I signed up for Intellishop recently. I like their site a lot so far. It seems to have a lot of shops. I have also done some Bestmark mystery shops. The Bestmark shops I did paid me in 2-3 weeks. I just looked on Intellishop's website and the FAQ says " Payment for your shops will automatically be sent through PayPal approximately 50-60 days after the last day of the month in which your shops were completed."

That could be 8-10 weeks after the shop. My question is has anyone had any issues being paid by Intellishop? I'm using a lot of gas for a number of shops so I just want to make sure that after the 2 months have passed that I will be paid for the shops. I'm pretty sure Intellishop is a good legit company but the 2 month lag time before payment did make me want to verify on this board. Thanks in advance.

My experience with them is positive when it comes to paying on time and the agreed upon amount. Because their terms are too long for my taste and the pay is also low for the work I do not work for them often.

LisaSTL Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> My experience with them is positive when it comes
> to paying on time and the agreed upon amount.
> Because their terms are too long for my taste and
> the pay is also low for the work I do not work for
> them often.

Thanks for the reply. That is a slower pay than I'm used to but I'm glad to hear I will eventually be paid.

You mentioned that you think their pay was low. Could you suggest a few sites that I might find higher pay or quicker pay? Thanks in advance.

Yes, their stated payment terms are quite long, but in my experience, they have always been reliable when sticking to those terms. I am generally always paid between the 20th and 22nd of the 2nd month after doing the shops (i.e. January shops got paid on March 20th, etc).

Higher paying companies will vary depending on what is in your area and the shops you enjoy doing.

Some of the quicker paying companies:

Corporate Research International - Paid the week following the first full week following the shop (generally 10-14 days).

Trendsource - Payments on the 5th and 20th of each month for shops completed during that pay period.

Quality Assessments Mystery Shopping (QAMS) - Not sure of their stated policies, but I have been paid anywhere between 10 and 20 days.

Research Services Group - Not sure of policy, but it's generally under 30 days.

Maritz Research - Payments on the 14th and last day of the month for shops completed during that pay period.

Monterrey Mystery Shopping - Not sure of policy, but generally under 30 days.

Informa Research - Not sure of policy, but generally under 30 days.

I deal with several companies that are reliable about paying on a given day in the month following the shop: Measure Consumer Perspectives (15th), Second To None (15th), Beyond Hello (25-29th). Sometimes these can stretch beyond 30 days, depending on when you did a shop, but their payments are like clockwork.

zlinedavid Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yes, their stated payment terms are quite long,
> but in my experience, they have always been
> reliable when sticking to those terms. I am
> generally always paid between the 20th and 22nd of
> the 2nd month after doing the shops (i.e. January
> shops got paid on March 20th, etc).
>
> Higher paying companies will vary depending on
> what is in your area and the shops you enjoy
> doing.
>
> Some of the quicker paying companies:
>
> Corporate Research International - Paid the week
> following the first full week following the shop
> (generally 10-14 days).
>
> Trendsource - Payments on the 5th and 20th of each
> month for shops completed during that pay period.
>
>
> Quality Assessments Mystery Shopping (QAMS) - Not
> sure of their stated policies, but I have been
> paid anywhere between 10 and 20 days.
>
> Research Services Group - Not sure of policy, but
> it's generally under 30 days.
>
> Maritz Research - Payments on the 14th and last
> day of the month for shops completed during that
> pay period.
>
> Monterrey Mystery Shopping - Not sure of policy,
> but generally under 30 days.
>
> Informa Research - Not sure of policy, but
> generally under 30 days.
>
> I deal with several companies that are reliable
> about paying on a given day in the month following
> the shop: Measure Consumer Perspectives (15th),
> Second To None (15th), Beyond Hello (25-29th).
> Sometimes these can stretch beyond 30 days,
> depending on when you did a shop, but their
> payments are like clockwork.



Thanks for all the information. I will definitely look in to the companies you named. I appreciate you taking the time to help me.

Some other reliables are Bare and Feedback Plus. Bare is once a month like clockwork and Feedback Plus is twice a month. I've been paid by FP in as little as 5 days and by Research Services Group in as little as 48 hours! I-Myst is one that is never discussed much, but they pay within 7 to 10 business days.

