and simplest forms to fill out. When something new to the business pops up, there is usually a topic discussing it in this forum. I always check out the opinions and suggestions from others who post about their experiences here.

With all that being said, I have no problem canceling a shop if I feel my time spent has not or will not be adequate. For instance, I tried a phone shop (not my favorite to start with) where I had to reach a live person at a resort. After many calls and hours on hold, I contacted the scheduler and asked for the shop to be removed. It was no longer worth my time to continue with it. I received an apology from the scheduler and continue to work for that company. Years ago I tried one of the infamous 2-visit negotiation car shops. Once I realized there was no way I was going to be able to get all the info they were asking for, I bailed on the shop and asked for it to be removed. No problem or repercussions. But again, I'm a long time shopper with a long history with the companies I shop with.

Good luck and hang in there. It gets easier with time.

It's no different than any other industry where you are self employed. If you were a freelance designer, consultant, or handyman, you would encounter the same principle.. putting in your time to get better and raise your fees over the long haul. Welcome to entrepreneurship.

Keep in mind the schedulers describe the shops to be FUN, EASY, $$$$. You can ask for the guidelines before requesting a shop, so you can see if you'll be in over your head. Shops will get easier as you get more under your belt - muscle memory. You'll also come to learn which companies have the quickest reports.

@MsJudi wrote:

You can also request the guidelines and forms from the scheduler before accepting the shop.

Thanks for posting this. I've been in a similar situation to the OP and it never occurred to me to ask for the guidelines beforehand. I wondered if they were intentionally hiding them because they knew the shops were less than desirable, like the shop I accepted for $12 and discovered it required me taking 36 photos, unobserved of course.

Do what you say, and say what you do....my bad was, I didn't complete a job for Trend Source and was able to self-assign, because of my bad, I no longer can self-assign and have lost many of my groceries (near my house),where I go anyway. I now call and get them, this happened years ago...they don't look well on flaking,
but I'm working to getting back self-assign...if I live that long.

Don't get discouraged. Some shops, like the USPS mailing shops, look like they would take forever to understand, learn and do....but they don't!!! The many, many pages of guidelines look overwhelming, and then there's that certification test!! But after all is said and done, these are some of the EASIEST shops on the planet, and pay fairly, too! The in & out time is 3-8 minutes, and the report time is less than 10, even though it looks like there are SOOoooo many questions. It goes very quickly. This is just one example. There are, on the other hand, lots of shops that are just DOGS...you want to stay away from those....especially those where you get the emails "FUN" "EASY MONEY" and such. You will learn in time....just don't give up too soon!

@Jill_L wrote:

There are three times when I have accepted a shop and didn't do it. For two of the shops, it was because I got in a fender bender while doing them. It was a long time ago. The other shop was more recent.

I live north of Denver. Recently, I accepted a great paying shop that I love doing; only 5 miles away. On the day of the shop, I had a sick 6 year old. Also, I realized, on the day of....(BELIEVE ME: I have NO IDEA where my brain was when I was clicking "accept," and where my brain was as I was reading through the guidelines....!)...that my shop was NOT five miles away. It was a shop that had the same name...but it was in Colorado Springs, a 2+ hour drive from me.

@@@!!!#!(*$&%!! I did the shop, though. It was a nearly five hours of driving. On the way to Colo Springs, as my husb drove, I picked up two other shops on the spur of the moment to offset the costs.

Bottom line: I want to be able to continue to pick up these and other shops. And I know that schedulers speak to one another. So there's that.

It sucked. But I want to keep working in this business. And the more you work, the better you get and the more you will make for your time....

That sounds horrible! Good for you for actually completing the shop. You living in Denver is crazy, I live in Arvada! If you ever need a buddy let me know.

Thanks to everyone who replied. It seems like I was correct to assume I should just suck it up and get the shop done. Which is what I do usually do, I just have to be more careful when accepting a shop so I avoid running into this issue over and over again. I also have been trying to schedule more shops that are along the same route as the one that isn't paying so well, so that way by the time I have completed all of them, I actually make some money. It seems like scheduling multiple shops around the same area is the only way to make decent money mystery shopping anyway, especially with how low the pay seems to be for most shops.

I always check the guidelines and hidden requirements immediately after self-assigning, and have no problem emailing the scheduler and canceling if I find the work/reward balance is not there. I think most schedulers understand this. It is when you wait until the last minute to read up on the shop and cancel or flake that reflects poorly on your reputation. If for some reason I did not do that immediate research and waited a few days, I would certainly suck it up and go through with the shop.

I would recommend you doing a variety of shops, including this one. First, you get experience beyond your tried and true. Second, you get experience with MSCs and schedulers. Finally, you get to know what you like as well as what you don't like.

All good advice unless the MSC is Intelli-shop. If it is, I’d be the first to cancel it.

When I first started I did a lot of low-paying shops for two reasons - experience, and developing a good reputation with schedulers. When schedulers know you're going to do a quality shop for them, you stand a better chance of getting higher-paying shops from them later on. I have a few who call or email me directly.

I've made it a practice to not accept any shops where I can't read the guidelines beforehand.

