Ty plush inventory

I see the MSC is inching their way up $3 at a time. Probably won't get to what I was paid for them before the end of the year. So sad they don't just see waiting til the last minute to increase the pay is not working.

Create an Account or Log In

Membership is free. Simply choose your username, type in your email address, and choose a password. You immediately get full access to the forum.

Sometimes when I hold out, I get lucky and get emails for nicely bonused things from other companies. I had a $60 gas station last weekend. Last night, I was emailed about doing screenshot shops for a utility company from the comfort of my home. Since we're getting a nice dump of snow right now, I am glad I didn't have a route of these lined up.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/11/2024 09:42PM by joanna81.

@big_sky_thunder wrote:

I see the MSC is inching their way up $3 at a time. Probably won't get to what I was paid for them before the end of the year. So sad they don't just see waiting til the last minute to increase the pay is not working.

Or maybe it is working out just fine.

They don't seem to be too worried about missed visits until several have been skipped. They edge the fee up a bit and if someone takes it, fine, if not they just start over at $10 the next cycle.

In my area there are now several locations that have not been visited since the 1st October round. So, this will be the 4th visit that will be skipped, yet they are still only offering $18 as of today. Eventually, maybe the last week of December, they will decide 5 missed visits are too many and they will pony up $35 again so someone will take them. They actually end up saving a lot of money with that strategy!

@bradkcrew wrote:

@big_sky_thunder wrote:

I see the MSC is inching their way up $3 at a time. Probably won't get to what I was paid for them before the end of the year. So sad they don't just see waiting til the last minute to increase the pay is not working.

Or maybe it is working out just fine.

They don't seem to be too worried about missed visits until several have been skipped. They edge the fee up a bit and if someone takes it, fine, if not they just start over at $10 the next cycle.

In my area there are now several locations that have not been visited since the 1st October round. So, this will be the 4th visit that will be skipped, yet they are still only offering $18 as of today. Eventually, maybe the last week of December, they will decide 5 missed visits are too many and they will pony up $35 again so someone will take them. They actually end up saving a lot of money with that strategy!

Good points. I think some locations don't necessarily turn over the merch fast enough to require multiple visits per month too.

Inching their way the wrong direction. Now down $6 from last week.

There are several locations in my area, but so far I've resisted the urge to try one. The large grocery store locations are at $30; the convenience stores are at $22.

That would be some nice post-holiday cash, but....I'm taking two giant steps back.

If your path dictates you walk through hell, do it as though you own the place. -unknown

Drdoggie - the convenience stores at 22 are probably not bad. I found that the grocery stores took longer due to tracking down the manager and finding any backstock in their warehouse area.

@drdoggie00 wrote:

There are several locations in my area, but so far I've resisted the urge to try one. The large grocery store locations are at $30; the convenience stores are at $22.

That would be some nice post-holiday cash, but....I'm taking two giant steps back.

Give the c-store a shot. Not as bad as it seems. Besides, you get to play with stuffed animals!!

@Datagirl wrote:

@drdoggie00 wrote:

There are several locations in my area, but so far I've resisted the urge to try one. The large grocery store locations are at $30; the convenience stores are at $22.

That would be some nice post-holiday cash, but....I'm taking two giant steps back.

Give the c-store a shot. Not as bad as it seems. Besides, you get to play with stuffed animals!!

Yeah, unless no one has service the display in a while and every cubby is stuffed with random things so you have to tear it all out and start from zero... >_<

@bradkcrew wrote:

@big_sky_thunder wrote:

I see the MSC is inching their way up $3 at a time. Probably won't get to what I was paid for them before the end of the year. So sad they don't just see waiting til the last minute to increase the pay is not working.

Or maybe it is working out just fine.

They don't seem to be too worried about missed visits until several have been skipped. They edge the fee up a bit and if someone takes it, fine, if not they just start over at $10 the next cycle.

In my area there are now several locations that have not been visited since the 1st October round. So, this will be the 4th visit that will be skipped, yet they are still only offering $18 as of today. Eventually, maybe the last week of December, they will decide 5 missed visits are too many and they will pony up $35 again so someone will take them. They actually end up saving a lot of money with that strategy!

