Thankful for the Forums!

I've been in a overly festive mood. This may be way too early, but with Thanksgiving around the corner, mystery shopping wise, I'm thankful for finding these forums earlier this year! I didn't realize just how much info there is here and how long the forums have been around, until after I read some of the older topics.

Regarding the forums, I wanted to share things that I'm thankful for:
- Help before my first revealed gas station inspection earlier this year
- Learning about projects like product retrievals and recalls
- Reading other shoppers' experiences
- Shoppers who recommend shops
- Shoppers who caution others about specific MSCs and shops
- Reliving past shops I've done by reading old threads
- Reading old topics
- The list of MSCs

From now until the end of the year, I plan on catching up on all my mystery shopping records and enjoy the rest of the year and holidays.

shopperbob has three categories/criteria whether a shop is acceptable. I plan to take some time to craft something similar and concrete for myself next year. Overall, I'm thankful for my health, wellness, and those close to me. I felt that this was a good year so far and looking forward to next year!

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You've contributed a lot valuable posts, yourself, old pal! Thank you, too!

Next year, I'll focus on staying on topic and be concise!

Nice post....very nice.
I joined this forum about 7 years ago, when I first started shopping.....I didn't participate too much because I found it was a vipers nest.
Around that time, probably the meanest, nastiest forum I'd ever encountered.
It's definitely mellowed around here, for sure, IMO.
Might have started mellowing with the pandemic timeframe.
Some ogres or braggarts no longer around either, so that helps....also some of the very helpful and interesting posters seem to have faded away, so it is what it is.
Peace to you and thank you for your thank you.
You are a welcome and refreshing "face" in this community.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/05/2024 09:58PM by BarefootBliss.

I'm grateful to have a community of other shoppers to learn from and sometimes commiserate with, especially since I don't know anyone in "real life" who does this type of work. I am sure some of you have saved me from doing nightmare shops or changed my perspective on what jobs I should take, and what companies to work with (or terminate the relationship).

Thanks for the post and positivity

You're about a month ahead of schedule for the warm fuzzies!

I also really love this forum and its participants. It's been a great source of information, entertainment and camaraderie. I'm always thankful to people for sharing their experiences and providing advice for the somehow never-ending amount of potholes in the road of mystery shopping.

Thank you for sharing your good will, knowledge and sense of humor here. Your contributions help make this forum the great place that it is.

I have been shopping for wow.. almost two full years now. This forum is what got me started and also what keeps me going. There is a great deal of information in here and a lot of sassiness but I love it.

Whenever I see a new job I might be interested, I do a deep dive here first. I still have avoided doing a reveal gas station to date despite so many encouraging posts but I have plenty to keep me busy.

Thanks to all!!!

shopperbob has three categories/criteria whether a shop is acceptable Can you share that?

Cashcow, my reason for adapting the three categories was that, in 2007, I accepted I had utterly failed as a shopper. I needed to change my approach or exit the business.

#1--Money. Self explanatory.
#2--Lifestyle. Could be an eatery, a water park, a movie, etc.
#3--A defrayment of travel expenses. This is the category with which most of my current work is involved.

The above would probably not work for a person in dire financial needs. As for me, I have not the slightest difficulty ignoring jobs that do not meet at least one of my categories. After all is said and done, this IS still business.

.

@Okie did you go back to a "normal" job earlier this year? I thought you posted over the summer you would be doing less shopping, but it seems like you are doing this full-time again. Am I missing something?

I still say in spite of it all and lessons learned, one of these days I want to drive from the east coast to the west coast and shop along the way...need to talk one of my companions into it, two shoppers one car, lol.

@ServiceAward I started working again full-time in Sep. I was planning to cut back on the shops. But since then, I've still been doing a good number of shops, in addition. I need to do a better job of limiting myself though. Most of the recent shops I've done have been ones that I haven't tried before.

@Okie wrote:

I started working again full-time in Sep. I was planning to cut back on the shops. But since then, I've still been doing a good number of shops, in addition. I need to do a better job of limiting myself though.

As I was juggling MS reports and regular work emails yesterday, I thought to myself, "This isn't sustainable!" But I have managed it for almost 20 years, so I guess it is. It's just a lot of work.

I am also making a promise to myself to cut down on MSing moving forward. I took 18 months off at the start of the pandemic and feel like I may have had a better lifestyle during that time, despite not being able to dine out or go anywhere for the first 6 months. It certainly was healthier.

Today is my last day of career work for the year, though. I am taking 3 months off and going back go work in February, so, rather than fill it will MSIng, I am going to try to relax a bit, get organized and spend time with family over the holidays.

I have caught myself with the mouse hovering over a shop application a few times this week. I even applied for one, then came to my senses and cancelled the app. I have one shop remaining in December that I am already dreading, since it's a hotel with a bunch of food included....eating and drinking from the moment I arrive untilI depart.

SteveSoCal, sheesh, are you taking paternity leave? Thanks for sharing. To me, that sounds like it'll be a good and beneficial use of your time off.

Personally, I hate to admit, but I'm guilty of taking advantage of a WFH and flexible work arrangement. More than anything, I need to shape up and be more focused, disciplined, and accountable.

@Okie wrote:

SteveSoCal, sheesh, are you taking paternity leave?

My work is project-based, so I can't really choose when it starts and stops, outside of declining offers to start a new project.

I have been working continuously since 2018 without a week off, so I thought it was time for a break.

@Okie, you sure do a whole lot of shops while working full time. It must be a crazy schedule for you!

What can I say? I've become a professional secret shopper now. I feel confident that I can do any type of shop now!

I don't know. To me, my schedule doesn't seem too crazy. I don't have a lot responsibilities or kids. Maybe it feels more compressed during the work week, but most of my work now is somewhat autonomous and can be spread out throughout the day. Hopefully, one day I'll get married and have kids.

@Okie wrote:

Hopefully, one day I'll get married and have kids.

One of the things that made it LESS crazy for me was getting married. I was juggling dates and friends coming along for all the meals/trips before, and now I have a built in guest!

My wife also has a super-flexible work situation where she can take off time whenever she wants. I just haver to be able to make enough $$ to cover the bills if she's not working.

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