@bradkcrew wrote:

@Datagirl wrote:

@drdoggie00 wrote:

Well, whaddaya know? Ty has finally come to Podunk....for $10.

No, thank you. -lol-

If it is just rolling out, the bonuses will be good around mid and end of month.

In my area the bonused fee topped out at $18 for the last round. I kept an eye on them so I know several locations did not get completed, but still when November hit they relisted them for $10 ($12 today). Maybe the good bonuses only come once multiple rounds have been missed.

They seemed to have some list of priority stores at the end of September and they got as high qs $35. I scooped up as many as i could but the window was small. Last week they got to 20 and that was it. It seems more people are getting in on the project.

I got an email today offering me a $300+ route of stores at $12 each.

I almost replied back, "You got-Ty be kidding me, right?"

Please do! I keep getting routes that are 8+ hours away at $10 each. It's such a joke.

I have a love hate relationship with CI. Right now it's more hate than love. Nothing wrong with them but they just get cheaper and cheaper with their work. Some of their schedulers and especially their project managers will lie to you. The key is to know when they are lying to you and not let them know that you know they are lying.

I see that they are holding tight at $18 and the deadline is tomorrow, so on the 15th they will flip back to $10. This will be the 2nd round that a lot of them in my area have been skipped. LOL, let me set my clock for Friday so I can sign up to do 3 rounds of work for $10! Also, doesn't it seem that the monthly locations should pay a little more that the bi-weekly?

I see a lot of the larger drug store chains being skipped. I have been taking careful notes as to who has what and all sorts of notes about the stores I have been to. I have been very selective on what I take for what fee. The one manager told me he would save that holiday display for me when I come back. He is also the one that told me to just go into the back and find the stock. Hard pass on that store next time.

Some of the monthly stores don't even have displays but they keep paying for us to go back until the client says otherwise. My guess is they are trying to get displays in those stores. I have already made it clear to my scheduler that I am not interested in building a display so everytime I go to one of those stores I ask if she is aware if a display has been shipped. If you wait until the end of the month to pick up a monthly visit, the fee will likely go higher.

I am doing as many as I can for what I feel is an fee. The hardest part for me lately is getting a manager name. Most of these smaller stores don't want to give the info or they have some really foreign name that I can't even spell. The associates are way too busy to spell it out for me so I do the best I can. Sorry TY but you are going to have to do some of the work on the phone!

@Datagirl wrote:

I see a lot of the larger drug store chains being skipped. I have been taking careful notes as to who has what and all sorts of notes about the stores I have been to. I have been very selective on what I take for what fee. The one manager told me he would save that holiday display for me when I come back. He is also the one that told me to just go into the back and find the stock. Hard pass on that store next time.

Some of the monthly stores don't even have displays but they keep paying for us to go back until the client says otherwise. My guess is they are trying to get displays in those stores. I have already made it clear to my scheduler that I am not interested in building a display so everytime I go to one of those stores I ask if she is aware if a display has been shipped. If you wait until the end of the month to pick up a monthly visit, the fee will likely go higher.

I am doing as many as I can for what I feel is an fee. The hardest part for me lately is getting a manager name. Most of these smaller stores don't want to give the info or they have some really foreign name that I can't even spell. The associates are way too busy to spell it out for me so I do the best I can. Sorry TY but you are going to have to do some of the work on the phone!

You are being sent to stores that don't carry TY products? How strange, but good for you! No such luck here, the monthly visits I have done all have inventory.

@bradkcrew wrote:

@Datagirl wrote:

I see a lot of the larger drug store chains being skipped. I have been taking careful notes as to who has what and all sorts of notes about the stores I have been to. I have been very selective on what I take for what fee. The one manager told me he would save that holiday display for me when I come back. He is also the one that told me to just go into the back and find the stock. Hard pass on that store next time.