BTW, it sounds like you are new. Some of the perspective regarding pay comes with time. In the beginning I took every Intellishop job I could get because they paid better than the companies I cut my teeth on like Market Force, Bestmark and CoRI. I found the experience invaluable. Even if they have to contact you for more info and it involves some rewriting, they are very tolerant and the worse that happens is a lower score rather than deductions or even loss of pay. From that standpoint they are a good company that you can learn from even if they pay is a little slow.

LisaSTL Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Some other reliables are Bare and Feedback Plus.
> Bare is once a month like clockwork and Feedback
> Plus is twice a month. I've been paid by FP in as
> little as 5 days and by Research Services Group in
> as little as 48 hours! I-Myst is one that is never
> discussed much, but they pay within 7 to 10
> business days.
>
> BTW, it sounds like you are new. Some of the
> perspective regarding pay comes with time. In the
> beginning I took every Intellishop job I could get
> because they paid better than the companies I cut
> my teeth on like Market Force, Bestmark and CoRI.
> I found the experience invaluable. Even if they
> have to contact you for more info and it involves
> some rewriting, they are very tolerant and the
> worse that happens is a lower score rather than
> deductions or even loss of pay. From that
> standpoint they are a good company that you can
> learn from even if they pay is a little slow.


Thanks for the reply. I am a "newbie". I have a full time job so I do what I can and try not to waste too much gas. Ive done around 7 total shops for 2 companies so far.

You are doing great then. This is my sole source of income and my full time job. For many of the high dollar shops you have to be available during normal business hours. Fine by me. I try to maintain "normal" business hours because I hope to be back to a "normal" job eventually That's not to say more and better paying opportunities will not come your way. With higher pay usually comes a lot more complex and detailed shop. If you are already working 40 hours a week you may not want to or have a need to deal with the additional stress! While this can be a tough way to earn a living, I cannot think of a better part-time job on the planet

LisaSTL Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You are doing great then. This is my sole source
> of income and my full time job. For many of the
> high dollar shops you have to be available during
> normal business hours. Fine by me. I try to
> maintain "normal" business hours because I hope to
> be back to a "normal" job eventually That's not
> to say more and better paying opportunities will
> not come your way. With higher pay usually comes a
> lot more complex and detailed shop. If you are
> already working 40 hours a week you may not want
> to or have a need to deal with the additional
> stress! While this can be a tough way to earn a
> living, I cannot think of a better part-time job
> on the planet


I have a very high stress full time job but I work nights and have 2 weekdays off so I have lots of time for mystery shops. All my shops have been between $4-$25 so far. I would love to start doing some of the higher dollar mystery shops. Doing the mystery shops is like a vacation compared to the stress of my "real" job. I'd like to change jobs but a job I would like would be around $200 a month less than I'm making now. If I could make the difference up mystery shopping that would be ideal. Ive already booked another 3 jobs. I started doing this last month.

I think it is awesome that you have turned mystery shopping in to your full time work. If I could do that I would for sure. My monthly bills are pretty low so maybe one day I can.

$200 more per month? It's definitely doable, IF you live in an area with lots of shops, without a lot of competition. Don't know how many more hours you would be willing to work though. The average fee for shops is $10-$20. Have you found banks, cell phone, and apartment shops? Maybe you could find 5 or 10 every month, and work them around your 'real job'. Another consideration is reimbursement shops. Reimbursements which saves you from spending money that you have to spend anyway. Grocery shops, oil changes, office supply shops. Sometimes, restaurants fit the bill also. You get to eat out, and aren't consuming groceries at home.

Mert Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> $200 more per month? It's definitely doable, IF
> you live in an area with lots of shops, without a
> lot of competition. Don't know how many more
> hours you would be willing to work though. The
> average fee for shops is $10-$20. Have you found
> banks, cell phone, and apartment shops? Maybe you
> could find 5 or 10 every month, and work them
> around your 'real job'. Another consideration is
> reimbursement shops. Reimbursements which saves
> you from spending money that you have to spend
> anyway. Grocery shops, oil changes, office supply
> shops. Sometimes, restaurants fit the bill also.
> You get to eat out, and aren't consuming
> groceries at home.


Wow that is really good to hear. Ive seen some reimbursement shops but so far they havent fit me. I dont eat out much because I try to eat pretty healthy. No apartment, bank or cell phone shops yet. I will look forward to them. I'm going to sign up with around 8 more mystery shopping sites tomorrow. I only have used 2 sites so far. Thanks for the encouragement!

