There are not any FREE lunches, FREE gas nor FREE anything in this business. Both schedulers and MSCs desire such thinking, but those thoughts can easily interfere with your success. I am not suggesting anyone abandon work that includes a reimbursement, but consider your time, travel and skill in report completion. It becomes quickly apparent what one receives is definitely not FREE.

Until a shopper ceases thinking, typing and/or speaking FREE, their progress in this business will be, at best, stymied.

I expect that almost everyone shopping knows the meals and such are not actually free, but I do get your point, Bob. Reimbursed or compensation-in-kind just doesn't roll off the tongue in the same way as "free" does, but we tend to conflate free with being simple/easy or no work involved.

I am very well aware of the value of the products that I receive, because when reimbursed for something I would buy anyway, the value goes up above the retail cost of the product, since I am not taxed on the money used to purchase said product.

And just swapping out the term reimbursed doesn't work for me, but there are a few kinds of reimbursed product; The reimbursed NEED, reimbursed WANT, reimbursed EXTRAVAGANCE and reimbursed UNUSABLE item. All of things have a different value to me.

Also, to state the obvious, everyone on this board is shopping for different reasons. Some do it to make a full-time living and others do it just to pick up some spare change or get to eat at places they normally would not afford to go with their own money.

My Texas Roadhouse is definitely not a reimbursed NEED in @SteveSoCalBut But I did not have Texas Roadhouse in urban Los Angeles area. Now that I'm in a different area, I have opportunity to go to Texas Roadhouse. The $50 reimbursement is $11 short of what I need to feed 3 of us. So I can either spend money buying food at Costco or grocery store and have wifey make it (which she doesn't like to do) or I can take her out for some steak which she would much rather prefer and have it only cost me $11. This is why I am willing to do TXRH shop. I'm weighing both options. If the shop was with a narrative-intense MSC, my attitude would certainly change.

But I won't take a 5G shop for less than $20 pay since it only feeds 1 person and their food is quite expensive compared to In N Out. I am getting more benefit from the TXRH (feeding 3) and spending $11, than I am going to 5G and trying to feed 3 (even with $20 pay).

But i agree with @shopperbob we will NOT see fees go up on retail things as long as people continue to do the same work year after year for the same shop pay while the MSC workers are getting raises. I highly doubt these schedulers you have seen for 10+ years sending emails are getting the same pay for those 10 years.

I waited for WF account opening for $200 instead of taking it at $80. I'm glad I waited. It would be 2.5 assignments at $80 to make up for 1 assignment at $200. Work smarter, NOT harder

There's one MSC with valet parking shops, Their email cracks me up - it says something like $X fee and reimbursed parking!"
well, hello.
I have to do the parking in order to do the shop....of course, it's reimbursed and I wouldn't have paid anyway if not for the shop (unless I need to be in that spot, but then they usually validate anyway).
The harder they have to sell them, the more you know.

I do like this discussion and reading everyone's perspectives. It helps me better navigate and define MS for me, going forward. Recently, for me, it came to light one factor I overlooked - time spent in addition to the shop/report.

This could be time on boards and platforms/apps (for others) - whether it be seeing if any new shops had posted, coordinating and arranging routes, monitoring bonuses, researching shop requirements / locations, etc. - It can get time-consuming. Especially with the magic/otter app, as I have read other shoppers' experiences.

I totally agree. In my reselling world, people like to offer "FREE" shipping. The word "FREE" appeals to buyers. Like in my mystery shopping world, there is nothing "FREE." Someone pays for the shipping. If I offer free shipping, which I don't except during the Christmas season, I have to incorporate the price of shipping into the price of the product I'm selling. If I don't, I take a loss. For those who are not business savvy, losses are not a good thing. Sometimes it happens, and sometimes it is necessary when starting a business. Once you are established, it should be a rare thing.

With mystery shopping, I would only take a reimbursement to shop if it were something I would do anyway. Other factors, like time and the amount of work involved, also have to be considered as others have mentioned. I'll do some food shops for reimbursement only, but the food has to be something I like and the job and report have to be simple. I'm not going to do 8 different timings, 15 photos, and fill in 5 or 6 narratives for one job. I don't mind doing car wash shops for reimbursement only when the car needs a clean out. Those jobs are generally straightforward, and the reports are as well. There is not a big time element involved either.

