I can't seem to stop getting emails from MSC's offering $10-$15 ( 3-5 bucks an hour) for shops that will take 3 hours to complete from getting accepted to do the shop to submitting the report ( gotta factor in gas, meters, printer paper stuff like that). They want detail but the forms don't always allow for everything said in a interaction by the associates ( I wonder if they allow a separate email attachment to be sent, if so, that would totally help out). I keep walking away because at times, it's just not worth it, unless there's a equal bonus that they add because they really need to get things done. Any input on this?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/04/2015 06:25PM by dizzymommy.

It does get easier. I get an offer for an X shop for $10. I remember I have done that one before and $10 is reasonable pay for it. I accept it, I have done the shop 10 or more times before so I know the basic methodology. Now it is simply a matter of scanning through the instructions to see if anything has changed. Some MSCs are kind enough they date revisions of their shop instructions so if it is still the change from July of last year I know I'm good to go. If it is more recent I will create and save a pdf of the instructions. Most shops do not want a blow by blow of everything said but rather are interested in specific interactions or observations. Pretty standard is 'were you greeted' and some may ask how/when. 'Were you thanked?' some may ask how and when. My hypothetical $10 shop I know from the past wants me to visit the restroom, be greeted when I am within 10 feet of an associate, get a knowledgeable answer from the associate, check that the store is well stocked and tidy and check at the register whether the cashier was polite and what she said as greeting and parting remarks. I certainly do not need to check every shelf and every item to make certain they are fully stocked, nor do I need to take a white glove to the shelves to make sure they are dust free. I need to stay in store for 20 minutes and am departing 21 minutes after I arrived, having accomplished everything. The report now takes 30 minutes and with drive time (assuming this shop was done by itself with no other shops or personal errands) has taken me about 1 1/2 hrs total. Sounds like $7.50 per hour, but the shop also provided me with reimbursement of $12 of something I needed, so I have $22 for an hour and a half. Now if I had other shops out that way, the drive time attributable to this shop would be even less.

I could wait and maybe the shop would get to $12 before someone else in my market took it. Or I could look and see if that $8 shop next door and the $15 shop down the street were still available to snag 3 shops in a single run. Yesterday we needed to run some errands. I dropped off my significant other at one store and quickly went to do 4 shops. When I met up with him at the store he was visiting as a customer, he was about ready to check out. We then went down the strip mall to the other place where we were purely customers. 4 quick shops--$5, $8, $8, $9--less than 10 minutes each to report, $30 and I didn't need to stand around while he tried on jeans. Priceless.

Flash, I need to applaud you. I've been doing this MS stuff for several years and I have never done in a report in just ten minutes. You mentioned doing four reports in ten minutes each. Wow, what's the secret?

Easy reports that I am more than accustomed to doing. Before my favorite grocery store changed to the company that had them before the company that has them now, the reports took about 5 minutes. On a quick internet day I timed one down to 3 minutes 26 seconds or some such. Now, however, they are slower to report because at mostly one question per page and a sluggish MSP website the report is likely to take 10-15 min.

All reports vary and it is on you to decide whether a $10-$15 shop is worth your time. These reports are different and you can't judge all $10-15 paying shops the same.

If it's taking 3 hours to fill out the report, I'm hoping there's a nice reimbursed meal or service included in the assignment, especially for 3 hours worth of time filling out the report.