I've been doing this for a few years now and I still feel a little giddy with some jobs and still somewhat in disbelief that I can get paid or reimbursed to do them. Others, I'll do, have a bear of a time, swear off doing forever, then a bonus or just forgetfulness gets me to do one again and I just end up kicking myself. Do you have jobs that fall into these two categories?

I have some where I think, "This is like shooting fish in a barrel." As far as swear off doing forever: price scanning shops.

@drdoggie00 wrote:

I have some where I think, "This is like shooting fish in a barrel." As far as swear off doing forever: price scanning shops.

Those price scanning shops just make me angry to read. They seem so crazy.

For me they are sometimes the same kind of shop. I’ll still pinch myself over fine dining. If the food is good I’m usually pretty happy. If the food stinks I usually get so irked at myself for tying up so much time filling out a report especially if the reimbursement didn’t quite cut it.

My kicking myself was the colorful crustacean. Had a bad experience but in time forgot and signed up for another. Then I had a horrible experience. Never again.

Any job has the potential to become a kick yourself job. The planning, mental anguish and everything going sideways can happen with just about anything. Luckily it doesn’t happen that often.

The finest the dining gets here in Podunk is Roadhouse. -lol-

I kicked myself last month when a scheduler reached out regarding one of the price scanning shops. I said I'd do it for what I thought was an obscene amount of money - obscene enough for her to say no and leave me alone. It didn't turn out that way, though. I was not happy that I had to go and do it. Lesson learned.

I think if you find joy in a job, then you'll always be amazed that you get paid to do it. I have strived to always do work that I enjoy. It's not always fun, but I enjoy. As far as mystery shopping, I have honestly enjoyed some of the Field Agent jobs that have come my way. There will be some that scream and yell at me about the low-paying FA work. Some of it is, no doubt. But years ago when I got to go around to CVS stores and buy back boxes and boxes of condoms for like $20/store, I was really amazed that I was getting a financial benefit for such as task, in addition to the benefit that would come later. You might say I enjoyed that job twice!

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/10/2024 02:05AM by ServiceAward.

@ServiceAward wrote:

in addition to the benefit that would come later. You might say I enjoyed that job twice!

Ummm....if they were being pulled because of age or manufacturing defects, there could be some little Services running around that you don't even know about.

@drdoggie00 wrote:

@ServiceAward wrote:

in addition to the benefit that would come later. You might say I enjoyed that job twice!

Ummm....if they were being pulled because of age or manufacturing defects, there could be some little Services running around that you don't even know about.

That's the part where I kick myself.

You used RECALLED condoms?!?!

@ServiceAward wrote:

I think if you find joy in a job, then you'll always be amazed that you get paid to do it. I have strived to always do work that I enjoy. It's not always fun, but I enjoy. As far as mystery shopping, I have honestly enjoyed some of the Field Agent jobs that have come my way. There will be some that scream and yell at me about the low-paying FA work. Some of it is, no doubt. But years ago when I got to go around to CVS stores and buy back boxes and boxes of condoms for like $20/store, I was really amazed that I was getting a financial benefit for such as task, in addition to the benefit that would come later. You might say I enjoyed that job twice!

I pinch myself for 20-minute work at Pandora to get $100 worth of my favorite jewelry.

I stopped doing jobs that I kick myself for, even if it goes 6 months without an MS job.

@ServiceAward wrote:

That's the part where I kick myself.

I may kick you in the shin for setting me up.

@drdoggie00 wrote:

@ServiceAward wrote:

That's the part where I kick myself.

I may kick you in the shin for setting me up.

Hook, line, and sinker. (Yep, that's the line I was thinking.)

I am kicking myself right now for taking 20 phone/web shops @$9 each. I thought they would take 15 minutes, but they are running around 30 minutes, and are so tedious.

I kick myself when I do any Lowe’s job. Nobody ever helps you and it takes so long to walk around and find someone. I occasionally do one when they are bonused and then I had a bonused one rejected and I swore never again. And then the other day.. hey look, $40 each for these two locations. Me… oooohhhh, ok. Thankfully those were approved. But I still hate them but the dangling carrots get me.

I moved to LA a couple of years ago for my relationship, and I will say that running around doing all of these shops has really helped me adjust to living here (where to park/where I feel safe walking/things to see), and I've started to feel more capable by myself in this hectic city.