$200 per month is more than realistic. I work Mon-Fri during business hours, and I will usually average between $600 and $800 per month....$1000 on a good month. The key is learning your local area and the balance between high paying shops and those that you can do efficiently.

For me, banks are always a good bet for volume type work. Generally between $12 and $15 per shop, and the area that I live/work is relatively well populated and there are multiple branches of many national banks in a close proximity to my office. I can usually get to two, maybe three branches on my lunch break, go back to work and upload the reports at night from home. That's somewhere between $24 and $45 per day at lunch.

Research Service Group - Do they only do financial institutions?

MsLynn Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Research Service Group - Do they only do financial
> institutions?

No, I've done a couple of retail-type shops for them.

raisitup Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> MsLynn Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Research Service Group - Do they only do
> financial
> > institutions?
>
> No, I've done a couple of retail-type shops for
> them.


I also have done retail shops for them, but they are not posted often, at least not in my area.

They seem to come in waves. They will have several in a few weeks, then nothing for months.

They do take a long time to pay and it's often only reimbursement, but they do have some nice shops from time to time.

Dani,

I completed my first work for Intellishop in 2006 and have never not been paid, BUT, your comment of it could take 8-10 wks. to be paid is slightly inaccurate. If you completed an assignment April 1, the money would be arriving the end of June, which is 13 wks. Only you can decide if that's acceptable.

I've never had a problem with being paid by Intelli-shop. I've accepted that it takes them awhile to pay, but it always comes on time, which is something I can live with. If I am spending money out of pocket for jobs, then I've usually budgeted for it and taken less reimbursement shops for the time I'm waiting to be paid. They are a very reliable company and I've got no complaints on their pay!

I work for around a dozen mystery shop companies. Intellishop is the slowest in terms of pay but they have paid me for every job I have done for them so far. Typically its been 70-90 days from when I do their shop and when I have been paid. It would be great if they could chop that pay time in half since there can be a big outlay of $$$ for gas but as long as I know their pay terms before doing the shop I can not complain.

spree Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I work for around a dozen mystery shop companies.
> Intellishop is the slowest in terms of pay but
> they have paid me for every job I have done for
> them so far. Typically its been 70-90 days from
> when I do their shop and when I have been paid. It
> would be great if they could chop that pay time in
> half since there can be a big outlay of $$$ for
> gas but as long as I know their pay terms before
> doing the shop I can not complain.

Sounds true for me too. Slow but always a go.

Danillo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Mert Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > $200 more per month? It's definitely doable,
> IF
> > you live in an area with lots of shops, without
> a
> > lot of competition. Don't know how many more
> > hours you would be willing to work though. The
> > average fee for shops is $10-$20. Have you
> found
> > banks, cell phone, and apartment shops? Maybe
> you
> > could find 5 or 10 every month, and work them
> > around your 'real job'. Another consideration
> is
> > reimbursement shops. Reimbursements which
> saves
> > you from spending money that you have to spend
> > anyway. Grocery shops, oil changes, office
> supply
> > shops. Sometimes, restaurants fit the bill
> also.
> > You get to eat out, and aren't consuming
> > groceries at home.
>
>
> Wow that is really good to hear. Ive seen some
> reimbursement shops but so far they havent fit me.
> I dont eat out much because I try to eat pretty
> healthy. No apartment, bank or cell phone shops
> yet. I will look forward to them. I'm going to
> sign up with around 8 more mystery shopping sites
> tomorrow. I only have used 2 sites so far. Thanks
> for the encouragement!


There are more and more cell shops out there. 12=15$ reasonable reports.
ACE
MCP
banks:athpower

I think the "fast food" shops they offer are on a different pay schedule (good thing!!) I got paid this afternoon for my first fast food shop which I did in late March. I did a few shops in earlier March and have not been paid for them yet.

I can confirm that I was told yesterday that my Intellishop jobs would be paid on a 90 day basis.

Sorry to bump this up from so far back, but is Intelli-shop changing their pay schedule? I've got shops from April and May that are in a "pending payment" status! I don't remember taking any shops that promised payment the following month, but boy would I be excited if I got paid for last month in addition to April! Can u say par-tay? LOL

Does BEYOND HELLO operate in the States? They are the only ones to have paid me so far for April shops. I like BH )

SpyGirl719 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Does BEYOND HELLO operate in the States? They are
> the only ones to have paid me so far for April
> shops. I like BH )

They do. I've done quite a few shops for them and find them easy to work with.