Some of the monthly stores don't even have displays but they keep paying for us to go back until the client says otherwise. My guess is they are trying to get displays in those stores. I have already made it clear to my scheduler that I am not interested in building a display so everytime I go to one of those stores I ask if she is aware if a display has been shipped. If you wait until the end of the month to pick up a monthly visit, the fee will likely go higher.

I am doing as many as I can for what I feel is an fee. The hardest part for me lately is getting a manager name. Most of these smaller stores don't want to give the info or they have some really foreign name that I can't even spell. The associates are way too busy to spell it out for me so I do the best I can. Sorry TY but you are going to have to do some of the work on the phone!

You are being sent to stores that don't carry TY products? How strange, but good for you! No such luck here, the monthly visits I have done all have inventory.

I think I have 15 of those in my rotation, maybe more. No clue why they like wasting money.

I appreciate everyone's input. Have never done these shops and am thinking of picking some up. They're priced at $15 and $18 here with a few $10 shops thrown in.

Are conveience stores more annoying / difficult to do than drugstores?

@retrodaddy wrote:

I appreciate everyone's input. Have never done these shops and am thinking of picking some up. They're priced at $15 and $18 here with a few $10 shops thrown in.

Are conveience stores more annoying / difficult to do than drugstores?

Drug stores are bigger and usually have more than 1 display. A round and a square, sometimes they also have some on an endcap display. They also often have holiday displays as well as backstock. Those can be more time consuming. However, the one up the street from me has a tiny display and never has backstock. Sometimes you can do a little "pre" visit just to see what you are dealing with. The convenience stores tend to be easier. They don't always have backstock, they usually don't want more. But the displays are often dirty and sometimes broken.

After you do a few, it gets easier. Good luck.

I am a seasoned shopper. I have completed thousands of individual jobs for this MS company. When the Ty jobs were offered at $10 each, I selected 14 locations. The fee was low, but I assumed the jobs would be relatively quick. Let me tell you how that went….

DAY 1
The first location was a drug store with two displays. It was my first location, so it took a little longer. I was there for 1 hour, 27 minutes. Not only was that a LONG time, but one square display was stuffed with product forcing me to get on my hands and knees to reach inside all the way to the back of the display to retrieve it. FYI, I have bad knees. It was hard and painful to get off the floor. Thank God I had a buggy to help pull myself up.

DAY 2
The store was a gas station/convenience store. The owner was not there, and I was told to come back later. I was asked for and provided my contact information. The owner called me and wanted a telephone number of someone to call to place an order. He had been waiting for someone to visit the store. He asked me to return later that day. Since I am supposed to be the new Ty rep I agreed to do so. The job was partially completed and left open.

The next store on the same street down the block was also a gas/convenience store. I took the exterior photo, went inside, and was told to come back TWO days later to speak to the owner. I left without finishing the job.

I returned to the first store and met the owner. I gave him the electronic business card with a telephone number where he could reach out to Ty. I finished the job and submitted it.

DAY 3
I did a drug store with one tiny display. I was told the store did not want another display. I was in and out in 15-20 minutes. GREAT!

The next drug store (same chain as the one above) had two displays, crammed with as much product as possible. (FYI: The largest round display did not spin – so who built that?) No one from Ty had ever visited the store. The employees put out all products, and they did a crappy job. I had to remove all the product into buggies, sort to find the Easter and Halloween items, and replace all the product on the round rack. Again, it required I get down low on my hands and knees. This time, I borrowed a chair from pharmacy so I would not injure myself. It took 2 HOURS, 18 MINUTES to complete both displays. I had to call the MS company twice to find out what the Halloween and Easter items were that I was supposed to remove. I ended up spending considerable time researching the Ty websites to find the product names/descriptions. None of the items I found were in the guideline photo. I left that store vowing to NEVER do that again for $10!

DAY 4
Today I was supposed to return to a convenience store to speak to the owner. I noticed a huge mistake on my part. I accidentally uploaded photos from one convenience store into the re[ort for the store I was planning to visit. I called the MS company and got that straightened out. I told the scheduler the jobs took way too much time for $10. She increased the pay to $18 for the location that took 1 hr, 27 min. She also increased the pay to $20 for the store that took 2 hr, 18 min. I advised her I would not complete the remaining jobs for $10. She said okay and canceled all of them.