Well, my life has had some shakeups in this past year (relationship, grief, work, injuries) and I started taking on more and more shops to kind of cope, in addition to therapy of course!

I had originally been picking up any dining shop I could to help save on food costs as well as encourage me to spend time with my colleagues and develop stronger ties to people here. This has been all very time-consuming, and I've definitely found jobs that I'll avoid in the future. I've also had a handful of pinch me jobs that I'm so grateful for.

Kick Me's: several dining evaluations that took many hours and multiple clarifying emails to schedulers for average food and lower than $100 budget (surprisingly not with Coyle!); bar evaluations that require you purchase 2 or more alcoholic drinks solo (I feel bad/awkward not drinking them, but it's unhealthy/unsafe for me); beauty counter evaluations where the guidelines make you stick around for another 30 minutes to find the right BA and maybe not get paid at all AND have to still pay for expensive parking garages; any purchase and return days later shops under $50 because gas/time is expensive and it's awkward

Pinch Me's: luxury designer shopping experience up to $200 and ~$50 cafe; massage; luxury makeup and skincare purchase; french cafe dining (sadly no longer contracted as of April); float therapy; cupcake purchase; my all time favorite vegan fast food shop (I haven't seen this in months though), the famous mouse land experience with shopping credit

This past month, I've been especially busy with shops. Yesterday was a particularly pleasant day with perks but very little in-pocket return. I spent my time getting beauty treatments, trying on expensive clothes and bags, having my car valeted at a ritzy hotel, getting my makeup done by a beauty advisor at the coco brand, and treating myself to a frozen dessert. Before all of the other factors, I should make $120. But unreimbursed parking ended up costing $8 for one location, gas to and from was approximately $10. And it still cost me several hours of time filling out the reports. A good day of mystery-shopping experiences doesn't really pay the bills in the long-run, but I'm still grateful to have a day pretending to be in a lifestyle I can't afford. Today, I'll get a massage, buy candy, eat fried potatoes, and take a friend out to dim sum. Hopefully the reports won't be too long. =)

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/10/2024 03:17PM by MHN.

I do very occasional mystery shopping.
Pinch me- Getting paid or reimbursed for doing something I'm going to do anyway.
Groceries- reimburse $20 pay $5 Park and do 10 minute report as soon as I leave.
A different grocery/health store - reimburse $25, pay $15. More work at location and report, but I like it.
Gas station- reimburse $20 pay $5 park and do 10 minute report as soon as I leave.
Bottle depot -pay $25 to $35 simple report. Work to line up all the refundable to photograph before the shop, but easy.
Audits where I carry a clip board and a manager walks me around the store and points out all the things I'm supposed to look at. (Canadian Tire) Pay $15
Restaurants with easy reports, food I want. Edo and Chopped leaf.

Kick me, I hardly know any more. Cell phone shops? Restaurants I wasn't planning to go to. Anything time consuming with little profit.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/10/2024 03:32PM by prince.

The shops that I enjoy lately are ones with a massage or pedicure. Unfortunately, most are subject to a long rotation. One shop was with a MSC that doesn't like to pay its shoppers and respond to their emails. Also, shops with high quality self-care products.

For dining shops, I've been more selective. I tend to go after restaurants with healthy options and high reimbursement amounts and value. I've cut out a lot of the low/no pay/reimbursement only options. If the food is average at best, I learned to remove it from my list, no matter how high the reimbursement amount is.

Unrelated, but I been placing more value on the way a MSC operates. I've been impressed with how some of the smaller MSCs operate - how they onboard payment process before your first shop is scheduled to pay, schedulers' knowledge of specific locations and shop guidelines, editors providing meaningful feedback.

Editing to add that a Tesla test drive shop was the most fun I had in a while. They have you do the test drive on your own for an hour.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/10/2024 05:42PM by Okie.

I'm currently kicking myself four times over for taking Boar's Head. Ugh.

@MHN wrote:

I moved to LA a couple of years ago for my relationship, and I will say that running around doing all of these shops has really helped me adjust to living here (where to park/where I feel safe walking/things to see), and I've started to feel more capable by myself in this hectic city.

Well, my life has had some shakeups in this past year (relationship, grief, work, injuries) and I started taking on more and more shops to kind of cope, in addition to therapy of course!

