I go onto the forum early this morning and again see someone asking how much we make. Socially incorrect to ask personal questions, especially since there are a couple other threads with the same question. I spent a few years wondering how much my daughter makes, but felt it too personal until she choose to tell me. Manners seem to be lost, also respect...who are you and you should try for yourself as it is different in different parts of the country. Would I be the only one who is offended by the brass shown on this forum?

If someone asks, I don't mind stating how much I make. I get it, it's socially unacceptable, hence why we don't talk salary at my office.

I think it goes way beyond that. People who register here are posting anonymously and they don't know any of the other anonymous people here. Others are just poking around the internet and don't know what this is and are randomly asking questions. Some are trolls. Some are clueless and will never do any mystery shops. Some are the naive people who have or will be caught in the internet scams and lose a couple of thousand dollars because they are chasing big bucks. Some want to learn and actually use the forum to building their knowledge and develop their skills.

Yes, Irene, I'm offended by "how much do you make?" And by "Who shops this company and that company?" and "Tell me who to sign up for in my area because I want the best jobs and don't want to waste any of my time looking for them" and "I'm frustrated, can somebody tell me ..." and "I don't have time to read the New Mystery Shopper area and learn from it, can somebody just explain to me how it all works?' and "Why should I waste my time when you guys have already done all the work, I just want a list of your best companies and their clients." And on and on. And I'm offended by the ones who PM asking those questions instead of posting them in open forum. And my personal favorite: the ones who post their email address and say "can somebody nice please email me with a list of all the best jobs and companies?"

We're in a business where a lot of people try it out and most don't last more than a couple of shops or a couple of months. They find out it's not easy money, it's not big money, and it takes work. But in the interim, we get the questions. Most of the offensive questions come from those who won't make it more than a couple of months, if that long.

Discussing salary in the workplace is no longer socially or legally unacceptable. The practice allowed for rampant inequality.

As ICs we are not receiving salaries. I can understand why someone would want to know the income potential while understanding why others do not want to share. Veterans understand what newbies do not, the income varies widely and can't offer insight into one's potential which is ultimately determined by a variety of factors.

Well, Lisa saying it is no longer unacceptable to ask how much do you make, leads me to think it depends on your social circle. Having coffee with many types of foilks in my friendly town, never in my 16 years here has one brought up or asked for you salary.
Talk varies from kids, politic's, sports, world affairs, vacations, a myraid of subjects, and all ages never ask that question...guess we agree to disagree. Rollwolf, beautifully written, and on the money.....but yes, the internet is
not filtered, so, take the good and throw away the bad.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/10/2017 03:29PM by Irene_L.A..

Irene, I specifically said in the workplace, not a strictly social setting such as the one you describe.

I wanted to add this. Newcomers to the forum have different views of what exactly we are here. We are not coworkers nor are we strictly a social club. We are a loose group of contractors, i.e. small business owners, who offer advice and do some socializing. It is why I tend to come down on the side of us adhering to what would be acceptable social behavior, which means not asking for monthly or yearly income but allowing for discussion of fees for single assignments.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/10/2017 03:51PM by LisaSTL.

As an IT Director and manager for years, I agree with Lisa. When I joined the market eons ago, it was unacceptable to ask what some made. Sharing that information in some circumstances led to termination. As Lisa indicated, in the workplace, it led to unequal pay and so began the process of posting salaries with positions, in order to avoid lawsuits. Many people still choose NOT to share salaries for various reasons, mainly because a "Min" and "Max" salary could be a large difference. It was mainly dependent upon performance. Performance in the mystery shopping world translates to how many shops do you do, what type of shops do you do, and when do you do them (bonus time?) and how well do you do them. I can do a vanilla "apartment" shop whereas Lisa can do a targeted video "apartment" shop with a bonus and the difference could be huge for an "apartment" shop. So if you asked how much we make I could honestly tell you that I made $25 and Lisa could say she made $250. What have you learned about the pay for mystery shops?
The final caveat is that back then and even now, it has always been an individual choice when asked about income. Either you choose to give an answer or you choose not to say. A lot of people are asking mystery shoppers to determine if it is feasiable for them to join the group. Most people are asking to find out which shops pay the most so they can focus on them. There are threads for those seeking general mystery shopping income information. As for others, let them ask. Here's the answer:

Jobs paying the most are gotten by hard work and reliaibility, not by asking...OP's question could be as simple as
being noisy, as this info.can be found by doing your own homework,and is certainly not a proof of what everyone makes. Just trying to "keep it simple"...