As noted by other posters, everybody's situation is different and one's situation may change over time. How we view all of this may change as well. My approach may not fit your business model. That's okay.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/27/2024 09:52PM by ServiceAward.

With some online retailers who only offer free shipping with a minimum purchase or monthly membership, to me, it seems like a way to entice customers to spend a little more. For tax purposes, the incurred losses can serve as useful carryovers in future years to offset good years.

@Okie wrote:

For tax purposes, the incurred losses can serve as useful carryovers in future years to offset good years.

That is true, but you still have to make sure you meet the IRS threshold of staying profitable for 3 out of 5 years or whatever it is now so you remain classified as a business. That said, Amazon was classified as a hobby in the early years for Jeff Bezos and he was okay with that as his business plan focused on long-term growth and market dominance. That method certainly paid off. I think it was almost a decade before Amazon turned a profit as they reinvested almost everything back into the company to build it out and up.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/27/2024 10:07PM by ServiceAward.

My son wants me to buy a 35 gallon service caddy so he can run through all of the Shell shops. I told him that if he wants to buy the caddy then he has to throw away ALL of the plastic gas cans and only use the caddy and the jerry cans, so he wants 6 more jerry cans too.

To piggyback on SteveSoCal's post (I just noticed I've always read your screenname to myself as SoCalSteve) and shopperbob's past post, I've added EXPERIENCES to my categories going forward, which can be interchangeable for EXTRAVAGANCE.

@Okie wrote:

, I've added EXPERIENCES to my categories going forward, which can be interchangeable for EXTRAVAGANCE.

That's why I enjoy luxury shops. They pay well, and I get to wear a $35,000 watch or $9,000 coat or $6,000 dress (which I'll never buy) for a few minutes. Nice, extravagant experiences!

@Okie wrote:

To piggyback on SteveSoCal's post (I just noticed I've always read your screenname to myself as SoCalSteve) and shopperbob's past post, I've added EXPERIENCES to my categories going forward, which can be interchangeable for EXTRAVAGANCE.

I see the experiences as a WANT...but there's definitely some cross-contamination between WANT & EXTRAVAGANCE. I NEED to eat, but a $200 dinner is not neccesary. Sometimes tacos will do, and afford me that extra hour of sleep that I really also WANT, more than a luxurious meal.

My username, BTW, was brought over from Volition when everyone moved from there to here. You were supposed to use your real name there and I didn't feel comfortable with adding a last initial, and there were a few Steve's, so I went with a geographocal locator.

@Okie wrote:

With some online retailers who only offer free shipping with a minimum purchase or monthly membership, to me, it seems like a way to entice customers to spend a little more.

Sandy wrote For me those retailers only encourage me to buy from amazon where shipping is free. Jeff Bezos as Service award mentions below had a good thing going and his profit keeps on turning a profit.

For tax purposes, the incurred losses can serve as useful carryovers in future years to offset good years.

That is true, but you still have to make sure you meet the IRS threshold of staying profitable for 3 out of 5 years or whatever it is now so you remain classified as a business. That said, Amazon was classified as a hobby in the early years for Jeff Bezos and he was okay with that as his business plan focused on long-term growth and market dominance. That method certainly paid off. I think it was almost a decade before Amazon turned a profit as they reinvested almost everything back into the company to build it out and up.[/quote]

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/28/2024 07:19PM by sandyf.

@SteveSoCal wrote:

My username, BTW, was brought over from Volition when everyone moved from there to here. You were supposed to use your real name there and I didn't feel comfortable with adding a last initial, and there were a few Steve's, so I went with a geographocal locator.

What do the kids call it these days? Mind-blown. Thank you for sharing that nugget. Is that why so many some of the usernames are structured like that?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/28/2024 06:42PM by Okie.

@Morledzep wrote:

My son wants me to buy a 35 gallon service caddy so he can run through all of the Shell shops. I told him that if he wants to buy the caddy then he has to throw away ALL of the plastic gas cans and only use the caddy and the jerry cans, so he wants 6 more jerry cans too.

