Negotiating Fees with Ipsos

...you know...for those...remote, gotta have them done now, shops that could maybe be done on a route if the price was right.....Well, the discussion was going okay until the Ipsos scheduler just ghosted me. Lots of talk for one day, no responses for the last two days....it is an interesting negotiation strategy....

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After entering sales in Nov. of 1963, my trainer shared a system I have followed my entire career; I establish my bottom line and do not waiver. Just this week, I was contacted by a scheduler concerning a hard to fill shop. As I had other work in the area, I submitted an amount of $85 and it was accepted.

Good strategy, but what do I do when they do not respond to my email/bid?

They've done the same thing to me. Ive wondered if that company doesn't give them much room to negotiate. The only time ive successfully negotiated with Ipsos the scheduler scheduled it for a black out date. 120 mile round trip. When i got there and notified her she wanted me to go back the next day! No, thank you.

Of course, thats just my experience, ymmv. I only do their shops when i need to be paid quickly.

My experience with Ipsos editors is hit and miss. The one I work with most usually gets back right away, and then sometimes I don't hear back for two days. I think at certain times they get swamped and they just can't keep up. Plus, I think if they need approval, they are left in limbo too sometimes. Another scheduler never responds, and I have given up and just don't do her shops unless the online incentives gets really high.

salisburync inquires--Good strategy, but what do I do when they do not respond to my email/bid?

Bob comments-I am only able to share my reaction to silence; I move on with my life. I am guessing that most of the assignments for which I tender an amount are not accepted. That is business! The ones that are assigned, though, are profitable for Bob.

He or she could have been negotiating with more than one or multiple shoppers. Its not our shop until it is assigned. Were the shops still listed after you were ghosted ?

Ty we have to stop low balling the shops. We to stop doing them for $8. Good job.

Once Ipsos paid me $350 for a job that normally pays $50.

Did they lose money? Or do they rake us through as much as possible to make as much as possible on a regular basis?

I offered a "cut to the chase" fee amount $20 dollars above the current increasing daily fee. If they want this shop done I will do it as it is OUT OF THE WAY in between nowhere and somewhere. Seems like they wait for the due date to expire, then reoffer it at the usual low fee.

They might have given it to a cheaper shopper but it would be nice if they at least let you know that.

It is now offered with new due dates and the lower fees. I guess they don't really want it shopped.

They've rejected every bonus I've offered. But ever since a scheduler told me no because, "You're going to be in that area anyway," I have instituted my own policy of spitefulness which I call the "leave one" rule. Whenever I am doing a route in the boonies and there are a cluster of shops in an area I (you guessed it!) leave one. Let them try go get it done without a bigger bonus or let them pay someone else much more to travel way out there where there are no other shops. I hope that's what happens, anyway.

@Tanischri87 wrote:

Once Ipsos paid me $350 for a job that normally pays $50.

Did they lose money? Or do they rake us through as much as possible to make as much as possible on a regular basis?

They did not lose money. The way contracts are structured, the MS makes significant $$, especially if it’s required/regulated by the government (IE certain banks with a stage coach as a logo).

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/09/2022 12:41AM by Capurato.

@sestrahelena wrote:

They've rejected every bonus I've offered. But ever since a scheduler told me no because, "You're going to be in that area anyway," I have instituted my own policy of spitefulness which I call the "leave one" rule. Whenever I am doing a route in the boonies and there are a cluster of shops in an area I (you guessed it!) leave one. Let them try go get it done without a bigger bonus or let them pay someone else much more to travel way out there where there are no other shops. I hope that's what happens, anyway.

What always burned me were the schedulers who wouldn't give a bonus because it was too close to where I lived. I pretty much stopped doing shops within 20 miles of home unless they send out a general email with the bonus listed. I am pretty sure they have to pay some other shoppers a lot to get those locations done because they are often one of the last locations on the board.

