Recently, I watched an old horror movie. It starred Steve McQueen and a young girl who, I later learned was the girlfriend in an old TV rerun about a sheriff in a town named Mayberry.
Anyway, it was about a thing from outer space that kept absorbing everything in its path.
I say that because that certain MSC that currently has absorbed almost every gas station shop - think E/M, Shell, Marathon, P66 amongst others has now absorbed a home improvement shop named Menards. That was a shop that another MSC that currently has the Citgo shops used to have under its wing.
It makes me wonder. Is that MSC acting like the aforementioned Blob going to absorb the Citgo shops.
If so, what happens afterwards?
Will they have a monopoly and hence, be able to control our price and fee structure even more so?

@French Farmer wrote:

Will they have a monopoly and hence, be able to control our price and fee structure even more so?

The blob could always grow so large that it eventually fails. Look at all the companies that have gone under after periods of extended "growth" and expansion.

I think with them moving further away from Sassie and Shopmetrics and more towards Presto, they're courting what I would call the less serious shopper (for lack of a better phrase)...and that could turn around and bite them in the ass.

Hey, a girl can hope...

You just need to spray them with a fire extinguisher.

This "blob" still needs to get the work done. I just saw $200 Shell shops due TODAY 7/31. How many other msc put up that kind of $?

I've done a Panda Express for $40 payment. I never saw that with the five guys MSC who had Panda before them.

Even if they take more and more clients, they can try to lowball if they want, but people still hold out on the work and it goes up in price. So I guess what I'm saying is, I'm not really all the worried.

I got $200 to open a savings account this week with a painless report via the Blob. Not too bad, imho.

I'm not sure the concept of a monopoly/monopsony works against us.

It would work against the client. If they only had one choice of MSC they'd have to pay whatever The Blob charges or forego the service. A monopoly MSC is going to charge more for reports. But for us it doesn't really work that way because each shop is unique and their needs are much less flexible than ours.

You've never been able to choose between MSCs for the same job. If I like MSC "Plan9" and I hate MSC "BlackLagoon", it's not like I can say "Sure, I'll shop at Alice's Diner but only for Plan9." I either do it where it's offered or I don't. If Alice's Diner switches to The Blob, again I either do it where it's offered or I don't. Making the MSCs compete for me was never an option.

Also I don't know about you guys, but I don't do this full time. In a perfect world that would be an option for us. But it's not and I don't treat it like one, so I don't scrape the bottom of the barrel for every crappy listing. Meaning if I decline a job I'm not suffering as a result. But the MSC still needs it done. So they don't really have pricing power over me.

That said, anyone who really needs the money and has watched opportunities decline over the years, you have my genuine sympathy. And I recognize French Farmer mentioned gas stations specifically, which people do regularly route. If you're in a spot where you need the job no matter what, they do have pricing power over you. But my first point still holds - that would be equally true with 3 MSC each lowballing you and the consolidation is irrelevant.

To the contrary, what we should probably fear more is the opposite: MSCs competing against each other for clients by lowering their rates. The less they make, the less they can possibly pay us under any circumstance. If your goal is to shop Alice's Diner, you should be rooting for The Blob to demand $100 / location, rather than Plan9 charging $15 and BlackLagoon trying to steal the client by charging $14. In this particular sense, they are our ally and we should want them to make money.

Of course none of this prevents The Blob from being incompetent. That's annoying to see. I just don't see "monopoly" being the risk here.

It's not like the current Citgo MSC pays well for those shops anyway. Its base pay is lower than any of the gas stations The Blob currently holds.

This post is NOT addressed to the needy.

Two days ago, I completed my first gas station in 23 months. The reason: No MSC was willing to pay me an acceptable work:pay ratio for almost two years. These multi-billion dollar oil companies have a situation where they receive the information they desire AND charge the individual stations vastly more than the pittance shoppers are paid. As I am not in need, I simply pass on the meager sums and await my price to work. After all is said and done, this is STILL business.

Actually, a lot of other MSC’s offer those kinds of fees & even higher. I just did an easy 151 question price check that was $200. And $275 every 3 months for another company that has the jewelry resets. If everyone would stop accepting shops at base pay, it would force higher fees. But as long as I’ve been in this industry, the only times that happens is if the shops are out in the boonies where no one can make a decent route.

@hbbigdaddy wrote:

This "blob" still needs to get the work done. I just saw $200 Shell shops due TODAY 7/31. How many other msc put up that kind of $?
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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/02/2024 02:43AM by misspocos75.

Noooooooooooooooooo! I love the MSC that has Citgo!

Yes. It's nice to do work for a company that doesn't treat their contractors like used toilet paper.

I agree with @Amarsir and @drdoggie00.

The OP is specifically talking about The Blob getting new clients, not buying out MSCs. Both are fine, but the latter could require them to divest down the line if they do too many mergers. They are fine picking off clients, something all businesses do. Obviously, those clients are getting a better deal or else they would not have left the smaller MSCs. There are still a lot of MSCs out there, and they most seem to be doing well fending for themselves. This may actually benefit shoppers as it will force small MSCs to hit the pavement and try to bring new companies in to start mystery shopping programs. Only the MSCs that go out that do that - or pick off clients from even smaller MSCs - will survive.

The Blob does seem to be using the magic app more and more. That definitely lends to the person who just wants to make some beer money. Mystery shopping existed before the term "gig economy" became a part of our vernacular. While mystery shopping had been a full-time profession for many people for decades, what we know today as the gig economy was ushered in as America recovered from the 2008-09 recession. People needed an "easy" way to make extra money. All of this coincided with the release of the first smartphone and the app-world was born. Now, with the magic app, MSCs have a way to reach more people and also a certain kind of person: Someone who needs quick cash. That person could even be seen as more reliable than a professional shopper as the person who needs quick cash will likely follow through and have fewer schedule conflicts, than the professional shopper who may be trying to juggle a full log of jobs with 15 MSCs. Whether or not that is the case, I do not know. I do not think the magic app is as well known. When I search "make money gig apps" in the app store, the magic app does not come up. They need to retool their SEO, if they are trying to bring in non-professional shoppers. It's possible that is not their goal, and if that is the case it tosses everything I said out the window.

For shoppers to see more increased fees, there has to be a banning together in competitive areas to not accept jobs. That's just not going to happen as there will always be people who are in a near desperate situation for money. That's the other factor that rarely gets considered in the economic equation: Need. Supply and demand will always set the rhythm, but desperation sets the tone. The more desperate people are, the more likely they will take a base paying job to ensure they at least get some scraps. And The Blob? Well, they have all the algorithms to show them who the weaklings are and at what price they will bite. They always hold the Ace.