It may be socially unacceptable to ask your income when you're sitting around a cafe in a fine neighborhood and you're with ladies who lunch having a cup of tea and planning to re-do your wallpaper. However, this is, by-and-large, a nickle and dime industry with i.c.s who are doing this work to supplement their $15k - $23k a year income who are working 55 hours a week just to make ends meet. For me, in merchandising, finding out that someone working for one company is making $5 an hour more than the one I'm working at is very important.

@Spicy first,men are allowed in SB,so first wrong, second wrong, one of our regulars has been laid off from working for Disney for 20 years, went back to school (online-Univ. of Phoenix) got a Business degree and
still can't find work...let's not pretend to know it all.....and my preference is not tea,thanks for trying...all wrong.
Everyone knows this Industry is not high paying,with a few exceptions (I know of one) But it is nice of you willing
to tell your pay,let's hear it, oh, I thought so.....

I wasn't speaking to you specifically so no need to be defensive. I was speaking to the issue. People who have 'enough' money don't worry about the price of a gallon of gas or milk so it doesn't come up in their discussions. The weather in the Mediterranean is not something I worry about or talk about when sitting around with my group. There are just different discussions among different groups. I didn't say anything about men, however, I will now. Every since my first 'rea' job when I worked at a bakery for the summer and my then boyfriend and now ex-husband worked there also and we found out that they were paying him almost $1 more (which was 35% more at that time) I have not been able to be stopped discussing the differences in inequality whether it is men/women in the workforce or companies with the same tasks.

I don't think in this capacity that it's inappropriate. They have anonymous website out there like GlassDoor that show people's salaries. I think with something like this it's such an abstract job that many haven't heard of so it's hard to know how much people can make and what the potential really is.

If I'm a better negotiator than my co-worker and value my time higher than he does (and the company agrees), I'm not sharing that I make more money. That's my business. In a government job, the salaries are fixed. In a private company, the aim is to get the most value for the money. If I deem person A to give me $50 worth of work in an hour and person B to only give me $25 worth, why in the world would I pay them the same even if they have the same job title? I'll get far better bang for my buck by hiring person A at $35/hr than person B at $25/hr.

As far as asking on a public forum, they can ask. Doesn't mean we have to answer. It's far less offensive than asking face-to-face. I can't imagine anyone I know in real life being that crass.

Final word on my thread.....I think it always inappropriate to ask for salary just because there are sites that tell you certain saleries doesn't make it right......half of what they say is wrong info. anyway. Google yourself and you'll find wrong info..they hardly ever update......you can be divorced 20 years and it will still link you with your ex.....#taking google with a grain of salt.

Here's the thing. If ypu are thinking about becoming a pharmacist, you would never walk into your local Walgreens and ask the pharmacist how much they made last year. You might ask them what salary range you could expect. I have no problems with people coming here and trying to find out how much they might make. It's the way they ask that's offensive.

Its 2017, it's only crass among the upper echelon and only among each other.

When applying for a job in the real world, wouldn't talking about salary with your employer be the first thing you'd do. Going to strangers is so weird to me. I have an excellent relationship with my Pharmacist, yet asking what she makes is not even remoatly anything that would pop into my head. Guess I'm old fashioned just wouldn't do it, in person or on a forum. none of my business and don't blame anyone that would be offended...saying that BG is correct to an extent the way a person asks may make a difference, just not with me. Like asking how many times a week does one have S__. Sorry in a mood today...

No need to apologize. Opinions differ on this. That's why we discuss it. Context is everything IMHO.

@spicy1 wrote:

Its 2017, it's only crass among the upper echelon and only among each other.

I suppose that's a compliment, though manners should not have class distinctions.

@spicy1 wrote:

I wasn't speaking to you specifically so no need to be defensive. I was speaking to the issue. ks.

irene thinks anyone who posts right after she does means that they are talking to just her & not thread in general. she just did same thing to me in another thread.

