USPS Shops A Peculiar Shop Assigning

I was hoping to pick up a quick USPS shop today. I knew one had already been picked up and there is the 18 day rotation. When I tried to self-assign, I received a message stating there is already one scheduled at this location for 7-30-25. Now usually I get a three day window and its 11 days out. Are these being scheduled via the phone calls I never answer?

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

Create an Account or Log In

Membership is free. Simply choose your username, type in your email address, and choose a password. You immediately get full access to the forum.

Already a member? Log In.

I get a lot of my USPS jobs by phone calls and texts. I tell them once they are bonused, please contact me!

Shopping Arkansas, Louisiana, & Mississippi.
one day I got calls, texts and e-mails from multiple schedulers about the same shops I could not get at the current day. I asked tham to explain the case of emergency in such communications if I can get shops two weeks aheard. It ended up simple: I blocked their numbers.

Shopping Eastern Pennsylvania since 2009
A week ago anoher guy from different No called me and left message again. I checked shops available and discovered the same things you mentioned above. Tell them the story again it is waste of time. After doing recearch I picked 4 shops that were availble in few days.

Shopping Eastern Pennsylvania since 2009
What drives me nuts about these is that they're listed, with available dates highlighted, you click the last permissible date and hit submit, and *then* it tells you that the 18-day requirement hasn't been met yet so choose a later date -- which you can't.
exactly

Shopping Eastern Pennsylvania since 2009
The new MSC has no idea how to use ISS scheduling correctly. I tried to help them, spent a couple hours actually outlining all the things that are wrong with the current scheduling approach for Jason Bare, and they basically said they didn't have anyone who could fix it.

So this "oh its available! Oops its not! Now a scheduler will call you to tell you its available. Oops, its still not!" behavior is not going anywhere.
@amyann2 wrote:

What drives me nuts about these is that they're listed, with available dates highlighted, you click the last permissible date and hit submit, and *then* it tells you that the 18-day requirement hasn't been met yet so choose a later date -- which you can't.
If they actually beta tested thier offerings by …shopping thier own assignments as a test run, the glitches, flaws, and frustrations could be fixed before release, benefitting all involved.
Now that is the truth! They really area operationally horrendous. I wish USPS would go back to the big eye.
@SBP wrote:

If they actually beta tested thier offerings by …shopping thier own assignments as a test run, the glitches, flaws, and frustrations could be fixed before release, benefitting all involved.
the company who carried such shop before were on Shopmetrics. Actually the current company has another platform Sassie. They can switch USPS shops to Sassie.

Shopping Eastern Pennsylvania since 2009
They already post them on Sassie when they can't get them filled. And so that introduces a whole other wrinkle of operational failure - the scheduling is not linked to the ISS scheduling availability.


@gene wrote:

the company who carried such shop before were on Shopmetrics. Actually the current company has another platform Sassie. They can switch USPS shops to Sassie.
you are right. I got email from them about USPS shops mentioned Sassie (but I checked and could not locate any). I also got sms from scheduler. He asked if I can pick any such shops. I told him that I have nothing to ship for now.

Shopping Eastern Pennsylvania since 2009


Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/24/2025 09:25PM by gene.
The current MSC who has them on iSS used to do them strictly on Sassie when they had this client the last time, which was probably over 10 years ago? I also remember doing them back in 2002 for a different MSC that mailed the packages i was to send and report forms to me. Oh, and does anyone else remember the oversized dimensional weight shops?
Can I ask how the PO visits work?
Am I supposed to address a box to someone I know, and then when they ask if I have a restricted item lie and say that I do?

Then send something else to the same person?

I'm new to this and I think some of the scenarios are very odd: appearing to shoplift in the bottom of a grocery cart. Sending $20 to somebody, then going back and say I changed my mind.
Asking someone who doesn't know me what kind of shoes I should buy in 2025, when I can look up exactly what I need on the computer in my pocket.

I am legitimately starting this gig, but I'm not sure if I understand if I'm supposed to pretend that I didn't know that I can't send the things that have been on the list for the last 20 years or so.
@Amber05 wrote:

Can I ask how the PO visits work?
Am I supposed to address a box to someone I know, and then when they ask if I have a restricted item lie and say that I do?

Then send something else to the same person?

I'm new to this and I think some of the scenarios are very odd: appearing to shoplift in the bottom of a grocery cart. Sending $20 to somebody, then going back and say I changed my mind.
Asking someone who doesn't know me what kind of shoes I should buy in 2025, when I can look up exactly what I need on the computer in my pocket.

I am legitimately starting this gig, but I'm not sure if I understand if I'm supposed to pretend that I didn't know that I can't send the things that have been on the list for the last 20 years or so.

You seem to be asking about the hazmat scenario.

You are meant to test whether they are allowing items prohibited from a specific shipping service to be sent by that service. Does the clerk ask the questions they must and give the correct guidance for the scenario presented? This activity hopefully helps prevent prohibited materials from ending up in the cargo hold of an airplane.

And yes, this activity specifically and mystery shopping in general often requires acting skills. If it makes you too uncomfortable because you feel like a liar doing it, then it simply isn't right for you.
And the Academy Award goes to @Deedeezthoughts
The scenarios that make me uncomfortable, are situations I consider to be sketchy behavior.
I do not like to seem like someone who would try to do illegal stuff.

The regular stuff is great. Acting like a normal customer and getting proofed, ordering food, ordering from a grocery deli.

Thank you for clearing up the post office situation.

I could act, I do not want to be thought of as a miscreant.
@Amber05 wrote:

The scenarios that make me uncomfortable, are situations I consider to be sketchy behavior.
I do not like to seem like someone who would try to do illegal stuff.

The regular stuff is great. Acting like a normal customer and getting proofed, ordering food, ordering from a grocery deli.

Thank you for clearing up the post office situation.

I could act, I do not want to be thought of as a miscreant.
Playing ignorant ior forgetful isn't hard and it happens organically on a regular basis. But, again, if you have such a negative opinion of the people these real life situations happen to that you would never want to be thought of that way? Don't do it. Simple. Lots of other gig work in the world.
@purpleicee wrote:

And the Academy Award goes to @Deedeezthoughts
Wouldn't it be great to get awards and recognition beyond a (usually pitifully small) payment for these activities? Not holding my breath, hope nobody else is.

BTW, I do not think I am the one acting in this exchange. Bots getting their AI training in forums comes to mind, here. A new member joining just to question the ethics of shopping? Troll or bot can be challenging to discern. I think bot or there would be defensiveness on display by now.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/21/2025 04:21PM by Deedeezthoughts.
Amber05 states - The scenarios that make me uncomfortable, are situations I consider to be sketchy behavior.
I do not like to seem like someone who would try to do illegal stuff.

The regular stuff is great. Acting like a normal customer and getting proofed, ordering food, ordering from a grocery deli.

Amber 05 concludes - I could act, I do not want to be thought of as a miscreant.

Amen. Regarding unlawful behavior, what one considers acting for a pittance is what another is willing to reject altogether, no matter the price and how shiny. One simply can't be bought.
And if there was any lingering doubt about this one? Yeah. I'm toggling the bots off as they make revealing mistakes. If I wanted to interface with chatgpt, I would ask it directly.
The pay for these is so minimal for the work and fuel costs/overhead involved, I just keep scrolling.
Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.

Click here to login