I thought of something like that in the past, but that is going to be one very heavy caddy when full.

@mystery2me wrote:

@Morledzep wrote:

My son wants me to buy a 35 gallon service caddy so he can run through all of the Shell shops. I told him that if he wants to buy the caddy then he has to throw away ALL of the plastic gas cans and only use the caddy and the jerry cans, so he wants 6 more jerry cans too.

I thought of something like that in the past, but that is going to be one very heavy caddy when full.

yep, it won't fit into his car anyway. we'll be bringing home the cans and pouring the gas into the caddy. So we'll end up having about 75 - 80 gallons of gasoline here at any given time, with room for more. That should cover us in almost any kind of emergency, and he'll always be able to bring home all of his required gas purchases.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/03/2024 07:59PM by Morledzep.

Perhaps those that are doing the reimbursement only shops will remember why they had to replace tires, change oil and fill up with gas sooner than usual.
Car maintenance costs have increased and will not be decreasing.

A wise shopper might want to consider that fact when deciding to take a reimbursement only or even a minimal fee shop.

This is a great thread! I always took into account the value to ME of whatever was being reimbursed along with the pay. Resale value on eBay, gifts to friends, family, or charity, or simply my own consumption all had the potential to be factored into the total compensation package, or not factored in at all.
Sometimes the reimbursement amount did not cover the required purchase, so that got taken into account as well in the form of a reduction from the total package.
From the MSC's perspective, there may be several reasons for emphasizing the reimbursement amounts. For Servimer it is primarily to reassure shoppers that the FULL parking fee and valet tips WILL be reimbursed, without a time limit or capped dollar amount (except for overnight stays). As a shopper, I personally learned the hard way that the number displayed in the recruiting email may or may not include the reimbursement amount, with indeterminate expenditures still required. Moreover, for our shops, It would totally suck as a shopper to agree to a parking shop, and only once on site find out that the reimbursement is capped below the unexpected special event rate, or that your time is limited to under an hour when you had planned on doing other shops while parked for a parking shop.
Keep up the great conversation, all!
Thanks for letting me be a part of this community.

@ServimerScott wrote:

I always took into account the value to ME of whatever was being reimbursed along with the pay. Resale value on eBay, gifts to friends, family, or charity, or simply my own consumption all had the potential to be factored into the total compensation package, or not factored in at all.

When I read another shopper's post about factoring in the reimbursement amount for gifts already being purchased for grandchildren, I could see where that made sense.

@ServimerScott wrote:

From the MSC's perspective, there may be several reasons for emphasizing the reimbursement amounts. For Servimer it is primarily to reassure shoppers that the FULL parking fee and valet tips WILL be reimbursed, without a time limit or capped dollar amount (except for overnight stays).

Thank you for posting. For me, it's been rare to see MSCs engaging in forums outside of Mystery Shopping Job Board.

Also, I like how you spoke about your experience as a shopper.

I appreciate people wanting to eat “free” but it diminishes returns for patient shoppers -a point that has been made many, many times. Del Taco is already “cheap” and if you want to sample something wait for the coupon mailer. What made me hundreds of dollars per day was a non factor now that people want “free” -again not my business. But you should respect your own worth and make more than minimum wage.

I honesty have a hard time fathoming how someone could make a living from mystery shopping only.

At this point in my life, I'm putting somebody else's needs ahead of my own. [Before you start thinking I'm a selfish so-and-so, I'm single and don't have kids.] I'm taking care of an elderly mother who views eating restaurant food (any restaurant food) as a special treat. Sorry, folks; if it's food she likes and it makes her happy, I'm taking it. I don't fault anybody who feels differently.

JimmyP, it's exceedingly difficult even when you don't have to pay rent or a mortgage. I guess that explains why I'm about to begin a full-time job.

@Morledzep wrote:

My son wants me to buy a 35 gallon service caddy so he can run through all of the Shell shops. I told him that if he wants to buy the caddy then he has to throw away ALL of the plastic gas cans and only use the caddy and the jerry cans, so he wants 6 more jerry cans too.

Inquiring minds need to know:
1. Why jerry vs plastic?
2. Where to buy jerrys?

