Has anybody else experienced a fee cut for the Ty assignments. January and February are higher March has been sliced almost 30% on some of my assignments. Ask why and they said everything is at $20 because they charge the company 25 being Ty I'm quite sure they charge more than that to Ty.

Don't do the shops if you don't like the pay. Or appled for them.

It seems to me the MSC has been trying to recruit reliable mystery shoppers/independebt contractors to do the same shops every month at a set fee .

Sometimes twice a month.

Too many shoppers are willing to do the same effort for less pay. I just say no (or don't respond). For example; I just got a text asking me to do a 5-guys for $35 fee where I have repeatedly received $40. I won't respond to such a text. I won't.

But I know many of YOU will. And that is why the fees have been cut.

My fees weren't cut but I wasn't getting more than 20 for any location. Some of my visits were cut though. For the stores they don't have much inventory, they cut it down to once per month. I get that but it hurt my wallet. I had to pick up a few more stores to make up the difference.

I stopped doing a lot of them since they would always email me with a lower rate to "lock in" and the lack of communication about when stuff would be arriving at stores, who would handle ordering, etc. If I see them go up to a higher rate, I might dip my toes back in.

Lakegal, as the other posters have offered you excellent advice, I am unable to add to their comments.

@joanna81 wrote:

I stopped doing a lot of them since they would always email me with a lower rate to "lock in" and the lack of communication about when stuff would be arriving at stores, who would handle ordering, etc. If I see them go up to a higher rate, I might dip my toes back in.

The lack of communication is what is killing me. Two stores with broken displays, have put notes in, taken pictures, emailed CI, was told pieces would be shipped. 5 months later.. no piece, nobody knows anything. Stores come off my list, nobody tells me, I just have to figure it out. It is quite frustrating. I keep what I have because it has been so quiet with many of the other MSCs that this is my main source of side income right now.

They are inching up the fee by $1 or $2. Still way below what they used to offer. Tons are sitting in my area.

I received an email around January stating not to look for all the high bonuses anymore.

Agreed. I can't figure out if Ty got rid of their entire sales and retail dealer support team or what has happened here. I have 1 location where they have been trying to place an order for 3 months. They leave messages, no call back. I enter notes, no response. This store used to have a booming Ty business and now they are about to remove their spinner as there are only 22 items on it and its taking up space.

Its a complete and total head scratcher.

When this first started, they were sending out orders like crazy based on the inventory we were reporting. Stores got mad about that as they were getting inventory they didn't expect. Then CI added all these questions about store manager and contact and phone number (which Ty already has, for goodness sake, they used to do all this themselves). So I thought, ok, they are going to communicate with these stores and take orders, and ship appropriate stuff. That doesn't seem to be happening either. I have one small convenience store I do and they just got a box of 130 items last week...and have no where to store it.

I do about 20 of these a month, for a negotiated fee of $22/store. They are all close by and don't take me too long. Beyond that, not picking up any more as the unknown is not worth it!

@Datagirl wrote:

@joanna81 wrote:

I stopped doing a lot of them since they would always email me with a lower rate to "lock in" and the lack of communication about when stuff would be arriving at stores, who would handle ordering, etc. If I see them go up to a higher rate, I might dip my toes back in.

The lack of communication is what is killing me. Two stores with broken displays, have put notes in, taken pictures, emailed CI, was told pieces would be shipped. 5 months later.. no piece, nobody knows anything. Stores come off my list, nobody tells me, I just have to figure it out. It is quite frustrating. I keep what I have because it has been so quiet with many of the other MSCs that this is my main source of side income right now.

I did a fly by to check out the TY display at a shop location (drug store).There were about 8 TY items on a middle aisle, middle shelf "display". The clerk actually led me right to the "display".

The location is about a mile from work but I still won't do it for $10. No telling whats in the back.

@wrosie wrote:

I did a fly by to check out the TY display at a shop location (drug store).There were about 8 TY items on a middle aisle, middle shelf "display". The clerk actually led me right to the "display".

The location is about a mile from work but I still won't do it for $10. No telling whats in the back.

I had a store like that, I was in and out in about 2 minutes, so it could be worth $10 if it is close to you. But I get it, you never know what you're going to run into.

I’ve only done one location for $20, just to see how long it would take and what they entail. There were 15 large stuffies and 31 small stuffies. It is only 10 miles from my house but still took me over 30 minutes to figure out how to place the items. The next closest location is 36 miles to the west and the next closest location is 65 miles southeast of me. I find it really difficult to make a route of these types of jobs, because even if I apply for certain ones to try and make a route along with other self assign shops, they don’t assign them to me and instead give me locations that are hundreds of miles apart which isn’t feasible at all. I’d never do any of them for less than $20 since I don’t think any of them in my area are complete on a weekly basis.

