I don't find the grocery shops where you check four or five departments and have an interaction in each, to be worth it, either, but I am not mad that others do them. I just chose to do other grocery shops from time to time that pay better.

Another shop they do so much easier than that one...you never know until you try it......things lose in translation.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/02/2016 09:11PM by Irene_L.A..

I only take low paying shops when w purchase is required and the purchase includes lottery tickets. I love gambking with MSC money and being able to keep winnings if I hit it big!!

For those who do the grocery store shops on a regular basis, do you ask all the questions every time? If they know you by name I don't see how this can be discreet and add value to the customer.

Other MSC's listed are awesome, if you negotiate as mentioned earlier. TrendSource thinks $3 is reasonable PAD regardless of distance on my experience.

The grocery shops that I do only required interactions with 3 associates in their specialized departments, evaluating the interior/exterior and restroom, the cashier and the bagger, if there is one. The shop fee is $16 and required two items to be purchased. One was a food counter item or a bakery item and 1 free item of your choice. There was a grocery shop of another MSC that required interactions with all of the departments' associates and the cashier.

The whole store takes 30 minutes.....and another 20 for the report.

I did a lot of Trendsource shops when I started out, but soon realized the pay was not worth the time. The business inspections are a joke for $17.00 especially when the shopper has to pay for his/her background checks.

Hobbyists. lol. It works out to about $23 an hour for me. Police starting pay is $14.00 an hour. I worked at the best Seafood restaurant on Maui as their accountant. They provided me with free food. Fancy food that would otherwise cost $150 per person for reimbursement and a $5 fee doesn't impress me. Making a difference in my community and cooking a great meal for my neighbors, pure joy.

Irene please edit your post as you have linked the client again with the MSC

@Irene_L.A. wrote:

xxxx so much easier than the other one...you never know until you try it......things lose in translation.

I think Irene was contrasting this shop that OP is talking about that's performed by Trendscource, with a different shop performed by a different MSC. That client that Irene mentioned isn't shopped by Trendsource in my area (at least, not that I'm aware of).

@kimmiemae wrote:

Irene please edit your post as you have linked the client again with the MSC

@Irene_L.A. wrote:

xxxx so much easier than the other one...you never know until you try it......things lose in translation.

kimmiemae, are you saying that TrendSource shops that client in your area? If not, then you may be jumping to the wrong conclusion. I don't think the client Irene named is shopped by TrendSource, so it would not be a violation.

As with everything in life, people make choices. I would never do a shop for that low fee, but perhaps it is because I don't "need" to. I can charge for my time at a greater rate and I won't charge any less than what it is worth. My perspective is not that I am getting a discount at the grocery store or simply knocking off a few bucks from my bill. But rather I am performing a professional task and therefore I am charging a professional rate. So far this is working fine for me. I may not be doing 5-6 grocery shops a week, but the math works perfectly since the three shops a week I complete pay what the 5-6 grocery shops would have paid when you factor in the time and work involved in doing 5-6 shops at the minimum rate versus the 3 shops at the premium rate.

Schedulers call me often to pay me premium rate. So I must assume not too many people are taking those shops at the minimum rates. Typically they will call me can hope to schedule at least 3 shops paying me a higher rate. Of course, they also know that I complete the shops accurately and report them the same day.

She linked it in the general chat post she made that was edited so you can't tell now so I assumed it was who shopped it.

@Jay C wrote:

@kimmiemae wrote:

Irene please edit your post as you have linked the client again with the MSC

@Irene_L.A. wrote:

xxxx so much easier than the other one...you never know until you try it......things lose in translation.

kimmiemae, are you saying that TrendSource shops that client in your area? If not, then you may be jumping to the wrong conclusion. I don't think the client Irene named is shopped by TrendSource, so it would not be a violation.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/02/2016 10:25PM by kimmiemae.

I must congratulate you for doing these kinds of shops. I did a grocery shop in the past several years for a new company that came into Southern California. The MSC had me doing so many departments in the store as an inventory or audit. They were not pleased with the report and more had to be done a second time. This was for $20.00 and now this is a "Never Again" shop. So, good for you making better money than I did.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/03/2016 12:56AM by gbarnes.

I did the first shop at base rate and swore I'd never do another one again. I've added a PAD onto each shop since then. I request the shop (there's only one in my town) every week and they typically assign it to me twice a month. The whole thing takes me about a half hour and I usually grab the grocery items that I need along the way. I kind of have a "here's my offer--take it or leave it" mindset and they usually take it. I was laughing to myself the other day because I bumped my PAD offers up $1 essentially giving myself a little raise. All this to say: If it's not worth it to you at base rate but still enjoy the shop, request a PAD. The worst they can do is pass you by on it but you might be surprised that they accept your offer!

whoops...wrong listing

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/03/2016 12:57PM by parkcitybrian.

I don't mind these $5 fee + $9 or $12 reimbursement at all, except for the hours the shops are confined to. They're on weekends from 12-6, or on weekdays from 4-8. My 2 year old is at preschool M-F til 5, so I can only get 1 done before picking him up. And until recentally, all of the ones in my area where only scheduled for weekends, meaning I had to give up time with him to go do these shops. I'm also not a fan of the fact that the report is due at midnight local time, making it due at best 11.5 hours after completion, but possibly only 4 hours after completion.

