These are great in some respects because you can do them from anywhere. Especially the ones where you can “shop anyone” and know it’s a one-and-done. I have done quite a few of them so the format is super familiar to me. But I’m starting to feel that I need at least $10 to do these. What’s your threshold as far as pay is concerned for this type of shop?

Not all $5 phone shops are created equal. Some are fine at $5. Others involve too much work for $5.

Yesterday, a customer asked me to take $20 for a $21 item; I declined his request. He then inquired as to my needing an extra dollar; I replied I had no need, but a desire existed. In self-employment, an attitude of self is paramount. If one has decided a need exists for $10 a job, any lesser mount is unacceptable.

The answer is really up to you. Do you need the $5? Personally, my time is worth more than that. It takes time to go over the guidelines, highlight or make notes of necessary questions/info to get, do the call, then type up the report and submit it. And depending upon the editor, you may have to tweak it. And yes, I did say editor. I have down shops for the same MSC for the same client in two locations. But the two shops were reviewed by two different editors. I got a 10 on one of them, the other I got a point taken off because "even though the survey asks for in depth and detailed accounts of the shop and interactions with the employee", I didn't really need to give details. That particular MSC has had this problem with their editors for years. Some want every sentence and response word for word (almost), and another sees that I answered every survey question and there was no need for revisions or additions. Go figure. Anyway. Conclusion: your call, if you need the money and you feel you don't deserve more than $5 for the time and effort, go for it! And much good luck.

We don't have any feelings at all about $5 phone shops..

I won't do a phone shop for less than $10--and it depends on the client. I used to do phone shops at $10 for one MSC, and the only reason I did these was because they gave me a *lot* of work, all of it with bonuses. And once the first couple were done, the others in the series were pretty easy. Otherwise, I usually don't do phone shops, other than the home-mortgage inquiry calls since they pay well for the amount of work involved. My minimum amount for a phone shop is at least $15--again, depending on the job and the MSC. If there are more than one of the same type, then the return increases due to increased efficiency. But a one-off usually isn't worth it.

I have been doing dozens for $5. They are all for either motorcycles or ATVs. Rarely does one go over 3 or 4 minutes (unless they don't answer and then I have to call the next day) and the report is largely radio buttons that I can do in less than 5 minutes. There is one formulaic short-written response. I was dubious at first but gave them a try. Now I do as many as they will let me do, anywhere in the country.

I don't have a ton of in-person opportunities where I live (ignore my username, I'm no longer in NYC), and so I do mostly phone shops, especially in winter because I want to do as little driving as possible when snow is on the ground. So, my preferred minimum for phone shops is $10, but I do make exceptions *sometimes* and go below that.

For example, one MSC had $9 phone shops and were allowing up to 20 of them per round, so I did 20 at $9. I looked at it as a $180 project and churned them out as quickly as I could. Another example is an MSC that has phone shops for $8, and I will do those for that scheduler, specifically because she's super nice and will contact me whenever she has phone shops that go for more than that - plus I always learn something from doing those shops. And recently I took three shops for $6, $7, and $8 just to try out a new-to-me MSC, and see what their reports are like. I won't take any more at that low rate and don't think I'll do much for them, but at least now I know what to expect if they ever offer any for more money. Lastly, there was a time when I took less than $10 because I was utterly broke, couldn't find enough shops for at least $10, and I needed to keep the cash flow coming in, however paltry, out of desperation. But I have to say, the above circumstances are RARE, and most of the time I absolutely will not do a phone shop for less than $10.

However, if I know for certain that an MSC always has long, pain-in-the-butt reports even for phone shops, or idiot editors who make my life miserable, I won't do them for less than $15 - but probably not at all!
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/11/2023 09:14PM by shopnyc.

I'm not a huge fan of phone shops at any rate - they almost always seem to wind up more time consuming than I expect. I would reconsider if I was home bound (like last year after I had knee surgery, but I was able to fill my time with some online shops instead).

@joanna81 wrote:

I'm not a huge fan of phone shops at any rate - they almost always seem to wind up more time consuming than I expect..

That can certainly be the case, but it does seem that a lot of the MSCs getting better at keeping the report short, or fairly short, for phone shops. The ones I think are big pains in the butt have web inquiries to go with the phone calls, and you have to submit a bunch of screenshots. Ugh. That can be pretty time-consuming if doing a lot of them.

However, I look at it this way: I can schedule a bunch of phone shops and make decent money without having to get dressed or go anywhere that day, and that's a win for me.

I remember when I first started MSing, I used to get VERY nervous about screwing up phone shops, especially when they were recorded. And then, someone on the old Volition forum said something to the effect of "I just put on a pot of coffee and crank them out." And somehow that made me want to get over my nervousness, sit at my table and do as many as I could. When I moved to my current location and knew I didn't want to drive much in wintertime, I decided that I would have to crank out the phone shops, and I am constantly on the lookout for them with every possible MSC I come across.

And, to this day, whenever I think about phone shops, I think about a pot of coffee.
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/11/2023 04:40PM by shopnyc.

Ah yes, a pot of coffee would go nicely with phone shops. I avoid them at all costs however. I'm just not comfortable doing them and they usually are more work than I figured them to be.

Nope

I feel about them the same as I feel about any other shop with a single-digit fee; I would never consider wasting my time on such a low paycheck.

$5.00 is not enoguh for me to find a nickle to make the call with, let alone look for my eyeglasses so I can see the dial.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/13/2023 10:12PM by Rousseau.

I really dislike recorded phone shops. The one time I've ever had a shop rejected was because I accidentally worded one question wrong on the phone (I said "is that the latest I can come in?" instead of "when is the latest I can come in?". This was a phone + web review shop and it took me almost an hour to finish, so I was pretty upset and now recorded calls make me nervous. If its a quick and easy non-recorded I'll usually do it, but a lot of them take longer than they're worth to me.

I added another parenthesis and it changed it to the wink face lol