BayLee – I agree with you. I was just stating to margaretbella that most of her mystery shopping assignments may seem overwhelming in general, mainly because she's a new shopper and may not have any similar experiences before.

.....Filing of fictitious business name?

The EIN can be applied and received online at the IRS website, from 8 am-5 pm Monday-Friday.

Check with your state first to see if filing for an EIN would even be beneficial for you. Certain states like to levy additional taxes on you, thinking you possess all the trappings of a normal business in an office setting.


If you plan on doing multiples of the same type of shop with STN, (i.e. cholesterol bomb shops) it makes sense to print multiples of the receipt form/photo cards, and keep them on hand. For some reason, doing that makes it not seem like an additional hassle, printing a new one every time.

BBird0701

I am doing other things besides MS, that is why am doing a fictitious business name filing. I understand the procedure, filing of EIN, taxes etc. I also do have a full equipped office.

I am still confused on the fictitious part.

That's OK BBird. :-)

BBird, a fictitious business name filing is needed if you are not using your own name for your business.

For example, "Joe Blow's Gardening services" would not require a fictitious business name filing, as long as it is actually owned by Joe Blow. "How Green is Your Garden Landscaping services" does require it. What the fictitious business name filing does is connect "How Green is your Garden" to "Joe Blow" so that people have a way of determining who is actually responsible for the bills incurred by the company (who they should sue if Joe Blow or one of his employees kills their rose bushes by spraying them with Weed B Gon instead of aphid spray).

If you want to deposit checks from your customers made out to "How Green is Your Garden" you have to do a fictitious business name filing and get an EIN that will be attached to your bank account. You cannot deposit checks for "How Green is Your Garden" into an account in the name of "Joe Blow."

I get that, but am not understanding the fictitious part. It's a real business, isn't it?

The business is real, the name is fictitious. The term fictitious is actually somewhat of a misnomer. It just refers to any name that is not that of the actual owner(s).

It may help to think of it as, "Joe Blow" is doing business under a name other than his own ("fictitious", which is called "How Green is Your Garden?".

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Hello fellow shoppers,

I have done a number of shops for STN in the past month and can say I find them easy to work with. Although the paper work seemed overwhelming at first in the end it isn't. Thanks to all who gave me their opinion about working for this company. The only problem I can find is they don't have a lot to offer in the way of Shops. But you take what you get and you learn. I'm learning. And making money while doing so.

So far so good.

I think it's time to branch out a little so I'll try to sign on with a few more companies and see where it takes me.

Happy Shopping!

I love S2N and have done a gazillion shops for them, which they normally edit fairly quickly. So, for whatever reason, after a year, I had a lapse of $judgement$ and campaigned to do a bonused pizza shop, which I loathe. The whole thing was a disaster, as I've described earlier, but, oh lordy, (thanks, Canuck) now I'm wondering how long does it take for them to edit it a pizza shop? It's been exactly two weeks today. Please, S2N, take me out of my misery.

(heart)

My 8/31 pizza shop is still in review.

Get in line, BBird, today is over and I'm now moving to Day 15 with my shop still "In Process".

(heart)

My tobacco shop from two days ago cleared today.

They must have dedicated editors for specific projects. Can't say I blame the editors... there are only so many of those pizzas I could look at in a day without getting sick.

Day 15 and Bingo! Edited and accepted! Since this was one of those "marry the pieces" shop, I thought I was doomed; now, I believe in magic.

Due to the resultant state of my marriage, (thank you, pizza client!) I did email the scheduler and implored him to disallow me from doing any further pizza shops, since I was old and had a poor memory. But wait, BBird, what to my wondering eyes should appear, TODAY, but a different, non-cheese-only shop for the same picky client. It made me instantly realize your "easy peasy" view of these shops! Not having to "marry" any slices made it look like a piece of cake. Even my estranged husband agreed! (Only kidding about that last part. )

BBird, I hope you are not a bad influence. trusting you.

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They are easy!!! In my area, they are typically bonused $13-$18, and that's not bad for the few pictures and no mutilation. The marry-the-slices bonuses tend to be higher, $25+...but for $25 plus reimbursement and tip reimbursement... I'll officiate that wedding any day!

Okay, I am going to go on record and say two things: First of all, NO more "marry" the pieces shops for me and secondly, I'm trusting you on this, BBird.

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Has anyone done those shops for the big cable company? I see there is a nice bonus for it and was wondering how hard that one is to perform....

Stilllearning, the trick to a good "side" view photo is to place the pizza box on the edge of your table/counter, and hang the box lid straight down, over the edge. Squat/kneel until you are at eye level with the crust. Center your camera view on the middle of the crust, take the picture. Repeat. Make sure your camera is focused on the crust and not the photo card in the background.

There will be quite a bit of box lid in your pictures, but when you are uploading, crop the majority of the bottom excess off. I leave about an inch of box lid showing. Then upload. The pictures end up really nice this way.