I'm guessing that jerry is sturdier, I have had plastic split at the seams - luckily when nearly empty.

Also, plastic has those dysfunctional "safety" features that make them virtually unuseable. Don't they test these things before sending the plan off to China for manufacture? Do jerrys have those now?

I ask because this is your wheelhouse, I was always curious and I'm a little ingorant on this subject so your insight is valuable. Thank you!

@JimmyP wrote:

I honesty have a hard time fathoming how someone could make a living from mystery shopping only.

I think it's harder than it has ever been, but you really have to take a look at what 'making a living' really means...

During the short time I worked professionally as a f/t shopper, I had a rent controlled apartment, a car that was paid off, and lived in an urban area where there were a lot of assignment available. I had two goals each month;
1. Fully offset my food costs
2. Earn enough $$ to pay my basic bills (rent, power, internet)

I was able to do that by working constantly, but realized that for me it was only a temporary situation. I could not really support myself long-term since there was not enough money to save for any additional expenses in life, afford health insurance (this was before the ACA) or take any of the cool travel assignments I started to get offers for. I would have to concentrate solely on #1 and #2, and over time, there are only so many storage locations you can visit. Then the car starts to break down, or you get sick, and start to fall behind. It was not sustainable for me, even at the pay rates 20 years ago.

In the end, I realized that if it came down to only looking at the money, I made more working directly for a MSC as a scheduler/editor than as a shopper. I did that for a year and was miserable, but that really was my answer for how to make a living at MSing. Be part of the MSC.

I know a lot of other shoppers live of passive income of some sort, have situations that keep their personal expenses down, or have cultivated relationships with MSCs that provide better pay rates than most, but for me, turning MSing into a side gig changed my relationship with it. When you don't need the work, you can pick & chose you shops based on whatever your wants are; Additional money, great food, vacations, etc.

I'm sure it probably is harder than ever. It's not something I ever considered and didn't even know it was a thing when I started. One thing I see is some people complain about others accepting reimbursement only shops. But I wonder if people that rely on mystery shopping for their sole income might take low-paying non-reimbursement shops. Aren't people doing phone call shops for $2?

For me, not being picky about what shops to choose would be difficult for me. Some of the scenarios are ridiculous and shopping car salesmen, etc. is not for me. But if anyone actually makes a living on it, that is impressive. It just seems like it would be a lot of time with thin margins.

Doing scheduling and editing makes more sense as a possibility as a full-time job. I have dabbled in editing and didn't really enjoy it either. But I was more talking about just doing shopping.

I have a full-time job and do shopping as a hobby, mostly for restaurants and hotels, and I find that enjoyable. I am definitely with you on it being a side gig.

@SteveSoCal wrote:

@JimmyP wrote:

I honesty have a hard time fathoming how someone could make a living from mystery shopping only.

I think it's harder than it has ever been, but you really have to take a look at what 'making a living' really means...

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/04/2024 01:25PM by JimmyP.

Ses, plus there are many more reasons.. let me give you a list of the many reasons metal jerry cans are better:

1. they pack in the back of the car better, take up less floor space. Be prepared to carry a blanket with them, they make noise when they are empty.
2. they don't dribble when you pour the gasoline out.
3. we don't need to use a funnel to hold open the baffle on the fuel filler neck.
4. the plastic cans split, blister and crack
5. the filler spouts are interchangeable. What fits on one jerry can fits on all of them.
6. I can buy 4 new jerry cans on ebay for $120(ish), the price went up $3 since I bought the last 4.
7. The handles work better for me with the nerve damage in my hand, I don't need my son to pour the gas for me anymore.

I'm sure I could think of more given time, but I'm not even done with my first cup of coffee and thinking clearly is still at least one more cup away..

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/03/2024 08:02PM by Morledzep.

Thanks! I'm going to try to find some.

I think the best reason for me would be the air release valve. Those plastic cans are a pain to use and take forever to empty with no air valve. To sped things up with the plastic cans I use a modified funnel to fill my car (I take the spouts off,) and I almost always spill a little and the cans are usually convered with a coat of gas, as is the funnel. I don't use them as often with the lower gas reimbursements, which is kind of a relief, but I do miss not having to buy gas.