Take a step back and look at the bigger picture. The more you challenge yourself the more you grow. Rewards will follow.

There is a chance, once you do the one, that they will call you near deadline and be willing to pay you more for other shops, exspecially iif the shop gets on everyone's 10-foot-pole list. Then, you might be able to ask for what you want and everyone ends up happy. It doesn't always work out this way, but you never know,

Other people are probably doing the same shop, and you can always post on the forum about it to see how long it takes. Just make sure you do not post the client's name and the mystery shopping company at the same time. You can say something like is anyone doing Confero's or Maritz's new bank shops. Just do not name the bank. You will get the hang of it.

@camandeo92 wrote:

Thanks to everyone who replied. It seems like I was correct to assume I should just suck it up and get the shop done. Which is what I do usually do, I just have to be more careful when accepting a shop so I avoid running into this issue over and over again. I also have been trying to schedule more shops that are along the same route as the one that isn't paying so well, so that way by the time I have completed all of them, I actually make some money. It seems like scheduling multiple shops around the same area is the only way to make decent money mystery shopping anyway, especially with how low the pay seems to be for most shops.

Good luck, you'll make some trial and error decisions based on what is worth it for you, and what is not. Just as importantly, you'll know what shops you are better at it in comparison to others.

Only once have I not done a shop I signed up to do, cancelling it after reading the guidelines the same day I signed up. The shop description was such a blatant misrepresentation of what the guidelines wanted, I didn't feel guilty about the cancel. Others where it was more work then I expected, I did the shop to my best ability since I agreed to it, but knew not to do the shop again. My advice is never agree to do more then one shop for one project until you have completed it and were comfortable with it.

When I was a newbie I slowly dipped my toes in the water.... I started out with one shop a day or every other day. When I felt comfortable, I did two shops and then worked my up to 3 shops a day. ....

My best advice.

1. Go slow. Take only what you can handle and work up. Never take a slew of unfamiliar shops. Take one and then if you don't like that shop, get it done and put it behind you. Don't take that shop again.

2. Never cancel a shop unless you have extreme circumstance. Canceling because you don't like the amount of work in the guidelines, to me is wrong. (everyone has their own opinion on this one).

3. Higher paying shops usually have quite a bit of work. I have not done the Swedish Furniture Shop but others who have said for $60-90 dollars it's a LOT of work. As you get more experience, you will realize higher paying shops require more work. Even some lower paying ones have tons of narrative and observations you need to capture.

4. The most valuable advice I can give you: What you do as a shopper reflects on your record with that individual Mystery Shopping Company........(hypotheticals)--> If you overwhelm yourself with work, turn in reports that don't follow the guidelines, then you don't get paid, they report this on your file, and they can share grievances with other schdulers so your mishaps can spread throughout the industry.

Go Slow. Get it Right. Turn in Great Work, otherwise...what is the point of mystery shopping if you are getting (hypotheticals) callbacks, inquiries, missing receipts, failure to follow guidelines, etc. It "does" matter what you do as a shopper, every single time.

Yes, if I accept a job, I complete it. Period. That said, I don't accept $12 jobs.

I hope I didn't make a mistake....I just accepted a restaurant in Vegas for a company I've never worked with, and want to get on their good side, so, I accept this restaurant and thought it was for lunch as it said 11:00 to 3:00, but upon reading instructions after accepting, it is dinner at 11:00 PM....OMG what have I done, but at least they have a free shuttle...guess I'd better check what time they stop (I won't have a car).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/28/2018 03:32PM by Irene_L.A..

to the op, just curious what type of shop it is or the company? Having a tough time wrapping my head around what job would take almost 6 to 8 hours for $12? Also cancelling isn't always a bad thing, although I would do it as a last resort, if you really feel you won't do a good job or feel uncomfortable. I recently signed up for a price check app that would be at a gas station but you had to secretly be in the store for 1 to 5 hours. I felt like no cashier in there right mind would believe whatever cover story I made up so I cancelled that one, there were no repercussions and I still shop that msc..but I had shopped for them in the past.

I'm also one of the few that like Intellishop, even though they had this recent accounting mistake recently. I know many shoppers on here have the mscs they like and don't like. So take most of the opinions of the mscs with a grain of salt. You never know if an msc that some one else hates will actually be your bread and butter.

Unless you are absolutely positive you lack the ability to complete the work, suck it up. I had one two years ago, requiring up to seven names, their sexes, hair, ages and heights, all while gathering information on a cafeteria food line. I was 74 at the time and knew it was impossible. I contacted the MSC, explained the situation and all was and is well.

@Monk-N-Nut wrote:

Keep in mind the schedulers describe the shops to be FUN, EASY, $$$$.

Remember that F.U.N. does not usually stand for fun.

That attitude is exactly what some MSCs bank on when they hide the guidelines. I wish it was possible to hire a painter who felt the same way. I could get a bid for three walls and the ceiling in one room then let them find out later it's a vaulted ceiling with wood beams requiring a lot of cutting in and the walls are two stories high.

@SunnyDays2 wrote:

2. Never cancel a shop unless you have extreme circumstance. Canceling because you don't like the amount of work in the guidelines, to me is wrong. (everyone has their own opinion on this one