Shipping Shops Update

So, I guess they're not going to be posted by end of the month,unless they were referring to the end of MAY.

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More About Post Office/Shipping

Wow this is disappointing to only assign 2 shops at a time without ranking. It will be a big change from the previous company that allowed us to schedule hundreds of USPS shops per year.

capurato: these shops must differ greatly from the Priority ones I have done where if you cover the address, both to and from, the shop is denied. Just like if I cut off the tip of a corner the shop is denied when I take a photol

@Cassiespark wrote:

There is a note that you can take some courses to increase your reputation rank here: [issprep.com]

It 100% works. This morning, I blew through their "ISS 101" course just to see what effect it would have on my score. My -60 came up 50 points to a -10. There are two more courses available to take.

If your path dictates you walk through hell, do it as though you own the place. -unknown

I do not cover my address but the rule says you need to show the zip to and from but it is okay to cover the rest of the address.

@big_sky_thunder wrote:

capurato: these shops must differ greatly from the Priority ones I have done where if you cover the address, both to and from, the shop is denied. Just like if I cut off the tip of a corner the shop is denied when I take a photol

I took the course as well and more shops appeared in my feed! Thanks for the tip.

@Donte69 wrote:

So is the new MSC that nude name company ..????

Clever.

@sandyf wrote:

I do not cover my address but the rule says you need to show the zip to and from but it is okay to cover the rest of the address.
[te]

Yep. I cover the addresses except for the zip (and maybe the last bit of the address or whatever if it doesn't fit under the cover paper.)

@cal1st0 wrote:

Be careful about using the addresses that are PO boxes by covering them. My city has special zip codes for POs. For example, 87107 is a real zip code. 87197 is the PO box zip code for that area. So the 0 is replaced with 9. No other address types are assigned the zip code with a 9.

It must vary from place to place. My parents have a PO box and their zip is exactly the same as our friends/neighbors who DON'T have a PO box (and nary a 0 or 9 to be found anywhere)

@cal1st0 wrote:

Be careful about using the addresses that are PO boxes by covering them. My city has special zip codes for POs. For example, 87107 is a real zip code. 87197 is the PO box zip code for that area. So the 0 is replaced with 9. No other address types are assigned the zip code with a 9.

It must vary from place to place. My parents have a PO box and their zip is exactly the same as our friends/neighbors who DON'T have a PO box (and nary a 0 or 9 to be found anywhere)

Where I live you can get a po box from the post office but there are also private places providing po boxes. So the zip might depend on where you have your po box. They even, at some of the private ones, call them suite numbers or apts on the address instead of po boxes.
That was useful for parents who were trying to get their kids into a better school district without living there. They got a po box called an apt and gave that address to the school. Also businesses who want to impress get a suite number type po box in Beverly Hills even tho their business is in a less desirable zip code. Most of the high class school districts have caught on to that trick.

quote=cal1st0]
Be careful about using the addresses that are PO boxes by covering them. My city has special zip codes for POs. For example, 87107 is a real zip code. 87197 is the PO box zip code for that area. So the 0 is replaced with 9. No other address types are assigned the zip code with a 9.[/quote]

The previous MS company did not allow shipments to P.O. boxes, APO, etc. addresses. Had to be street/building addresses.

At $15 Total, no Reimbursement.

What a goat rodeo this turned out to be.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/03/2024 11:45PM by Cassiespark.

Fork that.

The shop description doesn't indicate what type of shipping is supposed to be used, but says "The $15 is to HELP with the cost of shipping" so one would assume its still Priority. They conveniently leave the details out of what type of shipping and where the package needs to be going, aka your out of pocket cost part. You'd have to assign the shop to see the project briefing and at that point if you cancel it you'll get dinged iSS points so you'll be suckered in to doing it for free (plus your time and gas).

As of 8 PM on Friday, only 3 are available within 25 miles of me. It is billed as a soft launch. IMHO, they are soft in the head to offer these at $15 without any reimbursement and expect them to get done. Time will tell.