You were talking about FB so I answered didn't matter what order, u c

Adam Ruins Everything : Apparently in the office workplace it's great to ask how much others make so you can sort of set the standard and expected pay amounts and no one gets too jipped.... of course this isn't a perfect world. I don't mind sharing when I have really good weeks, but I don't want to set newbies expectations too high. Sure, I can make $1000-$2500 in a week or two if I grind down, travel, and really work it... but realistically I'm going to make $1000 in a month most months these days.

I think people hop on here asking so they can see if there's realistically any hope for whatever goals they have set in their heads. I first started out doing Taco Bell and KFC drive thru shops for little $5 pay and then Arbys, Hardees, and a few others for similar pay rates. I found Kroger shops at $5-$50 with distance pay, and worked my way around trying to see what else was shopped. I was only making $100-$250 a month and while trying to find reputable companies on the internet, I found this forum *which is utter gold* I was able to sign up with close to 200 companies towards the end and for a few months brought in $2500-$5000 a month but those were long days and stressful. It did let me save up about 12K in the bank though as an egg to sit on while I'm figuring out this grad school thing.

I don't believe many of these people think.... Well, I'mma ask these random strangers what the heck they make 'cause I wanna make 150,000 this year mystery shopping. I figure they want to know if it's actually feasible to pull in an extra $500-$1000 into their house because they're struggling in some way or another. I read a post on here that I believe the OP deleted where she mentioned forgetting her cellphone bill was due so she went out and did a few mystery shops and then sold some things out of her house that she plans to buy back later. I figure, if you're in a spot where you're selling off your Keurig to get fast cash to pay a cellphone bill and then plan to mystery shop to buy the Keurig back later, ya probably have bigger concerns and need to reevaluate. I digress...

No worries. We don't gotta answer when they ask and the truth is.. is seriously varies. I believe I reported around $18K of 1099 income last year but I've got my eggs in several baskets.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/10/2017 09:10PM by MountainCacher88.

Again, I wasn't speaking to you, I was speaking to the issue. Your answer serves your view, that asking someone how much they earn in the same field you are in, especially when you're in a group like this, is classless and lacks manners. It's the hiding of this issues and others that causes different economic classes and that causes people to suffer, mostly women and minorities. I can tell pay rate and 'class' by posts and it isn't this.

iShop123 100 6m September 10, 2017 02:15PM
@spicy1 wrote:

Its 2017, it's only crass among the upper echelon and only among each other.
I suppose that's a compliment, though manners should not have class distinctions.

IT doesn't matter who you were speaking to. You say discussing income is only crass among the upper echelon. Person X believes discussing income is crass. Therefore you believe Person X is among the upper echelon. Therefore Person X can take that as a compliment.

Well, I think only the upper echelon think it is crass. I don't think that pretending to be upper echelon and pretending that it's crass so you can appear to be more upper echelon is rare. I think if someone is upper echelon they are not on this forum. I think if you're not upper echelon and you think it's crass it's because of an ulterior motive.

Oh please tell me what my ulterior motive is. I think asking someone how much they make is rude. I don't care if they make $5000 a year or $500,000. I don't have any motive, ulterior or otherwise, for thinking that.

That was a simple fun question. I don't know any of you personally or face to face. If I did, I would never ask. Don't we all share what we got for a particular assignment? I didn't know, a question like that on a forum where no one knows anyone personally could be so offending. Please feel free to not answer if you don't like the question.

I was speaking of the other avatar that was thanking me for considering them to be upper echelon. So you think it's rude and I think it's necessary.....and?

"What the market will bare" is a proven theory, in this context also. . If I got $10 and you got $20 I won't take $10 anymore and they will pay $20. It's a dream, I know, but I hold out hope. I know many people like to say I got $20 and you got $10 so I'm awesome compared to you, but that's not the case. It's happenstance.

@jainsuchi wrote:

That was a simple fun question. I don't know any of you personally or face to face. If I did, I would never ask. Don't we all share what we got for a particular assignment? I didn't know, a question like that on a forum where no one knows anyone personally could be so offending. Please feel free to not answer if you don't like the question.

just ignore those people. some start drama because theyve nothing else going on. im not directing this towards anyone but wait & see who jumps on it.