Hello everyone! I am a business administration student and I'm doing a project on the gig economy. If you'd be willing to help me out by speaking with me for about 20 minutes then please email me at fari@umich.edu. I'd be more than happy to work around your schedule, as this project really means a lot to me. Thanks everyone!!!

Wouldn't it be faster and more convenient to have shoppers respond to a list of questions in writing?

I work for pay.

And just about anything you want to know about mystery shopping has probably been discussed in these threads. You would do well to read them.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/11/2021 10:51AM by sestrahelena.

Your project sounds intriguing. For a business administration perspective, are you focusing more on businesses/clients who utilize mystery shoppers, the mystery shop provider businesses who link independently contracted mystery shoppers with their clients, or how the independently contracted mystery shoppers conduct their businesses?

@faithskater wrote:

Hello everyone! I am a business administration student and I'm doing a project on the gig economy. If you'd be willing to help me out by speaking with me for about 20 minutes then please email me at fari@umich.edu. I'd be more than happy to work around your schedule, as this project really means a lot to me. Thanks everyone!!!

@sestrahelena wrote:

And just about anything you want to know about mystery shopping has probably been discussed in these threads. You would do well to read them.

I concur with sestra above. Anything, or most anything, you would like to know about mystery shopping can probably be found in this thread, if you will take the time to read through it: [www.mysteryshopforum.com]

The reason why I am reaching out to people individually is so that I can get get a sense of their feelings towards mystery shopping and ask follow up questions. The project is that I'm actually working on creating a startup, thus why I am extremely focused on all the nuances involved in the research process. If you'd like to contact me we can speak on the phone or I could send you the questions and just ask that you give as much explanation as possible

I completely agree. The reason why I want to speak to people individually is because the project is actually a mystery shopping/gig work start up. I want to be able to pick up on all the nuance and ask follow up questions in order to really get a feel for what their likes and concerns are. If you are willing to help me out with this we can talk on the phone or I could send you the questions if you'd be diligent with providing lots of details ))

My goal is to see what mystery shoppers and other gig workers like and dislike about their current methods of obtaining work. I'm creating a startup that would combine mystery shopping and gigwork into one to create a hub for contracting work. I'd love to speak with you about this topic and give you the whole rundown of what my plan is for this business. I'm also trying to gather a list of people that would test out the early versions of the app when it eventually launches.

Call me suspicious....

So, it went from a school project to now creating a start up? Or, are you a new mystery shopper who wants us to give you info that we have all researched over months and years ourselves?

If you want to know how we shoppers feel about the work we do, just read the threads on this Forum.

My school offers business students lots of opportunities to create their own business, so it is both. I am working with advisors to create this business.

I guess you can be suspicious??

It might prove to be more productive to read articles focusing on MSCs and their owners, as well as perhaps interviewing a few of them, in order to gain knowledge regarding the MSC start-up process, and how inquiries are prepared, etc. Best wishes for your school project.

All the info/research you need is here on these discussion boards. Years of experiences, nuances, trends, opinions, frustrations, setbacks; and helpful tips and advice. You should start here, for research purposes. Start reporting your findings here, and seasoned shoppers can correct, input as needed. It is no way something that can be summarized in a few phone calls. Years of experience right here in these discussions.

How far-reaching is this project? You mentioned mystery shoppers and other gig workers. I know who/what a mystery shopper is. Who are the other gig workers? Does their work have anything in common with mystery shopping?

I am intrigued by the movement from general (business administration) to specific (how mystery shop and other [as yet unidentified] gig workers feel about how they find work). As independent contractors, we are independent of each other. We are unique as people and as workers. Overall, we do not have the same interests, abilities, and available time. We like, love, dislike, and hate different things based upon our personal biases and given situations. Some who have good working relationships with mystery shop companies and/or their schedulers have a relatively easy time with finding work and negotiating their payments. Others may develop these skills over time. Would anything in your app enable shoppers to skip this developmental milestone in their careers? There are people who never really get the most from negotiating. They might have trouble in gig work.

It would be interesting to know how your proposed app will approach the collection and dissemination of information.

According to our independent contractor agreements, we are forbidden to link the names of mystery shop providers with their clients. Any expression of any difficulty based upon this hard and fast rule is just an expression of a feeling about something that is unchangeable. If you want to use your app as a means of linking names of mystery shop providers with their current clients, you will need standing. As an independent contractor, you cannot do it. Even if you never sign one of their independent contractor agreements, you are a person who is developing a product that might compete with or help them to eliminate their own apps or entries on aggregated gig boards. For this, you might need a specific and binding agreement with each company and obtain this via some aspect of their business administration such as legal, contracts, or operations.

Have you studied the existing aggregated gig boards and the company-owned apps? Have you worked out with mystery shopping providers how their information will appear on your app as compared to on their apps or on aggregated gig boards? We know what to expect there. For example, changes that we see when clients change are more, fewer, or different gigs. The changes that most of us love to see there happen over time. For example, some will add bonuses or increase fees as time passes. This is probably the only common feature among mystery shoppers here.

Anyway, good luck to you as you work out this app. To me, it sounds like a monumental undertaking. For you, it might be a fun way to learn and earn.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 06/14/2021 03:19AM by Shop-et-al.

I really love this message. It has so much information that I had to read it a few times. However, I'm a little confused when it comes to the legal part, especially where you spoke about not disclosing the names of mystery shop providers with their clients.

I have been studying and researching the common mystery shopping/audit apps out there and how their customers feel about their work through them. It's been a great way to see what works and what doesn't.

As for the specifics of what this app entails, I don't really want to disclose it openly online because this is something that is still in the process and I don't want any unique ideas to end up in the hands of competitors.

Then again, gaining a list of email address (and forum screen names) from Mystery Shoppers could be used for a variety of objectives; from sublime to nefarious.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/14/2021 10:38AM by maverick1.

If we mere mystery shoppers blurted out here that such-and-such client account is handled by thus-and-such mystery shop provider company, we would be in breach of contract. And, some eagle-eyed shopper would tell us to fix that. When mystery shop providers list past and current clients on websites or Facebook, they are not in violation of contract. Go figure.

You will need some sort of agreement with each mystery shop provider you work with in order to list their assignments in your app.

This is not a secret, right? In your opinion, what works and what doesn't work with existing apps?

@faithskater wrote:

I really love this message. It has so much information that I had to read it a few times. However, I'm a little confused when it comes to the legal part, especially where you spoke about not disclosing the names of mystery shop providers with their clients.

I have been studying and researching the common mystery shopping/audit apps out there and how their customers feel about their work through them. It's been a great way to see what works and what doesn't.

As for the specifics of what this app entails, I don't really want to disclose it openly online because this is something that is still in the process and I don't want any unique ideas to end up in the hands of competitors.

Genuine question: What bad things could I even do with a bunch of email addresses? I could go on any college site and get tons of student emails.

Ah ok I understand now. Thank you for clarifying that!

Getting an email is a stepping stone. Ex.: "have i been pwned?" Then you want to ask the Mystery Shopper questions. Depending upon the answer(s) provided, a path is started with data collection.

@faithskater wrote:

Genuine question: What bad things could I even do with a bunch of email addresses? I could go on any college site and get tons of student emails.

<Red flag>
<Red flag>

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/20/2021 08:26PM by Niner.