This is what I did, when I did those horrid shops, for the side view. But I was wise enough to sit on a chair. I do not kneel nor squat.

My only complaint with the shop is the hideously, ridiculously, bizarrely picky editors. Same photos, same setting, same poses, same lighting, same everything; and suddenly the photos aren't acceptable anymore.

If you care to search, you may find my story about the whole thing originally, and how I won that little battle, and how they tricked me into one more shop, promising that "the issue" with their editors had been resolved, only to pull a Lucy-with-the-football thing on me. I fought again, got paid again, and then really did never do another. And, I never will. Ever. When our family says "never", it really is "never".

And, WTF is "marrying" the slices?! Holy Jesus Mary & Joseph! They never had *that* term when I was doing these.

I don't like the mental image of my food having sex. :/



BBird0701 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Stilllearning, the trick to a good "side" view
> photo is to place the pizza box on the edge of
> your table/counter, and hang the box lid straight
> down, over the edge. Squat/kneel until you are at
> eye level with the crust. Center your camera view
> on the middle of the crust, take the picture.
> Repeat. Make sure your camera is focused on the
> crust and not the photo card in the background.
>
> There will be quite a bit of box lid in your
> pictures, but when you are uploading, crop the
> majority of the bottom excess off. I leave about
> an inch of box lid showing. Then upload. The
> pictures end up really nice this way.

StormCloud, it's joining the two cut slices together in cheese product matrimony. I now pronounce you gross and disgusting.

Ha!!

So, like top-to-top?! with all the cheese in the middle and the crusts on the outside top & bottoms?

If so, Why?!

So they can see how the crust has risen. It goes along with using a razor sharp cutter. The stores cuts are done with a pizza wheel and aren't as clean.

Yep!! And I have no clue why!!

I think it's so that they can see if the crust has risen properly, but I'm honestly not sure.

Secretly, I always imagine the client huddled around their computer screens in hooded robes, looking at our pictures and exclaiming "Praise the Lord, Crust has risen!!"

Thanks for filing me in! I never had to do *that*. Just flip two exactly opposite slices for an overhead shot.

Wowzer.

And, actually, the locations around here aren't as bad as many of you describe. We always got a reasonably decent pizza. Not the best, but not the worst. I know I've said that before, but they really aren't. Well, as of a couple years ago. I haven't eaten there in some time. OH ~ except for a couple times when I got an online deal when the nephews were coming over, and those weren't so bad, either.

So, Dad & I actually kinda liked these, and the reports were easy, and the payments came fast. even the photos weren't *that* difficult, until the editors/reviewers transformed into weirdos.

petrohd -
I have done the large cable company shops. They are easy if you arrive with a real address. The large cable company looks up the address, and they have mapped every address in the US and have given it there own location number. They know if they currently serve it, and if not, when the last time they served it. Pick a local address by searching for houses on the market in the town. Tell them that you have just bid on the house, or even better, that you just won the bid and are moving into the house in two months. That gives you an excuse for having the full address and zip code written on a piece of paper or an index card. That allows you to prepare in advance, versus looking for a street address as you drive up to the place.

StormCloud, the whole "marrying" thing is an unnecessary step, designed specifically to humble the most confident shopper. Trust me, it's very, very effective!

The main thing that concerns me though, with the "marrying the pizza" shop, is the total disregard that S2N and the client apparently have about the number of marriages, which have ended, due to the requirements.

(heart)

I just did my first bank shops for them today. I loved the reports and hope they have more variety in my area soon.

Alesia
Shopping Mid Mo

I have done the Cable company shops. Go for it they are a piece of cake. And that is coming from a new Mystery Shopper.

There are some very positive aspects of working for this MSC. The schedulers are consistent in their communication and very punctual with responses in the normal course of business. Second to None posts their bonuses on the job board which I prefer since I am not going to change my mind about a shop for a $1 or $2 bonus. I have been more than satisfied with their increased bonuses and was able to complete many shops with $30-$60 bonuses this month. The challenge I now face is that I was scheduled for a shop that I completed in horrendous traffic crossing through Boston that was scheduled via email and never assigned in the system. Upon return I reached out to the scheduler to remind her to upload the job to the system so I could enter my data. In her response I was told that "we are working on Oct deadlines". I really liked the scheduler so I sent an email explaining my position and letting her know that I did not want this to impact our professional relationship but I need to be paid for the double scheduling as I completed as requested. My consistent communication coming from her ceased and now I am at a crossroad. I appreciate the opportunity leading to the $864 I made in two weeks with them and don't want to lose future opportunities because I do believe they are a good, sound company. I think I am the victim of a scheduler oversight where the scheduler doesn't want to find a way to pay me due to the company not getting paid twice for the job. There are funds for goodwill in every company to compensate for employee error if you go far enough up the ladder. I just hate to take that approach and just wanted the scheduler to admit their error to their supervisor and get approval to pay me $43 for the job.