The following day the fee went to $12, then $15. I reapplied for three locations from my original list of 14 where I did not anticipate the need to get on the floor or down low. (I located a knee pad and small camp stool to take with me in case I needed them.) The three applications were removed TWICE but the jobs remained on the job board. I was black balled.

The weekend passed, and the fee increased to $18. I applied for another location from the original list. It was approved and I did the job. HOWEVER, the scheduler informed me after the fact that the fee would not be increased to $18 because I had canceled it six days earlier. She also removed an application for the one gas station where I was advised to return to speak to the owner. (I applied for that one location three times and was denied all three times. So much for wanting reps for these stores.)

FYI: ALL of the remaining locations that were cancelled are still on the job board, so the MS company cannot be too concerned about filling them.

@Dandydew - oh my, that's quite a rough experience. I have had locations ask me to come back or call the owner and I am reluctant to do that with my personal number, and well, I'm not really the full time Ty rep and that I am a contractor so it might be someone else that comes out the next visit. Most of them were understanding about that.
I also ran into an issue with all the past season merch. I took it all off the display, put it in the cart for the manager to clearance down (they agreed) and then the next visit, it was all back on the display. I have held off on taking any stores this month, my experiences at each store have unfortunately just been too inconsistent for the pay.

they start off small but they get bonused quickly here. i couldnt do them because my phone keep deleting the photos and refreshing

I'd almost rather risk a case of listeria.

Saw many TY store at $18 this morning, so I picked a few that I would pass by on my way home to "test water". By the evening, all $18 listings are gone including my applications. Everything back to $10...I guess due to 2nd half of the month kicks in. Lol good luck finding people especially during holiday season.

This new wrinkle of getting the General Manager's name and number is ridiculous. Ty fired their sales team, and now wants a merchandising company to play the roles they vacated. No idea if CI originally agreed to all this, or what on earth they are thinking or promised here. They've been doing business with these retailers for years, and can confirm this info on their own. Or CI can put some interns on the phone and make calls to gather this info.

I did a few rounds of these Ty projects and decided to put them on the 10 foot pole list. CI has gone about this whole thing in the most disorganized, inefficient way possible. Lots of feedback has been provided to them, but they just keep making the whole thing worse and worse. So, my sympathy meter is on low for them.

@Datagirl wrote:

I see a lot of the larger drug store chains being skipped. I have been taking careful notes as to who has what and all sorts of notes about the stores I have been to. I have been very selective on what I take for what fee. The one manager told me he would save that holiday display for me when I come back. He is also the one that told me to just go into the back and find the stock. Hard pass on that store next time.

Some of the monthly stores don't even have displays but they keep paying for us to go back until the client says otherwise. My guess is they are trying to get displays in those stores. I have already made it clear to my scheduler that I am not interested in building a display so everytime I go to one of those stores I ask if she is aware if a display has been shipped. If you wait until the end of the month to pick up a monthly visit, the fee will likely go higher.

I am doing as many as I can for what I feel is an fee. The hardest part for me lately is getting a manager name. Most of these smaller stores don't want to give the info or they have some really foreign name that I can't even spell. The associates are way too busy to spell it out for me so I do the best I can. Sorry TY but you are going to have to do some of the work on the phone!

Sorry, getting off topic and somewhat unrelated. But I was running some errands today, and I saw the TY display and spinner in all of its magical and glossy-eyed glory next to the greeting cards. Whoever arranged it did a superb job! $3.99, $7.99, $12.99. ... Hopefully, I'm talking about the right thing here.

This whole thread has been a huge blessing to me! Back when this job first started, I was tempted to take a location close to me, but thought I'd wait on the feedback from others....and I'm glad I have!!! Based on all the great observations here, I never did sign up for one of these. And I don't plan to now, either! Thanks to all for their helpful observations and input!!!