Lack of Shops?
Warning: For Full Access Please Log In or Create an Account (Free)
I thought it was just me.... This month, February, is crazy slow. I've completed only 17 shops, compared to January's 61.
Greg
South Florida: Broward and Palm Beach County
South Florida: Broward and Palm Beach County
It seems slow to me too, but I've been down a bit with a cold, and thought (at first) that it was just me needing to make up for lost time. Anyway, it is not just you.
How many legs does a dog have if you call the tail a leg?
"Four. Calling a tail a leg doesn't make it a leg."
-- Abraham Lincoln
"Four. Calling a tail a leg doesn't make it a leg."
-- Abraham Lincoln
Many of the shops I did pre pandemic and even during the pandemic seem not to be around anymore and some that are still around have severely cut back on the frequency with which they do each location. I have been waiting for the companies that may have cancelled their programs due to income stress during the pandemic to fully recover and bring their programs back but so far I have seen few new or restored shops hit the boards.
Definitely slower / fewer opportunities. No problem. I won't lower my fee requests. More time to spend with my Valentine, right?
Which, by the way, I went "all out" this year on my Valentine...brought home an 18 pack of EGGS!
(I had to take out a loan, but my sweetheart is worth it
)
Which, by the way, I went "all out" this year on my Valentine...brought home an 18 pack of EGGS!
(I had to take out a loan, but my sweetheart is worth it
)
There are plenty of shops available. The vast, vast majority are not worth my consideration - the effect of MSC consolidation and a ton of newbies entering the industry.
Ha-ha-ha-ha!
@maverick1 wrote:
Definitely slower / fewer opportunities. No problem. I won't lower my fee requests. More time to spend with my Valentine, right?
Which, by the way, I went "all out" this year on my Valentine...brought home an 18 pack of EGGS!
(I had to take out a loan, but my sweetheart is worth it
Shopping Arkansas, Louisiana, & Mississippi.
The month started out pretty good but if feels like slim pickings now. I was hoping the long weekend was maybe causing a lull but I'm not sure anything is really roaring back today.
@maverick1 wrote:
Definitely slower / fewer opportunities. No problem. I won't lower my fee requests. More time to spend with my Valentine, right?
Which, by the way, I went "all out" this year on my Valentine...brought home an 18 pack of EGGS!
(I had to take out a loan, but my sweetheart is worth it
Due to health issues I've had to go on a strict elimination diet and eggs are one of the foods I can no longer eat. I guess it's a (financially) good thing?! Lol!
My kids snack on scrambled eggs almost every afternoon when they get home from school. We have little egg shaped containers that you microwave to cook the scrambled egg & they love making their own snack.
jobslinger postings are down by 1/2 to 2/3. thankfully car shops are back for at least one company. someone moved into the area and now i cant get $25 burger and fries shops. they disappearing at $15-$18 now.
shopping north west PA and south west ny
There are a lot less opportunities for me, but that is only because I moved from a major city with tons of different kinds of shops and businesses, to a semi-rural area with much more limited options. I also had taken about five years off from MSing, until the end of last summer, so I'm getting used to it again in my "new" location. If I'd stayed in NYC, I wonder whether or not I'd still have as many shops to choose from as I did before I went on hiatus. However, I've been doing okay here - but MSing is not my sole source of income.
.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/21/2023 04:40PM by shopnyc.
.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/21/2023 04:40PM by shopnyc.
I have not done a thorough analysis on the amount of shops that are no longer available. One shop I used to do was Jack in the Box when it got to a reasonable $$$. Those stopped at end of September 2022. Doesn't appear they are coming back anytime soon. But then Panda Express who did shops PRE-covid went away and eventually came back. I do notice I have completed less shops recently, but I'm not 100% sure if that is because there is more competition in my area or less postings. I still see many of the same crap assignments that I was never interested in to begin with.
Well...it is good to know it's not just my imagination. It's unfortunate though because at one point the money was enough to supplement my income, now I can just buy one egg ... not the whole carton.
