At a time when inflation is hitting hard, especially at grocery stores, MSCs are slashing their pay rates to levels which prove they do not value shoppers. I wonder if the companies that hire the MSCs know how poorly shoppers are paid. Shoppers who are willing to work for such low pay hurt the shoppers who are good at what they do and expect appropriate compensation. I can testify that the shoppers willing to work for low pay are not very articulate and do not write well. They drive editors crazy. I wonder if the MSCs would find the reports from such people as being credible.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/28/2021 08:59PM by devaluingshoppers.

Are you an editor? For which companies do you edit? And because I have always wondered about this: have editors always been able to see shopper payments?

@devaluingshoppers wrote:

At a time when inflation is hitting hard, especially at grocery stores, MSCs are slashing their pay rates to levels which prove they do not value shoppers. I wonder if the companies that hire the MSCs know how poorly shoppers are paid. Shoppers who are willing to work for such low pay hurt the shoppers who are good at what they do and expect appropriate compensation. I can testify that the shoppers willing to work for low pay are not very articulate and do not write well. They drive editors crazy. I wonder if the MSCs would find the reports from such people as being credible.

Thanks for the laugh.

those low pays are how many shoppers survive. as IC's, we can choose which shops we want, and which we can pass on.

@devaluingshoppers wrote:

I can testify that the shoppers willing to work for low pay are not very articulate and do not write well. They drive editors crazy. I wonder if the MSCs would find the reports from such people as being credible.

You are making assumptions. People accept the same job in different price points for different reasons. Eg, one might be used to accept yellow gas stations at $50+ but financial pressure and need in their family might force the person to take it for $25.

Concerning the OPs opinion, there are only three possibilities: All, some or none of her posting is valid. The only statement I find irrefutable is that the reports of some shoppers most probably "drive editors crazy." The remainder is conjecture. This is business and an MSCs primary responsibility is to their shareholders and secondarily, their employees. As ICs, we must attend to our interests. Just as KateH opined, circumstances can AND do change in life.

Yes to all of the above after my post. Sometimes, the poverty math works like this: Too much income = a reduction in benefits. A reduction in benefits might be temporary or permanent. It might mean the loss of more money or equivalent than people can replace completely or permanently, even with high or higher fees. If people earn so much that they lose benefits, they will need to earn enough consistently to replace the value of those benefits. If they are unable to earn so much income consistently and are without benefits temporarily or permanently, they may be in a worse condition than they would be if they worked consistently for lower fees and stretched the value of whatever benefits they have. The actual formula for each situation is not expressed here, and each person or household is unique.

@devaluingshoppers wrote:

I can testify that the shoppers willing to work for low pay are not very articulate and do not write well. They drive editors crazy. I wonder if the MSCs would find the reports from such people as being credible.

I don't know if you would consider me a "shopper willing to work for low pay" but I suspect you would. Yes, I take the steakhouse jobs for reimbursement only, because I cannot afford the occasional steak dinner out any other way. Yes, I take the $14 grocery store jobs, because two or three of those jobs grouped together covers most of my groceries for a week.

Assuming you do consider me one of "those" shoppers, you can rest assured that I am articulate and I write well. If I drive editors crazy, they must keep it to themselves.

I do the same thing with the $14 grocery stores. That and couponing is what pays for our groceries.

Different MSC companies have different business models. Several start out low and gradually increase fees. I wait for the increase. Some are getting bigger and do offer bonuses on some shops, but not like in the past.

I've found there are different "business models' for shoppers. Some use the depreciation of their cars to take jobs until their cars give out and then complain about shops. Others may take shops because they were going to shop there anyway, or it is on the way to doing something they were going to do. For them, the fee is reasonable as they didn't have to drive to the location directly.

I have some idea in the past as one gas station owner told me what she paid the petroleum company to have the location shopped per quarter. My bonused compensation was about 80$ of the fee in that instance.

Shopping at restaurants is different. Those are more of an even trade, unless the shop is so complicated that one cannot enjoy a meal. I have shopped plenty of the more expensive fast food burger places etc., and I do so for the meal. However, the few steak shops I have seen in my market did not reimburse all of the expenses. The fine dining ones are just too complex for me to enjoy, even with a companion helping.

I know I am right about my "conjecture" based on many of the posts I have read on Mystery Shopping Forum. I am not referring to any of the responses here, though.

Aside from the poorly written ones, there are ones like the one post from some years ago in which a woman wrote that she does the shopping because she likes to drive around and listen to audio books. I responded that gasoline must be very cheap where she lives. I factor in not only my time but also travel expenses. I have taken advantage of numerous phone only shops, but not if they only pay up to ten dollars. For example, I have seen shops for which one had to use an assigned complicated story, and they only paid ten dollars. Ten dollars was not worth the effort since a detailed report went along with them.

I do not understand how people can accept the depth to which the fees have plummeted over the past year and a half. However, I only search for opportunities in my vicinity, so my opinion is for...my vicinity. Of course, I cannot provide examples. I wish that I could. I'd say out of all of the companies for which I have shopped over the past decade or so, there is only one that is regularly still worth it.

Speaking of beef, the grocery store prices in my part of the US have gone way north of ten dollars a pound. There is one pizza chain that is charging $11.99 for a six inch or so Italian Beef sandwich, not including fries. Most of the pizza places are charging well over $20.00 for a 14 inch thin crust—sausage, green pepper, onion, and mushroom pizza.