But, I coupon and shop for my ill in-laws, so often my regular shopping list involved multiple transactions anyways, so now I just do each transaction at a different store. I do 3-4 of these most weeks, and all but one pay the $12 reimbursement rather than the $9. $36 or more of groceries each week that can be written off as a reimbursed business expense is fine by me! And once I combine that with coupons and rebate apps, I can get quite a lot for $36. As far as the interactions with various departments... Despite my best efforts and visiting some departments multiple times, even before that requirement was added to the guidelines, I've never once been able to accomplish every interaction they request.

Since I try not to spend a lot of time away from home at times that my son is home, I don't usually combine these with any complicated or time consuming shops, but I'll often pick up app jobs in the area, or quick marketforce fast food jobs to add value to the drive.

The reports are simple and go quickly once you get used to them. The only part there that kills me is regarding the interaction with the cashier, which seems to have about 10 different questions asking if they were friendly and paid attention to you. I'm running out of ways to answer basically the same question over and over. The shop it app has been a lifesaver for these shops for taking notes, and I've found that filling out the hard copy from my notes first makes the actual input time go much faster.

Trend source shopped a large grocery store for years, took a break and then came back. The first two rounds when they came back paid $45 per shop. They are back to $17, which is what they paid in the early 2000's. If you are already there at the specified location only during specified hours, it could be worth it if you have nothing better to do.
Calculating your hourly rate should include:
Time to the store
Time in the store
Time home from the store
Report time

If you are doing multiple stores, add in time from store to store.

The rates do increase in my area when shoppers are out of rotation, but $3 extra is not enough for me to consider it.

I have come to hate the Trendsource grocery shop. I used to do routes of them when I had nothing better to do, but I don't even do that anymore. I had to go to the MSI website and take away their ability to email me because I was inundated every other day. They still call me and I will do a last minute shop for them if they attach PAD and I am free, but I am usually too busy. Their restrictive hours make it very difficult.

I agree it's peanuts for the job but the biggest reason I sign up for peanut paying jobs from marketforce is the toll pay. I'll usually make a route of shops and see if I can pic up a random marketforce shop to cover my tolls (marketforce pays your toll as a reimbursement, many people don't realize that). I live in NJ but last month I did a route of shops out to Pittsburgh. My tolls were over $100 round trip...I picked up six $8 cell phone shops from marketforce and split the toll costs as reimbursement across the six shops and marketforce paid it all

The grocery shops I do for Trendsource in my area (SC) do not have the restrictive hours. I can do them ANYTIME between 9 am - 9 pm, which is GREAT! Now Market Force has RESTRICTIVE HOURS for their grocery shops...either 11:15-12:45 and/or 4:15 - 6:45, so those I stay away from, because I can't guarantee I will be available at those times. But for me, Trendsource's grocery shops, time-wise, are perfect! Their scenarios, to me, are not difficult...in and out in about 25 minutes, 10 minutes to report. Just my 2 cents!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/03/2016 08:04PM by guysmom.

Here I go again.....I love the grocery stores everyone else hates because (let me count the ways), I buy $13.00 a pd. coffee, 19.00 a pd. Wild Salmon from Alaska and the good stuff I normally wouldn't have. I get 1/2pd., go over my limit a bit, and come home and pig out
on healthy food. Doing three (one today), two tomorrow, with the good cold cuts, I'm eating like a queen thank you, and pocket the $47.00 reimbursement.

@isaiah58 wrote:

In reality, higher fees do not equal higher monthly income at an individual basis.

Sure they do.

@isaiah58 wrote:

More people will be applying as the incentives increase.

You are assuming all the bonuses are posted to all the shoppers in the MSC database. When shoppers negotiate their own, you are never going to see it.

We are discussing base fees, not bonuses. As many have mentioned here, over and over, if the base fees on many jobs were higher then they would apply for them.

@LisaSTL wrote:

@isaiah58 wrote:

In reality, higher fees do not equal higher monthly income at an individual basis.

Sure they do.

@isaiah58 wrote:

More people will be applying as the incentives increase.

You are assuming all the bonuses are posted to all the shoppers in the MSC database. When shoppers negotiate their own, you are never going to see it.

Where did you say base fees? And what difference does that make? Higher fees can and do equate to a higher monthly income. Some people also see shops with higher base fees that you may not. Even some companies with job boards have assignments that never make it to the board.

I believe I know that new grocery, and I refuse to do that one, couldn't pay enough. The "Hot meal" that you need to purchase is horrible (is this the one)?

Trendsource has some lower paying jobs, so do others, but I'm looking for another part time job, right now trying to pay rent/bills/food out of 1 pt and mystery shop jobs, I take whatever I can get that's worth it, not everyone has the luxury of only taking certain jobs.

I UNDERSTAND, If I had to do this for the money, I'd starve, that's why it's great for the retired, many perks and a 5 here and there....

I live in an area where there are very few shops to choose from and what's available is only low paying shops. That's why I take them. And there seem to be fewer this summer than last year.

@jbraden wrote:

For those who do the grocery store shops on a regular basis, do you ask all the questions every time?

Yes, it's a requirement of the shop. At least there are several to choose from. If you feel like they're giving you away, you might impose a rotation on yourself, or try to go on a different day to get another person.