I keep getting an email from a company that says they have a wonderful shop to do. Purchase a gift card at my local mall for $20.00 and they will pay me $15.95 plus a $2.95 fee. Is it just me or am I missing something here???

You are reading it a little incorrectly. The total payment is actually $15.95 (that INCLUDES a $2.95 fee). You will purchase a $20 giftcard, for which you will not be reimbursed. There is a $2.95 charge for the giftcard, so you will pay the mall $22.95. You will be paid $15.95, making your net fee $12 with no reimbursement. You keep and spend the $20 giftcard that you bought yourself. There is a lot of narrative. I have done several of these shops but stopped and won't do any more. I find the giftcards problematic when I try to spend them. And I don't care for the MSP that does the giftcard shops, although in their favor I will say they pay fast.

I've done a couple of them and frankly I just don't like dealing with gift cards. I try to spend the thing on the next shops I have coming up so I can get it out of my wallet. At least it is not a card that can only be spent at one store or at the mall. It is good to use anywhere. I too find the report a PITA.

o.k. So are what you are saying, you make $12.00 for buying the card? I'm new to all of this,forgive me. But why so much narrative on a gift card? It sounded like to me you would not have to count the time, customers, just go purchase it.
And why is there a problem when you try to spend it? Thank you for your input!

Gift cards are a problem to use at gas pumps and you most likely will need to go inside, and prepay the gas with the card. It works but not elegantly. At some stores the gift card is used as a credit card to work in their system, at other stores they want to use it as a debit card--except you have no pin. Only the store's own gift card can be used as a "gift card", yet at another store you can use it as a "gift card". In my area they will not sell the gift cards in denominations less than $25, so you can't buy a $20 gift card. You still have the $2.95 fee to pay but you now have an additional $5 to get off the gift card before trashing it.

Why so much narrative? Because they can require it? Lets describe the booth, the attendant, the signage, the verbatim interaction, the other customers, what the attendant was doing when you approached, how long it took to be acknowledged. And then lets get picky because gift card is not gift card but Giftcard and the attendant is not an attendant but an associate and not just an associate, an Associate. So lets see how many points we can deduct after you have written half a book about a 1 minute interaction . . .

Flash Wrote:

> Why so much narrative? Because they can require
> it? Lets describe the booth, the attendant, the
> signage, the verbatim interaction, the other
> customers, what the attendant was doing when you
> approached, how long it took to be acknowledged.
> And then lets get picky because gift card is not
> gift card but Giftcard and the attendant is not an
> attendant but an associate and not just an
> associate, an Associate. So lets see how many
> points we can deduct after you have written half a
> book about a 1 minute interaction . . .

Ugh. In general, this seriously annoys me. Not specifically about this shop or company, but in general. Speaking from the perspective of a shopper (and not necessarily as a mystery one!), some of the narratives, and even questions, are really just ridiculous. I hate it when inputting shops take 5 times longer than the actual shop! And sometimes, it takes much more than that, at least for me.

As for this company, the bottom line is that they want a summary of everything that happened from beginning to end, regardless of how the questions are answered. I've only completed one shop for them thus far. I know a lot of folks have trouble scoring well with them, so I guess I got lucky with a perfect 10 that time. Even still, I'll only do another shop for them IF it's something where the compensation matches the work. They do expect A LOT.

I did my first GC shop, a restaurant and really, this report took a long time. I was curious about when I'd be getting the GC, wrote to payroll, had an answer the next day, and was told next week.....I can live with that.
The GC jobs you guys are talking about are not in my area, so, no go for me.

I too find the narrative unreasonable on this job. Not worth the time it takes.

Now see I love this shop - it is such a breeze - maybe because I have done so many of them but I find it really easy to do and worth it. Often they are bonused in my area as well so that makes it even better.

Liz

I get an email from the same MSC almost everyday. But no bonuses. But from what I have read if the narratives are to long, I'll skip. I can't stand when the reports take longer than the drive, the length of time to stay in the shop and the cheap pay.

I get an email from the same MSC almost everyday. But no bonuses. But from what I have read if the narratives are to long, I'll skip. I can't stand when the reports take longer than the drive, the length of time to stay in the shop and the cheap pay.

And there is a lesson to be learned about receiving the same email day after day. It is that other shoppers have found that the shop is not worthwhile either. It pays to take a look at the shop and decide what kind of fee would make it worthwhile for you so that should they bonus you will know whether or not that got it to a fair fee for you rather than just grab at any kind of bonus.

I dont think they ever bonus. I have only been a shopper since July of this year, and have yet to see them offering a bonus. And you are most certainly correct about the other shoppers in my area, which I do not believe that there are alot of them, as I also get emails from other MSC's everyday about the same job that, yes, I have done , but have to wait so many days to do them again.):

I have gotten 5-10.00 bonuses on these shops as recently as a month ago. So perhaps it depends on the area.

As far as the narrative being long they just want you to go through each question sort of as a confirmation. It is no different than the box being there with the question and a space right under for a sentence.

I just narrate my experience, go back up and back sure I hit everything, add if I need to and hit submit. For 12.95 this is not a bad shop in my opinion.

Liz

This is not concerning the gift card shop. But, in the same vein, there's a shop that's been on the board here all month, with daily emails. $7, and it's less than five miles from me. It's not that I couldn't use the money, I could. The difference is that within the past three or four months, I have seen better fees and new shops. For anyone who's read my ramblings over the years, if a shop works for me, I have no compunction taking cheapo shops. (Nor do I feel responsible for keeping fees low.) As the $7 shop sits collecting dust, it would seem my competition is also finding better paying shops.

Yes, I have a MSC that is in so much stress that they want me to do the shop for double the pay. But since I have done this shop 3 times, the client wants to wait until my time is up, eg. no more than 3 times per season. Now when they come back to me in a few days they are going to lower the pay. eg. 40.00,for the season. If I do not take the shop it will go up and up and up,eg. 80.00 As told by from the MSC. I am the only one who can do this shop for this CO in my area. Seems like to me , if they can double the price at the last moment, they should keep the better offer intact. Any thoughts? Just sounds stupid.

There is a shop that is normally offered at $20 that I used to be age elgible for (and I am no longer). It was an unpopular enough shop that nobody wanted to do it so I rarely did it for less than $50 (and sometimes more if the previous visit was a PITA or the editor had been a PITA). I note these days the shop is routinely picked up at $20 and just chuckle. Shoppers in any given area are in a constant state of flux with old ones leaving or just moving on to other shops and new ones coming in anxious to earn their stripes. So while you may be the only one in the area currently eligible, Charlene, you never know when a new shopper will appear or an old shopper decide to resume doing the shop.

Yes, you are right. Guess I will see what happens. I'm sorry, I do not know what PITA means.

Pain In The A**

Your Funny!!!!!!!!!!! I'll for sure remember that one (: