Is it just me or are you also noticing a sudden jump in the number of shops offered? just more listed - more locations, more often - - not counting from the pandemic, I am referring to more jobs now than even before the pandemic? To me, there seem to be a lot more, but the pay is less attractive - just lowing paying in general and now with inflation, gas, etc. - less and less attractive ;(

I don't see more shops than would normally be there. But I don't really live in a heavily populated area.

What I do see is a whole lot of shops that just got put on the board at their base pay. I also have noticed a pattern of Smaller bonuses that are fewer and further between. I noticed one company that used to accept almost all of my offers offers now completely ignores them. I see jobs that were $40 bonused last month are now $30 bonused this month. And I see one of my regular shops, Is currently bonused for $10 less than it normally is at this stage in the game.

The pay doesn't seem to be going down, except that it's not increasing due to inflation either. But the bonuses are getting smaller as time goes by. The mystery shopping companies are banking on new shoppers who don't know any better, grabing all of them at lower bonuses than they previously would have offered to experienced shoppers.

Another possibility is that you are signed up with only a few MSCs, one of them being the biggest, who has definitely gotten more contracts that were previously with other shopping companies.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/08/2022 12:27PM by sestrahelena.

Living in a very large city with many locations for each shop of a chain business I am seeing more shops in total numbers of shops but still very few clients represented. The shops that are out there stay on the boards forever. It seems that for the popular shops one or two locations get snapped up quickly but the other 30 or so locations near me just hang there for weeks. And I have seen never before (the pandemic) bonuses on some these shops that never ever had a bonus. These bonuses though are still too small to get me to go and do them.
So for me I think there are a lot less shoppers out in my city. And also many of these shops have ridiculous pay. Just as an example they are begging for someone to do a shop in a warehouse type hardware store. They are offering $8. According to them it is a quick shop. My calculations are that the shop would take me close to 2 hours between driving over to my very close by location, parking, finding someone to speak to in the aisle assigned (I do shop at this store for myself and usually have to spend a minimum of 20 minutes finding a person to speak with). Then going up to the register and waiting 10 minutes for my turn to come. I figure I would net $4-5 an hour. Minimum wage here is $15 an hour. Liveable wage is much higher than that. Rents around here start at $2000 a month for a studio. Small teardowns start over a million. Who can afford to do these? If they ever get bonused ??they will offer $10. Typical pay for most retail shops is between $8-12. Parking at some of the nicer malls is $8-12 an hour but no parking reimbursement is offered so if you can find multiple shops while there once you have passed the free validated hour or so expanses add up quickly.
Bottom line this is why I see so many shops even towards the end of the month.

Mystery shopping is the only form of work that I can see at this point that is not increasing in pay. In many ways, it's decreasing. At least the starting amounts have been decreasing. There are still a lot of bonuses to be had for projects that have to be completed. But the mystery shopping companies are doing it kicking and screaming. There were more overdue gas stations this last quarter that I can ever remember. I wonder if the client cares or if there will be any consequences for the mystery shopping companies.

One MSC that i know of has raised fees: Servimer. Mainly very easy parking shops. The base fee is the only fee, so grab their shops early in the month. .You.I can easily make $100 or more per day in any city where they have shops. Doing reports by phone is also an option, so you can report one shop while doing the next.

sandyf I know just the shop you are talking about - I believe they added a $2 bonus now. But that’s even an insulting amount. The ones I can’t get over - two gas station shops, that no one took the first quarter, are still on the board. They started at $7, and are now at $9.01. The other gas station started at $8, some now bonused to $15 - and no reimbursement for the required purchase. No one is still taking them, nor should they at that pay. I took one because I was curious how involved it really was, and because it showed up in Presto with more pay, $15 plus reimbursement, which is still low. My curiosity won out there, but it made me wonder who came up with the original $7 pay and thought that was appropriate? Smh

It looks like they are really playing hardball. We have to remain strong and not give in.

I think they test the labor market first by insult lol....so all we can figure is that there is no urgency.

I have seen so many messages from shoppers on this site advising others to not take shops at low fees. I assume that is based on whatever that shopper sees as a low fee. But my real question is, does anyone know what percentage of shoppers actually are active on this site? I have no idea. If it is a large percentage it might make a difference if shoppers do not take low paying shops but if this site has a low percent of shoppers represented who are actively reading the threads than the only difference it will make is that the shopper who does not accept a shop will have no work.
Also if you are one of just a handful of shoppers in a rural area it may help but if you live in an area with lots of other shoppers who are not restraining from "low" paying shops than it might not.

Shoppers on this site are a mere fraction of the total number of shoppers worldwide so even if everyone here agreed not to take low paying shops it would not make a difference. Someone will. And as far as last quarter's shops that KayDan referenced, I am absolutely puzzled as to why the end client apparently has no specific deadline. But sign up for one and you will be sure to get the reminder email that states "Client required" deadline. Well, it wasn't urgent for the last 4 1/2 months so how did it get a "required" deadline all of a sudden? What does that even mean? In the past, when I was able to get a workable wage for a route in the first month of the quarter, my shop date was still always a "Client required" deadline. The ones that are currently $15 are actually pretty easy and the pay is, for me, okay considering the lack of time needed to complete it. But I will not accept less than what I have been paid before. For spite. I will simply mentally wave at those stations as I drive by on my way to elsewhere.

Considering inflation, even if fees stayed the same it would be considered a decrease in value!!!

Yes, I’m seeing 20-25% more in my area. Fees aren’t great, unfortunately.

(For my favorite projects, I log the number of possible assignments, the fees, and keep track over the past several years. It helps me figure out the algorithm that companies use to add bonuses, so I can anticipate them and snap them up quickly.)

I will pick up a low ball shop if I am going to be in the area and I have time to do it.

Im seeing significantly fewer shops now compared to before Covid. The ACL restaurant shops are gone. The auto shops are almost gone except if you are male (new requirement) and the pay is half. The grocery shops are gone.