Mystery Shopping Hacks?

I have a similar spreadsheet with a tab for each month. I record the jobs I do, mileage, expenses and reimbursements and then I highlight the rows after getting payment.
I try not to ever get behind a month or two. Its much easier to keep up than to catch up. Helps a lot at tax time.

@MMMM wrote:

For payment tracking:

I track all of my completed shops on a Schedule C Excel worksheet. As payments are received, I enter them throughout the month. I have a calendar reminder every month to look at the shop from three months prior to that one to see if all the payments were received.
Each calendar year gets a new sheet. It helps at tax time.

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Hi there, any chance you can say which companies offer USPS mystery shops?

@MsJudi wrote:

I use sheet cheats for shops i do repeatedly such as gas station brands and USPS. They help to zip through the shops w/o missing anything. I add/delete info as shop guidelines get updated.

Would you mind sharing which companies offer USPS shops?

Some MS companies require shoppers to confirm, under threat of prosecution (or firing), that they have not made any recordings (audio or video) of the interaction during the shop, so you might want to be careful.

@Susan L. wrote:

Some MS companies require shoppers to confirm, under threat of prosecution (or firing), that they have not made any recordings (audio or video) of the interaction during the shop, so you might want to be careful.

Interesting. Another twist.

@Susan L. wrote:

Some MS companies require shoppers to confirm, under threat of prosecution (or firing), that they have not made any recordings (audio or video) of the interaction during the shop, so you might want to be careful.

I've not run across that, but the MSC has no authority to have anybody prosecuted. That would take a complaining witness, namely the "victim."

In a practical sense, nobody will know you are recording unless you tell someone or decide to do something stupid with the recording. Loose lips sink ships.

You can throw it all away. When things break, things shatter. Keep it written on your face, the little details matter.

@ServiceAward wrote:

I've not run across that, but the MSC has no authority to have anybody prosecuted. That would take a complaining witness, namely the "victim."

In a practical sense, nobody will know you are recording unless you tell someone or decide to do something stupid with the recording. Loose lips sink ships.

I have observed a lot of absent-minded behavior lately. (There's a better name for this than "absent-minded." ) If people can accidentally upload the same photo to two different shops, or a totally wrong photo, they might also accidentally upload the wrong mp3 file to a report.

That's why I suggested to be careful.

(Edited to delete an emoji that showed up!)

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/17/2024 03:37AM by Susan L..

I am adding my solution to a problem I was encountering.

I moved my store into its current location almost 14 yrs. ago. As shopper's desires changed, I was spending far more time and money traveling to restock than it was economically sensible; fortunately for me, Kroger changed MSC. The fees increased, the hrs. expanded, the communication improved and the bonuses became more frequent.

As all shoppers eat, if one has an area that is traveled for any reason during 8 store hrs., unless there is an aversion to Kroger, consider defraying expenses.

To the narrative averse, Kroger requires zero and add, if possible, a fuel for an extra $10+$2.

Here's one I forgot to mention; I you are someone like me who is always chasing airline miles, sign up for all of the (free) affiliate programs they offer. The AAdvantage dining program, for instance. I have all my credit cards attached to that. I did a dinner shop a few month ago and got an email that restaurant was offering promotion for double miles on all $$ spent there, so I got a decent bonus out of a dinner I was completely reimbursed for.

@ServiceAward wrote:

In a practical sense, nobody will know you are recording unless you tell someone or decide to do something stupid with the recording. Loose lips sink ships.

For me, I've never felt comfortable recording, but I understand why shoppers would.
Loose lips sink ships. - That's how I feel about AI. I thought about sharing something, but probably best not to even bring it up.

I am not good with making the spreadsheet and i think i could trust my self to keep it up to date if there is anyone that can send me their spread sheet. Also, is it easier to do a hand held ledger spreadsheet thing?

@melysz wrote:

I am not good with making the spreadsheet and i think i could trust my self to keep it up to date if there is anyone that can send me their spread sheet. Also, is it easier to do a hand held ledger spreadsheet thing?

I'm not sure how I'd send you a spreadsheet but I have it set up with the
date, time, business, reimbursement, actually expenses, pay, total for reimbursement and pay, date paid, additional expenses (travel or parking), notes, MSC, address for shop, mileage

So for Kroger I might have
7/15/24, 11am-7pm, Kroger, $9, $9.42, $9, $18, 8/15/24, n/a, n/a, MSC, 123 main street, 5.8 miles

I have it set up to add by the month as well as by the year.

I hope that helps some.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/18/2024 06:43PM by olympia tennenbaum.

I'm laughing right now at how the "Which companies shop (business name)" question has been completely ignored. Twice! Hahahahaha.....

@LV_MysteryShopper wrote:

@MsJudi wrote:

I use sheet cheats for shops i do repeatedly such as gas station brands and USPS. They help to zip through the shops w/o missing anything. I add/delete info as shop guidelines get updated.

Would you mind sharing which companies offer USPS shops?

No one can share which MSCs shop which businesses. It is a part of your IC contract that you will not divulge info such as clients.

The best advice is to read a ton here and try to learn. Also, sign up for as many companies as you can to get as many opportunities as you can in your geographic area.

@sestrahelena wrote:

I'm laughing right now at how the "Which companies shop (business name)" question has been completely ignored. Twice! Hahahahaha.....

I felt kind of bad, actually. He/she asked so politely!

And @olympia tennenbaum really going out of his/her away to help everyone

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/19/2024 10:48AM by Okie.

I'd be a better person if I had Olympia's patience! But, alas, I was apparently AWOL the day they handed out that quality.

@sestrahelena wrote:

I'd be a better person if I had Olympia's patience! But, alas, I was apparently AWOL the day they handed out that quality.

Now that is a joke because I basically have none.

I remember being brand new and it's frustrating feeling like you want to jump in but have no clue. Personally, I feel like reading a ton on here helped me get started. I also tried to follow the advice about signing up for all companies but didn't quite complete that goal.

I guess the only other hint I'd have would be to read the company thread. Sign up for the companies being discussed at a bare minimum. And take heed of any warnings over there, especially about non payment.

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