noticing less shops available

Is anyone finding less shops than usual? Is it just my area (RI, southern Mass). Is it just the time of year, or is this a sign of things to come? Maybe it's because Planet Fitness and Kia were my bread and butter, and those are all done, that I'm feeling affected lol. Idk. Tons of gas station audits, but I don't like those, especially at what they are offering.

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I do a lot of gas stations. The gas is gold to me. I use my vehicle in other jobs that I get paid mileage, so the free gas is really nice. So, I haven't seen fewer jobs in my areas.

Shopping Arkansas, Louisiana, & Mississippi.

I’m doing far less shopping these days, but it’s partly because the bloom is off the rose so to speak. But I have noticed there does seem to be fewer shops of the type that I like to do. I prefer the dining shops where I can basically work it so I get reimbursed fully.

I've noticed that many shops in my area are being picked up very quickly after being posted, at the minimum pay. Not sure if there are more shoppers doing the work or more are just settling for the minimum pay just to get the work. For example, Five Guys are getting picked up very quickly for low pay (haven't seen any $20 - $30 shops in a couple months now.) Also the Kroger shops flew off the board faster than I've ever seen this month. So you would see less shops available if you are late to the party, so to speak.

no, I'm very much on top of it, checking daily. Just seems like less contracts, and then there are ones that pay so low and take too much work that it isn't worth it (i don't mind if it's a quick form and pays lower like the Samsung or Cumbies shops, but some of these complicated shops or audits I'm like amazed that they are so low). A lot of these low ones just sit on the board. Maybe because our economy in this area is better than in some other areas, and our main jobs pay adequately, so we can be picky. I have seen a couple 5 guys going for the low end in RI (2 locations)- I guess this person must love this restaurant, but ones in Mass taking longer to fill. Funny because I offered to do one last Friday near where work and they rejected 2 of my offers, but now I see it was still open for what I had originally proposed!

IPSOS seems to work it to keep the fees lower. But they do bonus. Kroger shops fly off the board. I have figured out when they come out and ready myself. But am cutting back. Running out of stuff to buy. Gas station audit pricing for one bounces. My minimum is $20, except for a Presto one that is easy to do.

Do not read so much, look about you and think of what you see there.
Richard Feynman-- letter to Ashok Arora, 4 January 1967, published in Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track (2005) p. 230

@ebit123 You bring up some good points. I've noticed the same: fewer shops and the breadth of shops has contracted. Perhaps it is the time of the year and I hope that is the case. The dining shops do get picked up much quicker than what I remember.

I remember different shops getting bonused quicker. It seems that those shops are taking longer to see a bump in pay. A couple of years ago mailing shops would get bonused to 4 and 5 times the original fee or more, but I haven't seen bonuses for those since.

Yes, I only started last year but last year I was so busy. The Lidl photo audits were my bread and butter and they are gone now. The Kias were also good. I am getting by but more shoppers are scooping up jobs. I actually emailed a scheduler the other day because there were jobs that I wanted for Friday but the due dates were before then. I emailed her to see if she would extend and assign to me. I was just worried the other shopper in my area was going to grab them and I was going to be in the area and needed some work. Luckily that worked for me. Having to get creative lately.

Have been lucky to find some good boused shops to make up the difference in volume. Hopefully new things are coming soon.

I think that the economy is worse and people need to eat ????‍♀️

I am seeing far less jobs in the New England area also. February and March have been quite slow.

It does seem slow.

partly but there isn't as much posted to start with. Also, economy in Boston area better than some other areas (or lets just say jobs pay more in line with the cost of living, as compared to some other areas).

ECON-101, supply and demand. Small and medium sized businesses are hurting still from onerous closing and resulting supply chain breakage during / after the pandemic. Large companies are still sitting on large piles of cash. Not so for the smaller companies who need to borrow but interest rates are now much higher. More regional banks are going to fail as well. It's a much longer explanation, but I'll stop here.

My two favorite clients have stopped doing shops (or changed companies, I can't find them) and they stopped bonusing or worrying that the monthly shop got done towards the end of the contract. Two of my other clients I enjoyed shopping for have cut back the number of shops per location or the number of locations. I am left with the shops I mostly do for the experience as opposed to the money makers. Now that E/M and Shell moved to Presto I forget to look for them there....I am barely shopping at all. Luckily I have picked up some dog sitting which gets me walking rather than eating fries and provides a little extra cash.

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