[www.bloomberg.com] title story....also min. wage rising in lots of states

[www.wsj.com]

@ wrote:

Wages for rank-and-file workers are rising at the quickest pace in more than a decade, even faster than for bosses, a sign that the labor market has tightened sufficiently to convey bigger increases to lower-paid employees.

Gains for those workers have accelerated much of this year, a time when the unemployment rate fell to a half-century low. A short supply of workers, increased poaching and minimum-wage increases have helped those nearer to the bottom of the pay scale.

Anyone seeing lowered rates in the face of rising wages for others?

$85 bank shops now $60

$40 testing shops now $30

$8 self-storage shops....LOL....taken an hour and memorize/study guidelines, drive right on over, do a tour, and report on it.

Spend a few hours. We'll give you $8.00. What a bargain!

Edited 6 time(s). Last edit at 01/10/2020 07:31AM by shoptastic.

That is if you take those jobs at those rates. You need to be emailing and asking for better and fair pay. Banks shops just wait and they will bonus back to $85 plus. Testing shops I regularly get $70. Storage shops got $50 each. I don't know what you are doing but if it takes you an hour to go over the guidelines your in the wrong business. If the tour takes more than 30 minutes again What are you doing?

@BuffaloNY101 wrote:

That is if you take those jobs at those rates. You need to be emailing and asking for better and fair pay. Banks shops just wait and they will bonus back to $85 plus. Testing shops I regularly get $70. Storage shops got $50 each. I don't know what you are doing but if it takes you an hour to go over the guidelines your in the wrong business. If the tour takes more than 30 minutes again What are you doing?

The point was that base fees are often going down in the face of rising wages for many industries.

I asked for a $5 bonus for a self-storage shop that would have been 30 minutes away and was denied (had a route that would have gotten me ~`5 to ~7 miles away and thought I was asking for a reasonable bonus to cover the gap). Guess people are doing them at base and/or they don't think my work is worth the extra $5, etc.

Possible exaggeration on guidelines study, but the ACL ones (which start at $25) I found pretty meticulous in terms of the observations you had to memorize. It was grueling and time consuming. There was so much that I forgot something on my tour, but thankfully it was still accepted.

If you happen to be doing lots of self-storage shops in close time proximity, then it's easier in terms of guidelines study. I know when I did an ACL one and came back months later it was crazy long study the guidelines. The tours are usually under 30 minutes, yes (one of mine took quite a while, b/c there was only one associate and I had to wait for her to finish serving a previous customer), but I think the total time can easily be a few hours (study time, call, research competitor rates, which requires a second/separate call, doing the tour, and doing the report). ....I'd think 2 hours minimum total.

Edit: sometimes so much is said during a tour that I have to spend a lot of time replaying my audio file and listening to exact wording of things for certain questoins.....Gotta find the right spot on the audio file and replay it (sometimes multiple times) to get exactly what I need. Reports can be grueling.

I've taken many, many hours on one once.

Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 01/10/2020 08:41AM by shoptastic.

All speculative, but it's not a cut of wages on the shoppers specifically and directly, but more-so cutting overall project costs for the MSC's clients to accept work from the MSC's. It's like in ANY industry where clients want to cut costs more and more when paying for consulting work.

@Tarantado wrote:

All speculative, but it's not a cut of wages on the shoppers specifically and directly, but more-so cutting overall project costs for the MSC's clients to accept work from the MSC's. It's like in ANY industry where clients want to cut costs more and more when paying for consulting work.

I actually think it could be the "opposite" in some cases.

The MSCs may be negotiating MORE money from the clients, but simply paying out less to shoppers, due to over-supply of people willing to take these jobs at base. The result is that MSC people get more $.

Also just speculation on my part, though.

I understood exactly what you were saying. Its simply business MSCs will list as low as they get takers. When they realize they have no takers they adjust and bonus as needed. Then they may adjust starting higher. Simply supply and demand. If your asking for a $5 bonus on a $8 shop then you clearly don't value yourself. Its not about the fact you are the its about how much time the shop takes and what it needs to pay. If its Alta yes they are cheap and may have denied you. You simply need to avoid those MSCS or fight stronger. I don't wish to further argue on here. I simply try to help other shoppers. A helpful hint may be not recording and then having to listen to entire shops. A simple statement of the approx. greeting is good enough.

@BuffaloNY101 wrote:

If your asking for a $5 bonus on a $8 shop then you clearly don't value yourself.