The first post I recall after joining the Volition forum in 2003, dealt with the decreasing fees; unfortunately, it continues to this day. Yesterday, a sandwich shop appeared on a job board for a $5 fee and $10 reimbursement; all locations are gone today. There was a requirement of four photos, no ordering liberty and one needed to select a specific date. In 2007, I received $20, a $7 reimbursement, my choice of food items, a single pic and a wide window to visit the same chain.

The rates have plummeted in the 25+ years I have been mystery shopping. Sometimes I look and just shake my head.

All you have to do is wait for the fee to go up! I do most of my jobs with 3 or 4 companies. If you accept the first offered rate you are doing yourself a disservice. I never did the grocery shop for less than 25.00 total and then only because I was going to be driving right by on the way to something else.

I agree, you have to set a floor , especially grocery shops that involve overly detailed reports. Since 2013 my policy has been to not accept any low-ball or annoying shops. My standard response to low dollar offers is "it costs $20 for me to get in my car" That thinned out most of the nuisance e-mails, and my time & routes are much more efficient. Some schedulers will even bump the fee up to meet my minimum. Sure, I make less money (about 25% less), but I look at it as also expending 50% less time, effort and stress, by focusing on the better shops.

I have to partially disagree with you. Willingness to accept lower compensation does not necessarily correlate with poor writing skills. I sometimes take a shop because it is convenient or appealing, even though I know that I could probably wait for a bonus to be added.

For me, there are so many shops now that do not require much narrative. When there is one that does, I wait until it is bonused before performing it.

Yes , the beef and fries restaurant reimbursement is bare minimum. I cannot enjoy a plain burger w/o cheese and bacon so it’s not worth it to me, that’s just me though. Also to do the debrief , I use the app, it took 30 minutes to input and that’s because it takes 10 seconds for the next page to load. I said that was the last one I would do. It’s just not worth it.

There in is some of the problem. Most of these msc’s pay monthly and the low pay at the beginning of the month doesn’t get you anywhere , you will still have to wait until the middle or end of the next month to get paid. In my world I learned to hold out for the bonus, So when it’s the end of the month and the msc is desperate to get that shop done they are more willing to work with a pay amount that is worth your time.

I really wish that "one mystery shop" company would show all the questions on one page, instead of wasting 5-10 seconds per page when inputting a project. Even when not using their app and using their website it is the same problem, one or two questions per page Maybe we should all complain to them about their inputting process.

I have a conspiracy here and I invite anyone to explain how I might be wrong. I do believe there is a flat fee for a program that a company pays the MSC. I also think that other than the management that is in charge of the program the top levels of the company can only see what is payed out to the program. Therefore, the people who have the most on the line with regards to the stock holders have no idea what the MSC is paying the actual shopper to do the job. If you still believe that mystery shopping does actually impact the overall growth of a business, this could be a bad thing. I am not saying that all people are going to slack off when getting low pay but don't you believe at all that there is a slight higher motivation to do a greater job when there is a higher possible reward? Also, in low numbers I think mystery shopping is a small way to advertise and many become real customers after trying a shop. Sometimes low fees can damage a brand image. I just feel like maybe it would be different if higher level management knew more about what was actually going on here. Just a thought.

I think they know and offer shops for all socioeconomic levels. They might not show all their assignments to all shoppers. I still believe that a family with one high earner and one trust fund baby at the helm got their landscaping, playground, and pool in exchange for writing a few reports and providing a lovely backdrop for clients' products. The idea was that their wealthy friends and associates might admire and want to buy from the clients in order to keep up with the Joneses (not the wealthy family's real name). They all but said so to me without mentioning MSC names. It took me a few months of learning from this forum to figure out what they were really saying all those years ago.

The question is: how many shoppers want that in their worlds? There is a trend to smaller housing and less stuff, even though marketers still churn our desires and we frequently change the stuff that we have. Nonetheless, amid all the changes in the world, some shoppers have figured out how to leverage time, start-money, and electronics to create hobbies and businesses. Apparently, some shoppers have come up from the bottom and are now consistently top earners. Others might be happier with less involvement and/or a smaller proportion of revenue from this industry.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/04/2021 10:18PM by Shop-et-al.

Then you have the low pay valet shops. So what are you supposed to do? You get paid for letting a restaurant valet your car, but what do you do in the restaurant while waiting to have your car picked up? You order a drink at the bar? You order an appetizer or a meal? Both end up costing you more than what you just earned for the valet parking. And it isn't like you can just linger around for a half hour or so without doing anything in the restaurant.

That's why I like it when an MSC gives you a small budget to spend at the bar (if there is one) so you can kill time without looking too suspicious.

Wow y'all, that's some heavy info being shared. Thank you so much for in the insights. I've been doing this for 3 months and I'm getting restless over the monotony and demands the MSC's put on us. They attempt to put fear of lack of payment on us for lack of quality, yet some of their products they put out to us lack quality.

I learned the hard way to be selective - a telecom shop paid well but I came close to getting screwed out of $500 by the authorized reseller with the MSC not helping much at all (6+ hours of phone time to resolve); the other was online shopping where the merchant wasn't holding up their end of the bargain for the refund ($200), the MSC said I couldn't dispute it with the credit card company, so I had to keep fighting the merchant on my own.

Thank you to everyone who shares their stories, insights, opinions and conjectures on this forum. All of the perspectives help new comers know they aren't alone and aren't crazy.