I made the mistake of taking a route of the non visited locations for $20. Never again. Total chaos. I had to spent 1 hour in multiple locations peeling blue, redoing displays tracking backstock. On the other hand someone in my area took a few locations for $10 that have 3+ round displays and loads of inventory. Good luck to the person!

@Datagirl wrote:

Give the c-store a shot. Not as bad as it seems. Besides, you get to play with stuffed animals!!

I'm a little embarrassed to admit handling the stuffed animals is kind of gratifying. They are pretty cute.

@mystery2me wrote:

@Datagirl wrote:

Give the c-store a shot. Not as bad as it seems. Besides, you get to play with stuffed animals!!

I'm a little embarrassed to admit handling the stuffed animals is kind of gratifying. They are pretty cute.

yeah, until your hands start bleeding from all the moisture they suck out. >_<

I have been going an abundance of these and really enjoying them. For the first time the reassigned me a route of v1 for $10 and v2 for $15. Then I ge paid $20 more if I build a display. The cool thing is the places I go to and set up nice displays start selling beanies like crazy. 2 locations were just reconized by having Valentines ty’s and Disney and hero displays sent. Some of my locations get on the phone to order while i’m there. I love setting up the displays. Some C stores don’t have displays or backstock so I straighten things up and leave the phone number. Some of those are the rarely visited locations so they are priced higher. I can do 10 a day on my days off from day job. Only expense for me is the gas. I like them.

Please dont continue to let CI assign you these at $10. If you are routing them, they will pay $18-20 per location. Make sure you get this from them. These shouldn't be completed at $10, its way too much work for that. They are taking advantage of you.

@rargirl wrote:

I have been going an abundance of these and really enjoying them. For the first time the reassigned me a route of v1 for $10 and v2 for $15. Then I ge paid $20 more if I build a display. The cool thing is the places I go to and set up nice displays start selling beanies like crazy. 2 locations were just reconized by having Valentines ty’s and Disney and hero displays sent. Some of my locations get on the phone to order while i’m there. I love setting up the displays. Some C stores don’t have displays or backstock so I straighten things up and leave the phone number. Some of those are the rarely visited locations so they are priced higher. I can do 10 a day on my days off from day job. Only expense for me is the gas. I like them.

Have you actually built any displays yet? I think that is worth way more than $20. I told them I would need $50 to build any of those spinners. No way I was doing that for $20. Never had to build one though. Stores didn't want them.

And I agree, $10 is not really enough unless they have little to no inventory. Most of mine pay $15 and up. If nobody else is doing them in your area, you can negotiate or wait for the prices to increase.

I hate to add on that the $10 is too low but rargirl. I am glad you enjoy these, I found some of them to be satisfying too, but I hope you consider waiting for the fees to increase.
When I look at a fee, I automatically take 15% off that number for self-employment taxes, then our other overhead like vehicle costs, time, data, phone, any paper/ink to print out the guidelines, etc. If you do 10 on one of your days off for $100, you are really getting more like $60-70. I'm not sure how long the 10 locations would take you and if it is worth it at that price.

I now look for these disiplays in every pharmacy, convenience store or grocery I am in and make note of it in case the fee ever gets to being worth it.

@big_sky_thunder wrote:

I now look for these disiplays in every pharmacy, convenience store or grocery I am in and make note of it in case the fee ever gets to being worth it.

LOL I do that too and if I see a display that is nicely arranged, I give a kudos in my head to the merchandiser.

The $10 is for no inventory order visit 1. I have built displays several types. The square displays are the worst. The round no sweat the boxes with stands are challenging but ok. I got paid $20 more for every box I made and display. At one drug store I built 3 in one visit. They paid for them all.

I usually do 2-3 other big shops on my off day- scanned a convenience store with bonus go out to dinner maybe a bank one plus 10-15 beanies locations. There are clusters of 5 locations in a group in my area. I can go do 5 have lunch do 5-10 more usually out and about for 4 hours. Most locations do not have backstock. If they sell beanies a lot, the store employees put them out so shelf is not empty. If they sell few, there is not much to do just some arranging and/or explaining to convenience store owners they now have to call to make the order, I don’t make it. $10 is the lowest i’ve seen them at. I hope they don’t go down.