Ah, I re-read and saw that was probably confusing how I wrote it...That was $5 extra for the $25 ACL shops. I actually wouldn't recommend them to anyone even for $30, as they are a pain and I was taking them as a newbie back then.

Nonetheless, I do find lots of shops that have super low base fees and which do not get bonused when asked for. But, I'm not sure if it's me or other reasons.

@ wrote:

I don't wish to further argue on here.

Nah - I actually didn't see our dialogue as arguing. More like explaining. (Although, I did think your original post was slightly abrasive towards the end.)

@ wrote:

A helpful hint may be not recording and then having to listen to entire shops. A simple statement of the approx. greeting is good enough.

For ACL, there are so many observations to internalize and some that are very specific statements to look for that, unfortunately, I had to listen to a lot of the shops (I think the whole thing on occasion). I might just have a bad memory compared to others - I'm not sure. But, I definitely think ACL's self-storage shops are meticulous and hard to nail down. I've done about three or four total and I think every one I had to put something in the disclosures that I missed.

E.g., Did the associate use your name at any time during the shop? I had to repplay the whole freaking audio file to make sure she did or didn't in case I missed it in the midst of the bazillion other observations I had to make.

I haven't done Alta's $8 self-storage shops, but figured they were roughly similar. If anyone knows and I'm wrong, I wouldn't mind knowing for comparison's sake.

One of the first posts I read after joining the Volition forum in 2003, dealt with decreasing fees; 17 years later, the subject still applies. As we are in a business where supply and demand set the mark; we, as self-employed contractors, have zero control of the marketplace. We are, however, not in any manner required, as are employees, to accept fees or conditions determined to be inequitable. Until, which will not occur, there are not any shoppers willing and/or needing to toil for a pittance, the money will continue to drop until it reaches the bottom. After all, this IS business!

.

@shoptastic wrote:

I actually think it could be the "opposite" in some cases.

The MSCs may be negotiating MORE money from the clients, but simply paying out less to shoppers, due to over-supply of people willing to take these jobs at base. The result is that MSC people get more $.

Also just speculation on my part, though.

Your initial post suggests that the clients are allocating their budgets to pay their workers more and in turn, shoppers' pay are lowering for the projects they're paying the MSC's for. Unless sales for these clients are magically increasing enough to cover the pay increases, why would clients pay more for the projects with the MSC's? I guess I can understand clients paying similar rates, while leaving it up to the MSC's to negotiate pay with shoppers to obtain the data they need to fulfill their client's needs?

@shoptastic wrote:

@BuffaloNY101 wrote:

If your asking for a $5 bonus on a $8 shop then you clearly don't value yourself.

Ah, I re-read and saw that was probably confusing how I wrote it...That was $5 extra for the $25 ACL shops. I actually wouldn't recommend them to anyone even for $30, as they are a pain and I was taking them as a newbie back then.

@ wrote:

I don't wish to further argue on here.

Nah - I actually didn't see our dialogue as arguing. More like explaining. (Although, I did think your original post was slightly abrasive towards the end.)

@ wrote:

A helpful hint may be not recording and then having to listen to entire shops. A simple statement of the approx. greeting is good enough.

For ACL, there are so many observations to internalize and some that are very specific statements to look for that, unfortunately, I had to listen to a lot of the shops (I think the whole thing on occasion). I might just have a bad memory compared to others - I'm not sure. But, I definitely think ACL's self-storage shops are meticulous and hard to nail down. I've done about three or four total and I think every one I had to put something in the disclosures that I missed.

E.g., Did the associate use your name at any time during the shop? I had to repplay the whole freaking audio file to make sure she did or didn't in case I missed it in the midst of the bazillion other observations I had to make.

I haven't done Alta's $8 self-storage shops, but figured they were roughly similar. If anyone knows and I'm wrong, I wouldn't mind knowing for comparison's sake.

Good to know but alas I do very little for ACL. More Narrative for little to no pay.

I agree there are those shops for almost all MSCs that start at ridiculously low base pay. I find a lot of times you can ask for a fair rate and get it from the scheduler for these shops. Then there are those shops and MSCs won't budge on pay till towards the end of deadline. You will know and simply have to wait or avoid on those. When they become desperate that's when you rake them over the coals and demand more than you would need in the beginning of the period.

Nonetheless, I do find lots of shops that have super low base fees and which do not get bonused when asked for. But, I'm not sure if it's me or other reasons.

