Mystery shop pay is dropping.

I use to do money transfer shops, for one MSC, for $20 each. Another MSC now pays $10, for the same shop. I won't do them for $10. They cut the pay in half. I also noticed some cell phone shops I did for one MSC that paid $9 each. Now another company is paying $6, for the same shop.

Have you noticed the pay dropping?

I have a regular job now, so I don't depend on mystery shopping so much. I thought with the lower unemployment rate, there would be fewer shoppers and the pay might go up.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/25/2018 04:07AM by johnb974.

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Field Agent will offer a few dollars for phone shops, and people seem to do them. I see other companies offering $6 or $9 for the same shops, and others offer $12. They sometimes will bonus them and you can get more. I did a few when I first started, but there is no way I would now unless they were heavily bonused. Prices are based on supply and demand, and enough people are taking the $3 jobs. There must be no need to raise the prices.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/25/2018 06:21AM by Niner.

I've been doing mystery shopping for a few years. I now know the shops in my area that will go up. because the shops are not on anyone's route, but close to me. I know some gas station simple audit shops that start out at $8. I can hold out for $18. There's one station they ask for a full open audit, and it's a self service station. No store, just the gas pumps. I get $18 for that shop.

There are some MSCs which are in a race to the bottom. I don't do work that is not profitable. Because of their miserable pay, I have e-mails from certain MSCs auto-filter to the trash bin.

MF is top of the list for me unless they are bonused, as well as some others I completely ignore, since they don't seem to bonus.

One of the first thread I read on Volition, after joining in 2005, dealt with decreasing fees; it was started in 2003.

One of the worst for fees is Gigwalk. They are worse than MF.

Posted fees are dropping. Not the real fees most get.

Equal rights for others does not mean fewer rights for you. It's not pie.
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I have mystery shopped for over 25 years and the pay has steadily decreased at least in my area since around 2005 or so. I see consistently see shops that I did 20 years ago that are paying half what they once did. I have become very selective, but as long as people are willing to do jobs for peanuts, MSCs will continue to drop fees. I am at a point that for many MSCs I will only shop for them if they are offering a hefty bonus.

Just this morning, I got an email from the owner of a favorite MSC thanking me for my good work and telling me that the base pay for all the shops I do for them from here on out would be raised by $10.

The more I do this, the more I realize that Job Boards do not often have the most desirable shops or the best possible pay. It is very possible that job board pay rates are going down - or, at the least, not going up with inflation. However, once you establish yourself as a strong shopper in a specific niche (such as video shopping) that requires more skill, work, equipment, travel, organization, etc. than what most folks have, there is good work out there.

Hard work builds character and homework is good for your soul.

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Mystery shop pay is dropping.

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