I'm seeing more than ever. Recently moved to a new location, maybe there are few shoppers here.
I am accepting shops for only about 80% fo the clients due to my not wanting to chance getting Covid-19. If I would still agree to shop places indoors where there are many people not wearing masks (dine-in restaurants, retail stores, clothing try-on stores, nightclubs and bars, casino/hotels, malls, etc.), I would have just as many shopping opportunites as pre-pandemic. Other than that, some old clients have disappeared while new ones have come aboard, just like any other year.
I was coming in to the forum to check if anyone knows if Trendsource/The Source lost their big background check clients. Last year I was doing 3 or 4 a week, sometimes 2 a day, I haven't seen any al all this year. The only one I see are car financing ones.
Barbage, do you mean Business Verification shops?
yea, it's been slow for me, as well. January and February are traditionally 2 of my slower months, but not this slow. However, things usually pick up in March and April has always been one of my most profitable months. We'll see how things go...
January was crazy busy & February isn't far behind... no slow down here.
I have 36 shops to finish up by Friday, (only working 9a - 3p while the kids are in school). Saturday is blue/gold banquet that I am the chairperson for as well as a daddy/ daughter dance that I will need to get my girls ready for. Then back to shops for next week.
I have 36 shops to finish up by Friday, (only working 9a - 3p while the kids are in school). Saturday is blue/gold banquet that I am the chairperson for as well as a daddy/ daughter dance that I will need to get my girls ready for. Then back to shops for next week.
I thought it had something to do with my area and the lack of shops. Just using the IPSOS job board as a guide, there are hardly any jobs left -- less than 2 dozen. Not sure what it has been in the past, but I know it hasn't been this low and it would be worse if they didn't pick up the fast food place.
I feel like I'm just obsessively checking again and again like something must be dropping soon. Not yet...
At this point, I figured I'd take the advice regularly given to sign up for more companies. Some seem to want to make it a mystery as to how to sign up to be a shopper! I did not find a ton of succes in the eight new companies I signed up for or attempted to. One form was dated 2013. One site had a copyright of 1999. Another I signed up for and it appears there are zero shops anywhere in the country. A couple seemed to be still liked to Prophet with no new signup instructions. One had a few shops many miles away. One does have a couple of shops somewhat nearish.
I don't do this full time but I do it when there are lulls in my other work which is also unpredictable. My heart goes out to those who are trying to do this full time and can't cobble together enough work.
At this point, I figured I'd take the advice regularly given to sign up for more companies. Some seem to want to make it a mystery as to how to sign up to be a shopper! I did not find a ton of succes in the eight new companies I signed up for or attempted to. One form was dated 2013. One site had a copyright of 1999. Another I signed up for and it appears there are zero shops anywhere in the country. A couple seemed to be still liked to Prophet with no new signup instructions. One had a few shops many miles away. One does have a couple of shops somewhat nearish.
I don't do this full time but I do it when there are lulls in my other work which is also unpredictable. My heart goes out to those who are trying to do this full time and can't cobble together enough work.
I'm not seeing a huge difference this month, but some of the ones I see have me feeling like "meh, same old shops". I'm not doing much though since this month has been busier on a personal level for me.
February seems to be a slow month consistently for me personally. As someone else mentioned I'm trying a few new companies as it seems not too many new clients popping up for my usual MSCs.
36 in January; 61 on my schedule for February for me.
104 in January; 66 and counting in Feb..this includes time off and a few cancellations due to car repairs. There have been some interesting new projects for me.
*****************************************************************************
The more I learn about people...the more I like my dog..
Mark Twain
The more I learn about people...the more I like my dog..
Mark Twain
Its not just you. February was brutally slow. March has been a little better, but Im finding less and less available shops.
@sil2222 wrote:
Its not just you. February was brutally slow. March has been a little better, but Im finding less and less available shops.
Sign up with more companies. I've yet to see a slow down this year.
Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.