Shopping Southeast Pennsylvania, Delaware above the canal, and South Jersey since 2008

So it seems the MSCs, or at least one of them, believes, we'll work for help in covering our normal expenses in life. However, I don't believe more than about a third (a guess) of the shipping shoppers are doing the shops to cover shipping expenses for their e-bay (or other personal reasons) shipping expenses.

The rest of us are shipping stuff that we normally wouldn't ship, just for the shop.

What the MSC is trying to do is wrong in so many ways. But I can also see the brilliance in the person that came up with the concept at the MSC.

As long as they get the shops accepted as posted, it's brilliance. If they linger for weeks, it seems like they @#$%& the bed. But I do understand it. It's business. Theirs and ours.

I haven't done a shop for the MSC since June of last year. None of their shops near me have proved to be advantageous to me.

None are posted in my area. I’m gonna miss the payment.

None posted within 50 miles of my zip code. My ranking is a 1 as I only performed one shop ever for that company.... This is a sad day!

I agree, I rarely do shops for this company, the pay is low and the surveys are loooong. What is ironic, is this company had these few years back before this last company had them and it had a fee AND included reimbursement. Keep in mind, the USPS is raising their prices every year!! The $15 will not allow you to ship very far.....hope they rethink this.

The only shops I can find from them on ISS is the Hiring Event shops for $50. I think I'm going to try to do one. except I really don't want to work for Amazon.

I looked at the hiring shops and it is WAY too much work for $50. You are going through the entire hiring process - application, background check, onsite event for a couple hour, then backing out of the job.

I was never able to hook up with a shipping buddy in the good old days.

Won't be bothering with them now.

I have a hard enough time keeping my iSS score up when I have to cancel car washes because of weather.

Have synthesizers, will travel...

That furthers my belief that the MSCs decide the shopper pay/reimbursement. I had no luck with FOIA inquiry. Lots of hoops, then they sent me sign in links that led nowhere.

The only jobs I am doing for this company now are those easy blue balls telecomm company checkup audit, took 5 mins for $5 type of things

100% they decide the pay. I took one just to read the guidelines. Learned:
1. They copied word for word the guidelines from the former MSC.
2. They ask for a copy of the box receipt purchase - but are not reimbursing you for it. So why ask?
3. #2 leads me to believe they are misleading the client on reimbursement
4. They want exterior pictures, so more work for $0 fee

Oh well. I think everyone came to the conclusion a month ago that this program was over. And it still is, in my opinion. No one should work for free. This MSC most certainly doesn't work for free, and in fact is demonstrating here they are fine with taking advantage of others to earn a buck. Someone earlier said this is business, and thats correct. But this is not good business. Might feel good to the MSC right now as they gleefully start counting the dollars they steal from the ICs, but it will not end well.

I'm completely speechless.
Looks like I've done my last one.

Also I will add, since clearly the naked people are reading these forums and decided they didn't need to cover reimbursement because "everyone is shipping packages anyway" and the fee is to "HELP" with the shipping costs. Clearly they don't understand the new shipping fees or human behavior. If you sell online, you don't ship Priority in 2024. You ship Ground Advantage which is about $6 (less if purchased through Ebay) versus Priority at $13 for the same package. So you are better off paying for it yourself versus upgrading to Priority, and driving to a certain post office, and taking pictures, and filling out a report to enrich the MSC only. Apparently they think they are the only ones who can use a calculator.

@Cassiespark wrote:

1. They copied word for word the guidelines from the former MSC.

Now, that's very interesting. That means the former MSC had to have contracted this project out like they did years ago. Otherwise, that is theft of proprietary information.

I was using these shops to ship care packages to a college student on the other side of the country. If I was shipping out of pocket, it would have been cheaper to do a flat rate box or ground advantage, but, I did the mystery shop because it brought the out of pocket down to a few dollars, and I still came away with some fee money. Now, I'll just flat rate ship and load those boxes up as much as I want, and not do the mystery shop.

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