Yes, $10 is base. Most of us doing these for any period of time know that you just wait a week after they are posted and they are up to $18-20. You don't need to snatch them up at $10 if you are worried someone else is going to take them. Obviously up to you if you want to work for so little $$, but you don't have to...just wait a week.

The project manager sent one email listing all the shops in the area. I offered to do one to improve my score since I screwed up on one by mis categorizing an item. Not seeing the long list of them like in December.

Do not read so much, look about you and think of what you see there.
Richard Feynman-- letter to Ashok Arora, 4 January 1967, published in Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track (2005) p. 230

I've never seen Ty plushie resets on any of the boards for the companies I'm signed up with, but now I want to play with some beanies!

The company no longer does mystery shops, just merchandising.

I have built all of the types of displays. The spinner is easy to put together the shelves are pre assembled and you just put together the puzzle. Same with Bouncer. The holiday boxes, if they are the big ones with cardboard stand are a pain, but not heavy at least. The square spinner is awful to put together. The parts come in a big sheet of that white material. You punch out all the parts. Idk how long it took. Thank goodness counting the square display balls is easy 12*8 minus the empty spots…..I’m seeing beanies. A crazy collector gave me a sheet of retired ones today and asked me to text her the location of these Beanies. Of course I said no but was interesting encounter in a C-store. I recommended CVS for widest selection. I agree i’m working too hard to get all of these done. I’m beat. 40 locations so far this week 29 more to go over next week. Thankfully some are paying more than 10. I think Beanie bouncers might be tennis balls with covers.

I made a major error on one of my shops so my shopper score was lowered (I sat and debated whether or not the roundies were bouncers or beanie balls. I missed that they were bouncers which was on the main sign on the display. I picked up one @ $10. They really are not profitable at $10 as finding the back stock and when the last order was placed can be time consuming. Also, I don't do the grocery store ones in my area since finding out who knows about the last order is maddening.

Not to tell you what to do, but I will anyway.

You are going to need to be proactive in letting them know you will not take another route with $10 locations. They will work with you (or they will take advantage of you as they are currently doing). I'd ask for the same locations but at $20/location. They'll likely agree to it, or offer $18/location. Good luck!

@wrosie wrote:

The company no longer does mystery shops, just merchandising.

@Cassiespark wrote:

Not to tell you what to do, but I will anyway. You are going to need to be proactive in letting them know you will not take another route with $10 locations. They will work with you (or they will take advantage of you as they are currently doing). I'd ask for the same locations but at $20/location. They'll likely agree to it, or offer $18/location. Good luck!

@wrosie wrote:

The company no longer does mystery shops, just merchandising.

I haven't done any of the because I can never catch them when they're bonused. And I won't do them for $10. Do you get half pay if they don't have Beanie Babies or the displays?

@wrosie wrote:

@Cassiespark wrote:

Not to tell you what to do, but I will anyway. You are going to need to be proactive in letting them know you will not take another route with $10 locations. They will work with you (or they will take advantage of you as they are currently doing). I'd ask for the same locations but at $20/location. They'll likely agree to it, or offer $18/location. Good luck!

@wrosie wrote:

The company no longer does mystery shops, just merchandising.

I haven't done any of the because I can never catch them when they're bonused. And I won't do them for $10. Do you get half pay if they don't have Beanie Babies or the displays?

Right now they should be bonused as the first half of the month is ending. You get paid full pay for visiting a store with no display. You have to take a few pics of the store with no display and ask if they are interested in one. Still need to get manager name and number.

As long as you visit the store and fill in the question, you get paid the listed the amount, with or without display. The only difference is that after few visits that location may got cancelled, but until that happened, the location without display remains free money location.

And yes, do not hesitate to email them and negotiate for pay. what's the worst that goanna happened anyways? A big no is not going to kill you, but a yes is going to go a long run for you. Definitely send them email and express your interest in long term relationship with them for locations and request for better pay, and go from there. They would definitely want locations with stable takers as well. It would always be a win-win situation on both end.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/10/2025 08:38PM by kisekinecro.

Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.

Click here to login

Ty plush inventory

Create an Account or Log In

Official List of Mystery Shopping Companies

Mystery Shopper Magazine