Does anyone actually have a number or email they contact to talk to an actual person about making a route?

I'm guessing the MSC is having issues with their software if it continues to ask shoppers to drive 1000 miles to complete a $10 shop.

979-693-2260 (ext. 6 for all schedulers)

@misspocos75 wrote:

I’ve only done one location for $20, just to see how long it would take and what they entail. There were 15 large stuffies and 31 small stuffies. It is only 10 miles from my house but still took me over 30 minutes to figure out how to place the items. The next closest location is 36 miles to the west and the next closest location is 65 miles southeast of me. I find it really difficult to make a route of these types of jobs, because even if I apply for certain ones to try and make a route along with other self assign shops, they don’t assign them to me and instead give me locations that are hundreds of miles apart which isn’t feasible at all. I’d never do any of them for less than $20 since I don’t think any of them in my area are complete on a weekly basis.

Does anyone actually have a number or email they contact to talk to an actual person about making a route?

@maverick1 wrote:

Too many shoppers are willing to do the same effort for less pay. I just say no (or don't respond). For example; I just got a text asking me to do a 5-guys for $35 fee where I have repeatedly received $40. I won't respond to such a text. I won't.

But I know many of YOU will. And that is why the fees have been cut.

Why not just ask for the 40 when they text or didn't you want to do it at all?

Thank you for everybody's input. I always negotiate higher than they offered fee due to distance and travel and have been awarded this higher fee. I do not accept the lower fees either. And currently servicing over 17 retail locations for ty product.
I also experienced problems with retailers not getting the product. And constantly requesting additional product to be sent in the Locations. Via reporting documentation and personal calls to the project manager.
Ty number that we're provided for them to call doesn't appear to be an easy number for retailers to access. I provided the phone number for the ordering from drugstore chain info letter in a shipment to a desperate retail location wanting product .630-455-7435 this is Ty's direct phone number. And was answered by a troubleshooter. The retailer wanted a round rack which they did not have and plenty of product to fill it. They received both in less than 5 days. I also am stumped by the fulfillment of orders to locations that are hot product movers are not being filled. I have one manager of a drugstore chain that orders her own product and gets it within a week or less. And request the newest product available. And received it
. With 35 plus years in merchandising something isn't right in getting product into the stores that are hot sellers. I too have also had manager say if I don't get the product I don't want the rack in the store.
Unfortunately we merchandisers that are face-to-face with the retailers get the blunt of their concern and complaints. Which I also relate to the project manager via email .
Some managers have asked why do you keep coming in when I order product and it doesn't come in. Kind of a good question right, but I politely say I will make some comment in my reports and hope somebody reads them and doesn't edit them to Ty.

I did one today and they were complaining about not getting product as well. They had a fair amount but the manager wanted both racks to be completely full all the time with more in the back! She said she was a fan of the product!

@87Supra wrote:

@maverick1 wrote:

Too many shoppers are willing to do the same effort for less pay. I just say no (or don't respond). For example; I just got a text asking me to do a 5-guys for $35 fee where I have repeatedly received $40. I won't respond to such a text. I won't.

But I know many of YOU will. And that is why the fees have been cut.

Why not just ask for the 40 when they text or didn't you want to do it at all?

Been down that path repeatedly. They respectfully decline my offer. Sometimes they find another shopper willing to accept the lower fee. Sometimes they contact me later with the $40 fee. They know my minimum fee as that is the fee I bid on inside their website.

If I only do one of these shops a month or every other month it's better for my health, my wealth, and for other shoppers too as I am striving to raise the fees for all of us.

Get it?

I think once they began getting people used to a route it was easy to lock in recurring visits. It can be easy if you know the store you are walking into and what to expect. Nobody likes surprises of a big shipment or multiple placements. It seems part of the push for advance scheduling is that it reduces company fees for using the Sassie platform if they have placeholders for multiple location visits for a certain project. think they can only do that BEFORE the new month after they pull outstanding jobs for the current month. Notice during an active month that each location is then added to the shop log as a separate entry. Locking in a big recurring project like this must also make it easier for schedulers given the volume of client visits. Raised fees are certainly optimal. Some jobs or stores are never worth the base but there are always reasons such as location or bundling on a route or at a store where you are already working or type of project that makes certain work attractive for some contractors. I definitely miss the higher fees that were possible.

