Mystery Shop Dry Spell

February has been TOUGH! Finding a decent paying shop has been really tough, and I'm in the metro ATL. My go to's; MF and Intelli are lowballing with shops as low as $3! My threshold is at least double digits and I'm not touching these, but its been brutal month I'm actually giving the <$10 shops a thought (please talk me out of it).

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@jlovesnyc wrote:

February has been TOUGH! Finding a decent paying shop has been really tough, and I'm in the metro ATL. My go to's; MF and Intelli are lowballing with shops as low as $3! My threshold is at least double digits and I'm not touching these, but its been brutal month I'm actually giving the <$10 shops a thought (please talk me out of it).

My argument would be that if you take lowball shops then the MSC's have you right where they want you. They are lowballing because people are taking them. I agree with your frustration though. Some of the fees are insulting, as if our time and expertise are not valuable.

I would say don’t take the low ball shops unless you really, really need the money.. I try to never take a shop under $15 no matter how easy unless it’s an Aldi shop I will do those occasionally for less than $15.
I also totally get that some people need to take whatever they can get due to circumstances, financial strain etc. February hasn’t been a great earning month for me either.. hang in there I know things seem to really pick up in my area in the Spring and Summer months so hopefully March will be a better month for you!

It's almost March- Shops for next month should be posted soon. Also MF and Intellishop are known to have lower shop pays (and are stingy with bonuses). I rarely do shops with them unless they accept my bonus offers. What other MSCs are you registered with? You might want to sign up with more MSC to increase your chances of finding higher paying jobs.

The March stuff is out and it's also <$10 garbage. Confero even had April stuff out there. I'm signed up with the obvious players.... Selevel, ath, hs brands, and about thirty others. Super lean everywhere I look.

jloves,
How many MSCs are you signed up with? The two you named are not going to offer what you want. If you are not signed up with at least 50 MSCs you cannot expect to stay busy in the MS world, even if you usually work with only 10 of them you will need all that many, and maybe more tos ee a lot of shops.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.

Below are the msc's that I have worked for. Its a small list, please share any that you may have.

360 Intel
Alta 360
ACP
A Closer Look
Amusement Advantage
Anne Michaels
ath Power
BES
Bare
BMA
Business Solutions
Confero
Consumer Insights
CSE
Customer 1st
Customer Impact
Custom Risk Solutions
Customer Service Profiles
Dyn. Adv.
GFK
Goodwin
Informa
Intelli-Shop
International Service Check
Jancyn
JM Ridgeway
Ipsos
Kinesis
Maritz
Market Force
MS Services
Northfork
Pinnacle
Presto Metrics
Restaurant Cop
RBG
See Level
Service check
Service Sleuth
Shared Insight
Shopper Hub
Shoppers Inc.
Sinclair
Source
Strategic Reflections
TSS
White Clay

[www.mysteryshopforum.com]

You just need to dig into the list and start registering. Of the 8 MSC's for which I worked last week on my route, you only have one on your list. I'm at a bit over 100 companies and, whenever I feel like I should be scheduling more work but can't find any, I start signing up for more companies. Most don't have much near me, but, in time, I do find more work.

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

Would you share your list of companies? thanks.

I am with over 100 companies at this point. The list I linked is that list - plus a bunch more. I prefer to not share the ones with which I most frequently work as I don't have any desire to create more competition for myself. However, they are all on the linked list.

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

Just go to the list of about 200 legitimate MSCs at the foot of this page and start signing up. That is your sweat equity in this business. Every day that you want a shop or more shops, and do not have that, sign up for 5 more MSCs and search their job boards. We have no idea what shops, or MSCs any one shopper may like or hate. The only way to find out will be trial and error. Fortunately, for any MSC you consider, you can use the forum search function to find one or more discussions about what others happen to love/hate about that MSC.

ALSO, remember that until you have done several lower priced shops for each company, and gotten excellent reviews for them, you may not even see the most attractive shops on you view of their job board. How many shops per MSC have you actually done for each of the ones that you have applied for shops with??? If less than 5, perhaps you just have not yet qualified to see thrit other shops.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/25/2019 09:33PM by walesmaven.

Pretty sure that JlovesNYC is on the NE coast and you are on the NW coast? I know you travel but didn't think you made it to NYC often.

@MFJohnston wrote:

I am with over 100 companies at this point. The list I linked is that list - plus a bunch more. I prefer to not share the ones with which I most frequently work as I don't have any desire to create more competition for myself. However, they are all on the linked list.

And folks all over the country read these posts...

@JASFLALMT wrote:

Pretty sure that JlovesNYC is on the NE coast and you are on the NW coast? I know you travel but didn't think you made it to NYC often.

@MFJohnston wrote:

I am with over 100 companies at this point. The list I linked is that list - plus a bunch more. I prefer to not share the ones with which I most frequently work as I don't have any desire to create more competition for myself. However, they are all on the linked list.

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

While that is true, this forum also has a wonderful PM feature, LOL. But I hear ya, I am not wiling to publicly share all of my faves, either.

@MFJohnston wrote:

And folks all over the country read these posts...

@JASFLALMT wrote:

Pretty sure that JlovesNYC is on the NE coast and you are on the NW coast? I know you travel but didn't think you made it to NYC often.

@MFJohnston wrote:

I am with over 100 companies at this point. The list I linked is that list - plus a bunch more. I prefer to not share the ones with which I most frequently work as I don't have any desire to create more competition for myself. However, they are all on the linked list.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

Pretty sure that JlovesNYC is on the NE coast and you are on the NW coast? I know you travel but didn't think you made it to NYC often.

@MFJohnston wrote:

I am with over 100 companies at this point. The list I linked is that list - plus a bunch more. I prefer to not share the ones with which I most frequently work as I don't have any desire to create more competition for myself. However, they are all on the linked list.

She/he said they were in metro Atlanta area...so maybe someone there has suggestions they don't mind sharing.

Apparently. These are tightly kept secrets amongst shopper circles. Lol

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