The ones who say I will be in the area anyway -- well the reason I scheduled for that area was the assumption I might get their shops at a bonus too. No bonus, no do shop, even if I lose money on the route.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/09/2022 12:14AM by mystery2me.

update -- Zek - it was very strange situation...the shops are now back on the board with a significant bonus...(these are gas station shops) It appears IPSOS was willing to pay big $$ in order to cover the driving and motel expense, but only for about a third of the shops....those were scheduled, and then a lower rate was used a day later to schedule the rest of the route after I was already on the road (despite 'promises' of the higher amount)...I just turned around and went home...didn't like getting 'played' that way.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/09/2022 08:32PM by salisburync.

Before I fired Trendsouce a few yrs. ago, this due to their refusal to pay me for a cell store that had moved out of town, my reply to their query as to why I required PAD was ALWAYS "Irrelevant." I have always been and will die a self-employed contractor. Why I want any amount is not in any manner germane to my ability to successfully complete work..

I did a shop for IPSOS where the scheduler asked for counters. So I gave them one, comparing it to similar shops I do for other panels. The scheduler said "Well if that's what you need than maybe this shop isn't for you". When I presented the distance from my house and how long it had been on the board I got a $7 increase. Hard to say -- I know from trying to negotiate with other panels that the end client drives the bus on fee flexibility. Some are, some aren't, and some are somewhere in the middle.

Gotta disagree about the end client driving the bus. The MSC enters into a contract with them, under certain terms, for the overall fee. The MSC is absolutely the one who decides how much of that fee will go to shoppers and all other costs of business.

OK folks. How are you presenting your routes (over 20) to IPSOS? Are you going thru the independent scheduler, PM, or General mailbox? If you get shot down do you resubmit and who often?

This gas shop came up again, I offered my fee, and it was accepted this time. It was due within 2 days so might have been incentive to get it done this time for the scheduler. Speaking of the gas shops, the guidelines state take photos of things not right like graffiti, pot holes, etc. Then the survey does not ask for these photos. What a waste of time looking for them. It also asks for various viewpoints of the c-store and then asks for 1 photo. Sheesh.

I've often wondered about the schedulers.

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 03/25/2022 03:12PM by French Farmer.

I've never had much luck negotiating with them, they won't take any of my offers, never have, so I just wait until the jobs are bonused. I miss out on a lot of jobs because I won't take them at the pay that other people will.

56 pages of guidelines, 1 survey question needed correcting, dinged 3 points for that. Sheesh.

Has anyone had success with asking for the crunch time bonused amount that they give every month at the beginning of the month?

If so, have you had any success with it?

There are two gas shops that normally end up being bonused to $70 and $100. I've done both of them at these prices. I was assigned them again at those prices and then they cancelled the shops on me at the last minute, which ruined my route.

I was just wondering if I could possibly negotiate those fees earlier in the month when I could plan a route using other company's clients.

I wrote a scheduler about "in the middle of nowhere " gas shops when they were meagerly bonused once. I asked for my set amounts which had been listed before, and said the client, scheduler and shopper could benefit from an early submission. The scheduler preferred to meagerly increase the bonus until it was posted, " make me an offer." What a waste of time.

I believe with the the I Shop First deal, the scheduler does not get involved in the first few weeks. They are available for self-assign with no scheduler interference, but it wouldn't hurt to try.

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The more I learn about people...the more I like my dog..

Mark Twain

Something I have always wondered, even since the Maritz days: Some gas assignments ask at the end of the survey if the shopper is interested in doing the location again when next eligible for it and, if so, it will be automatically assigned at that time. I always assumed it would be assigned for the base fee, not the bonused amount I just completed it for and always choose NO. Has my assumption been correct? Base fee?

Yes, if you choose that option, it will be at base fee. I do one or two each month that way since they are in good condition and nearby.

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The more I learn about people...the more I like my dog..

Mark Twain

When that first came out, I said yes on all my shops, thinking I would get them at the same bonused rate. When I saw them assigned later at the base rate, I could not get on the phone fast enough to cancel them all.

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Negotiating Fees with Ipsos

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