Interestingly, none of the $20 shops showed up on the Job Board, but showed up in Presto! I was accepted for 2 of the 5 I applied for.

@maverick1 wrote:

@87Supra wrote:

@maverick1 wrote:

Too many shoppers are willing to do the same effort for less pay. I just say no (or don't respond). For example; I just got a text asking me to do a 5-guys for $35 fee where I have repeatedly received $40. I won't respond to such a text. I won't.

But I know many of YOU will. And that is why the fees have been cut.

Why not just ask for the 40 when they text or didn't you want to do it at all?

Been down that path repeatedly. They respectfully decline my offer. Sometimes they find another shopper willing to accept the lower fee. Sometimes they contact me later with the $40 fee. They know my minimum fee as that is the fee I bid on inside their website.

If I only do one of these shops a month or every other month it's better for my health, my wealth, and for other shoppers too as I am striving to raise the fees for all of us.

Get it?

Kind of, I would probably always just get back to them with my offer of 40.00 if I wanted to do the job! If they got back to me later for 40.00 I would take it if I still wanted to do it.

I do agree about not caving in for sure!

Dan

I'm declining Ty this month as well, pay has dropped consistently ($25 to $22 to $20 and now $18) just so I can try to appease stores that can't get merchandise - one received the square rack from an order they placed but never received any stock to put on it and another has a completely empty spinner rack.

@amorrison50 wrote:

I'm declining Ty this month as well, pay has dropped consistently ($25 to $22 to $20 and now $18) just so I can try to appease stores that can't get merchandise - one received the square rack from an order they placed but never received any stock to put on it and another has a completely empty spinner rack.

Just out of curiosity, are the stores calling to get orders or are you just noting it in the app? A few months ago, the MSC sent out some flyers attached to one of the emails that had order info and an ordering number. I printed a bunch of those out and started talking to the managers about how they order. Most of them say their TY rep ordered for them for them and now they have not received an order. I had to explain to them that their TY rep is no more and they will now have to order themselves and gave them all of the info. Most of the stores after that received orders shortly after they called and were very appreciative of the information. Was that necessary for me to do? Probably not but if they don't get inventory, I don't have work either.

They said they have been calling without results, had spoken to folks on the phone but nothing happened. For the empty square spinner, the manager said she had actually ordered it in person in Las Vegas (trade show, perhaps) and that was when they sent the empty rack and nothing else. I am going to give them the number though.

@amorrison50 wrote:

They said they have been calling without results, had spoken to folks on the phone but nothing happened. For the empty square spinner, the manager said she had actually ordered it in person in Las Vegas (trade show, perhaps) and that was when they sent the empty rack and nothing else. I am going to give them the number though.

This is really surprising actually because TY seems to have been very responsive with orders to all of the stores in my area. You would think they want to get their product out ASAP!

Seems like Datagirl has the asnswer.

Ty fulfillment has been trained to only take refill orders from "employees" visiting stores and the mystery shopper seems to be that new "employee ".

Ty seems to need to send out a memo or something saying srores will be ordering direct now.

Just brainstorming here.

‘Don’t do the shops if you don’t like the pay’ you say? Wow, thanks for sharing your insight!

@wrosie wrote:

Don't do the shops if you don't like the pay. Or appled for them.

It seems to me the MSC has been trying to recruit reliable mystery shoppers/independebt contractors to do the same shops every month at a set fee .

Sometimes twice a month.

@DT wrote:

‘Don’t do the shops if you don’t like the pay’ you say? Wow, thanks for sharing your insight]

Well there have been repeated posts where people were bitchlng about the lowered payments. I just figured they needed someone to state the obvious.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/26/2025 01:44AM by wrosie.

In the regions that I work, the other mystery shopping jobs in the same cities end up paying quite a bit more than these merchandising jobs do. Not surprisingly, very few of the merchandising jobs actually get done in these regions. They just sit on the board all month long. I guess in this case, there's some sort of flexible contract with the client in regards to how many locations have to get done. Because clearly they don't all have to get done.

There have been times when a location has not been done in a long time, and they have paid me quite a bit to do it. However, those locations tend to be extra work. Because the merchandising has been neglected for so long, often the displays are disheveled, disorganized, and require lots of rearrangement. This also leads to a significant amount of ordering that is required. I suppose if a location gets done monthly or every two weeks, the actual work is relatively easy. I don't touch a job for less than $20 local to where I live, and I don't touch a job for less than $40 while I'm out on the road. I just know that I see dozens and dozens and dozens of these jobs in rural areas that sit on the board and never get done.