I had originally been picking up any dining shop I could to help save on food costs as well as encourage me to spend time with my colleagues and develop stronger ties to people here. This has been all very time-consuming, and I've definitely found jobs that I'll avoid in the future. I've also had a handful of pinch me jobs that I'm so grateful for.

Kick Me's: several dining evaluations that took many hours and multiple clarifying emails to schedulers for average food and lower than $100 budget (surprisingly not with Coyle!); bar evaluations that require you purchase 2 or more alcoholic drinks solo (I feel bad/awkward not drinking them, but it's unhealthy/unsafe for me); beauty counter evaluations where the guidelines make you stick around for another 30 minutes to find the right BA and maybe not get paid at all AND have to still pay for expensive parking garages; any purchase and return days later shops under $50 because gas/time is expensive and it's awkward

Pinch Me's: luxury designer shopping experience up to $200 and ~$50 cafe; massage; luxury makeup and skincare purchase; french cafe dining (sadly no longer contracted as of April); float therapy; cupcake purchase; my all time favorite vegan fast food shop (I haven't seen this in months though), the famous mouse land experience with shopping credit

This past month, I've been especially busy with shops. Yesterday was a particularly pleasant day with perks but very little in-pocket return. I spent my time getting beauty treatments, trying on expensive clothes and bags, having my car valeted at a ritzy hotel, getting my makeup done by a beauty advisor at the coco brand, and treating myself to a frozen dessert. Before all of the other factors, I should make $120. But unreimbursed parking ended up costing $8 for one location, gas to and from was approximately $10. And it still cost me several hours of time filling out the reports. A good day of mystery-shopping experiences doesn't really pay the bills in the long-run, but I'm still grateful to have a day pretending to be in a lifestyle I can't afford. Today, I'll get a massage, buy candy, eat fried potatoes, and take a friend out to dim sum. Hopefully the reports won't be too long. =)

Ha, I also always like jobs that supplement my lifestyle. Those follow up questions can be such a pain! I recently asked a clarifying question via email and when I got a response I nearly jumped out of my skin thinking they were asking me a question. lol.

I always wondered what happened if there's not someone from the brand at the counter with those shops. They don't even pay a small amount? That really feels like working for free. I've never taken them far away in fears of getting paid nothing for the effort.

If there are any hints on a massage shop my non forum shopper friend would love that. I always feel a little apprehensive about service shops wondering if I'll be able to get all the timings and details without being able to use my notes app.

I know everyone thinks about pay vs. reimbursement shops differently but I always feel like if I'm able to have entertainment or meals covered then that's one less thing I have to pay for out of the budget. I wouldn't normally spend $$$ at a restaurant if it's not a special occasion or vacation but it's easy for even simpler meals out to hit $100 these days so I'm happy to shop for nicer locations. Like you mentioned though, the ones that are low reimbursement and a high level of work really can feel like jobs where you want to kick yourself!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/10/2024 09:19PM by olympia tennenbaum.

@drdoggie00 wrote:

I'm currently kicking myself four times over for taking Boar's Head. Ugh.

I did a couple and I felt that someone was on to me about it and it was at a location where I usually do grocery shops. I decided never again. I don't need to blow my cover for regular grocery shops by standing on my tippy toes trying to see the scale or slicer or bending down looking through the case to try to see a name tag. I enjoyed a few lunches worth of deli meat but not enough to keep doing it.

I found two easy ones that were actually enjoyable due to the ease of the report for a decent reimbursement and a fee too. One at a perfumery and the other where I spent a few minutes to buy some Euros for reimbursement. I hope to see those again.
I am kicking myself when I accepted a local restaurant shop in LA where the city never sleeps. I checked the website and menu when I got the job only to drive over through heavy traffic and find they went out of business just a few days before after 28 years. $100 reimbursement out the window but fortunately I did not take a friend along on this failed lunch date treat. I guess I should have checked they were still there the day of instead. The chain is still healthy. It was only the one location where a high rise is soon to go up where they were happy to be for years.

@olympia tennenbaum wrote:

standing on my tippy toes trying to see the scale or slicer

Exactly! The stores here *never* use the scales at the front counter; the slicers and scales they use are along the back wall. If I can't easily see meat and cheese remnants, then they don't exist, and the location gets an "everything was clean" rating. I'm not bringing binoculars with me on the search for scraps.

-kick-
-kick-
-kick-
-kick-

I'm dreading Friday now.