I can understand new to a shop spending a little more time on the guidelines but as a seasoned shopper you should not be spending that much time on any guidelines nor should any other seasoned shopper. I am sorry if you felt this as abrasive but I am old school and tell it like it is.

If I did this shop and truly could not remember if they used my name, I would give them the benefit of the doubt and say they did.

10 minutes if that for guidelines first time 10 minute report maybe 15 first time 10 to 20 minute shop on site. For me 40 Minutes max so I need $25 minimum. I have done a bazillion of them and they have ranged in pay from $25 to $50. ACL sounds like I would need $50 minimum.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/10/2020 07:20PM by BuffaloNY101.

How could I have possibly guessed.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

How could I have possibly guessed.

Is this to me? and if so ?

No, not you. I was talking about the title of the thread...I figured who the author was by reading it.

@shoptastic wrote:

I haven't done Alta's $8 self-storage shops, but figured they were roughly similar. If anyone knows and I'm wrong, I wouldn't mind knowing for comparison's sake.

They are not bad. Simple & very little narrative. I have done them but only when significantly (by their standards, anyway) bonused.

@shopperbob wrote:

One of the first posts I read after joining the Volition forum in 2003, dealt with decreasing fees; 17 years later, the subject still applies.

By 2040, maybe it'll be $4 for a self-storage tour!

And Taco Bell managers start at $500,000/year.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/10/2020 08:32PM by shoptastic.

Agreed. Alta's aren't anything like your description of the ACL shops.

@sestrahelena wrote:

@shoptastic wrote:

I haven't done Alta's $8 self-storage shops, but figured they were roughly similar. If anyone knows and I'm wrong, I wouldn't mind knowing for comparison's sake.

They are not bad. Simple & very little narrative. I have done them but only when significantly (by their standards, anyway) bonused.

Are you negotiating for more? There are some jobs that I have been doing consistently when the bonus is right. The company raised the rates across the board a few months ago. I also increased my ask.

A close friend is a manager of a high-volume retail outlet. I'm sure he makes decent money, but he works long hours six days a week. And his store isn't open late like a Taco Bell is. Those managers basically work two full-time jobs and their pay reflects it.

@NinS wrote:

A close friend is a manager of a high-volume retail outlet. I'm sure he makes decent money, but he works long hours six days a week. And his store isn't open late like a Taco Bell is. Those managers basically work two full-time jobs and their pay reflects it.

This was true for us at Burger King as well. The store manager was a salaried position, but they were expected to work 72 hours a week (6 12 hour shifts). They were also on call if anything went wrong that the shift manager couldn't handle. I declined the position even though I would be making more there than where I am now.

@NinS wrote:

A close friend is a manager of a high-volume retail outlet. I'm sure he makes decent money, but he works long hours six days a week. And his store isn't open late like a Taco Bell is. Those managers basically work two full-time jobs and their pay reflects it.

It was over a decade ago, but when I worked at Regal Cinemas (made it to the wonderful positoin of supervisor, before I quit), our GM made $75,000-ish.

We never saw him, lol, but he was doing "stuff" upstairs often.

Don't doubt the long hours.

I suppose a lot of jobs we all end up working much more than the advertised hours as well. Teachers grade papers and prepare lesson plans at home without pay. Software developers learn new coding skills to stay up to date on their own time. Mystery shoppers have a lot of unpaid scheduling hours. Sitting around waiting for jobs to release, emailing schedulers to plan routes, negotiating bonuses, etc.

I'd much rather be a GM of a local franchise movie theater, however, than the GM of a local Taco Bell. I hate fast food work with a passion! Stressful environment.

@shoptastic wrote:

Teachers grade papers and prepare lesson plans at home without pay. .

This is true, but it's also true that their day is generally 8 hours long with an hour for lunch and often another hour for prep. They're also working 3/4 of the year. In my neck of the woods, the average (which includes newbies) is over $60k (extrapolated to $80k as a base.) That doesn't include after-school/before-school hours (for which they're paid if they volunteer), summer school, club hours, parent-teacher conferences, chaperon pay, camps, or a myriad of other pay. My son-in-law makes a boatload of $ and he's in his 20s. My brother-in-law makes six figures, although he does have a Master's degree.

Some of these are absolutely worth their weight in gold; others are mere babysitters. I'd like to see the valuable ones paid more and the horrible ones let go.

Taxpayer-funded salaries are freely available on the web.