Edited: From my fingers to god's ears. I just got an email that every single one of them was canceled. -does the happy dance-

Edited x 2: Per the scheduler, they were canceled due to the hurricane.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/10/2024 09:15PM by drdoggie00.

Phone and web are almost always my kick myself jobs.

@bradkcrew wrote:

I am kicking myself right now for taking 20 phone/web shops @$9 each. I thought they would take 15 minutes, but they are running around 30 minutes, and are so tedious.

JDF online-only shop with screenshots. I applied for two shops and am so relieved I only got one! The one I did took HOURS. $20.

I think anybody taking the $500 for 3 days training hotel staff on how mystery shopping/audits work is going to be kicking themselves.

2.5 days on site working at least 25 hrs having to commit to three of them within a 6-week time frame seems a little bit much. Yes they're paying for travel but they're not paying for your time and you're getting your hotel and meals but I can't see this being worth it because you're not going to be able to enjoy anything and you can't do anything else while you're there because your client facing the whole time.

Has anyone agreed to this one yet?

@foodluvr wrote:

I think anybody taking the $500 for 3 days training hotel staff on how mystery shopping/audits work is going to be kicking themselves.

2.5 days on site working at least 25 hrs having to commit to three of them within a 6-week time frame seems a little bit much. Yes they're paying for travel but they're not paying for your time and you're getting your hotel and meals but I can't see this being worth it because you're not going to be able to enjoy anything and you can't do anything else while you're there because your client facing the whole time.

Has anyone agreed to this one yet?

I replied when I got the email, but got something back that afternoon saying they'd already reached the number of people they needed. That was probably a blessing in disguise.

@drdoggie00 wrote:

@foodluvr wrote:

I think anybody taking the $500 for 3 days training hotel staff on how mystery shopping/audits work is going to be kicking themselves.

2.5 days on site working at least 25 hrs having to commit to three of them within a 6-week time frame seems a little bit much. Yes they're paying for travel but they're not paying for your time and you're getting your hotel and meals but I can't see this being worth it because you're not going to be able to enjoy anything and you can't do anything else while you're there because your client facing the whole time.

Has anyone agreed to this one yet?

I replied when I got the email, but got something back that afternoon saying they'd already reached the number of people they needed. That was probably a blessing in disguise.

Sheesh. That's cheap for training. I get $100 to train. 3 days = $2400, not $500.
Hmm. Is my math wrong? $19.60 an hour? ($500 / 25.5) Fast food pays $20 an hour.

The cost of living (and wages) are very different across the country. Fast food might pay $20/hr near you but near me it's about $11/hr (average)

@BayShopper22 wrote:

@drdoggie00 wrote:

@foodluvr wrote:

I think anybody taking the $500 for 3 days training hotel staff on how mystery shopping/audits work is going to be kicking themselves.

2.5 days on site working at least 25 hrs having to commit to three of them within a 6-week time frame seems a little bit much. Yes they're paying for travel but they're not paying for your time and you're getting your hotel and meals but I can't see this being worth it because you're not going to be able to enjoy anything and you can't do anything else while you're there because your client facing the whole time.

Has anyone agreed to this one yet?

I replied when I got the email, but got something back that afternoon saying they'd already reached the number of people they needed. That was probably a blessing in disguise.

Sheesh. That's cheap for training. I get $100 to train. 3 days = $2400, not $500.
Hmm. Is my math wrong? $19.60 an hour? ($500 / 25.5) Fast food pays $20 an hour.

@viv0412 wrote:

You used RECALLED condoms?!?!

Ha ha, no, I did not. I was setting the story up to come back with the punchline. But I really did have an insane amount of condoms. I have no idea what happened to them. I was married at the time, so I definitely was NOT using them. I put that birth control on my wife. [*ducks so @viv0412 doesn't hit me]

@bradkcrew When I do those, I like having a ton of them because I get faster at them. I hate the ones that using your mobile phone. I stick to website ones. I have not done them the past two rounds.

I pinch myself for office building lobby visits (good pay, short report, 10-15 minutes max on site). There are a ton near me, and I can usually get two done on a single lunch hour from my FT job. Also I've had good luck and lots of treats lately with the Presto VISA shops (even though they are a "kick myself" shop for many people here).

Kick myself - fancy meals with required bar where my husband gets drunk (on one drink!) and is no help with remembering anything.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/11/2024 05:53PM by CorrieCJ.