I am wondering if I should just sign up with all the companies I can find, especially if they use Sassie. Is there any easy way to figure out which ones I should skip over, besides reading lots of forum threads?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/16/2008 11:15PM by shoppergirl.

Not really if you are taking the approach of sign up for them all. I would think you would do better signing up with those companies you KNOW shop your area and research those by using the "Search" feature on forums. The way you KNOW they shop your area is to look at the postings on Jobslinger.com for shops in your area. The shops you see there are probably already taken but the companies are likely to shop the same clients next month.

Jobslinger is a good beginning. Later you'll also find others that shop your area. Some are trial and error, some you'll find on the forums.

If you are registered with MSPA (www.mysteryshop.org) they supposedly list reputable companies. I haven't had a bad experience so far. I even receive some offbeat offers direct to me through MSPA because I am silver certified.

I'm sure you'll get a lot of different opinions about all the various companies but certainly try and judge for yourself.

Peace!

Avoid CRINY at all costs.

yes, I agree with Angellique

Thanks!

Avoid Bestmark.

I need to find sneakers' post on Bestmark...

Avoid Mystery Guest and Freeman Group -- they're late, late, late on payments!

IN MY OPINION Marketforce is run by evil gerbil mutants.

Whereas I am doing well with Market Force and find that Sparks Perry and ICCDS are companies to avoid. I guess a whole lot of it depends on the folks you interact with at the company and/or whether you are allowed to fall in the cracks.

ICCDS seems good, what did you find wrong with it? What is wrong with Bestmark, have not had problems but they did get rid of most of their jobs.

ICCDS is playing games with the invoices and receipts you have to mail in or email in to them. They don't get them credited against the jobs as if they have not received them. Then when you complain enough they suddenly 'find them' and credit them to your job. It would appear that your 30 days to payment begins not when they received the materials but when they credited it against the job. While thus far they apparently have not missed payments, they are not making them in a timely fashion relative to when you did the job and submitted the invoice and receipts. It is pure game playing to stretch out the time when they have to send you your payment, which to me is a sure sign they are having financial troubles.

You remember that 'game' people play where they send in their check to the electric company and 'forget' to sign it, knowing that the check will need to be returned to them and they can get a few days extra to get together the money to cover the check? That is what I feel ICCDS is doing with our invoices. Keep asking for them, indicating you haven't gotten them, until they can no longer delay the inevitable and start the 30 day clock for payment ticking then.

Bestmark is cheap shops for what you are expected to do. For quite some time they have used their 'fun' shops as bribes to get shoppers to perform especially their much underpaid electronics shops. Now the 'fun' shops have stopped, yet they seem unwilling to bonus the other shops to a fair fee. There is one restaurant shop that I do for them on occasion that doesn't cover the cost of the requirements unless you do it as a take out without beverages and tip requirement.

Yes, I agree with you on that about Bestmark, and they do not have the electronic shops anymore. Also yes I also have the games played on me with ICCDS and glad to hear that I am not alone in that respect.

Angellique-I am waiting to hear you post something good about an MSC-any MSC. From what I have read of your post, and I might have missed some, it seems so negative about everyone. Don't you have any you like? If not, why shop? Not a snide remark, an honest question. I am having a difficult time understanding why you seem to not like any MSC you post about here. We all have ones we hate, sometimes they are the same other peeps hate, but you seem to hate all those you have worked for...Why not post some good stuff, too?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/26/2008 01:15PM by dee shops.

Amanda Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I need to find sneakers' post on Bestmark...
>

Go back through our files and find EVERYBODY'S post on Bestmark, but mostly relating to the 2-shop shop.

Market Force, Market Force, Market Force... and Certified (owned by Market Force!)

Work for companies that use schedulers and build a rapport with them. They may only assign you one shop at first, but as soon as they see you are dependable and can write a decent report they will be happy to schedule you for whatever you apply for. At least that has been my experience.

Susan, that works in theory, and mostly in areas that are not overshopped. My area is so carpeted with shoppers that most of my schedulers have no trouble giving away shops. When they post urgent bonused shops near month's end, the shops are still grabbed as soon as the email goes out. Again and again I've applied for these, and someone has grabbed them. Alternatively, other urgent shops are hundreds of miles from here, and I wouldn't go that far in traffic, over bridges and through toll booths for any money.

Your idea does work in areas that are short of shoppers and more sparsely populated. Flash, dee and Sandra Sue do pretty well with this.

After almost exactly one year of shopping, and many hundreds of good reports for about 39 companies, I have a relationship with exactly 3 schedulers in 2 companies..

It really hasn't made any difference in my shopping whether there's contact with a scheduler or not. 95% contact is by email, 5% phone me. While I feel I'm on a first name, friendly basis with a few schedulers, I don't necessarily feel I get preferred status. My area is competitive and I feel the way to set myself apart is to do a good job. If my competition feels the same way, it's more or less the luck of the draw.

sneakers Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Susan, that works in theory, and mostly in areas
> that are not overshopped. My area is so carpeted
> with shoppers that most of my schedulers have no
> trouble giving away shops. When they post urgent
> bonused shops near month's end, the shops are
> still grabbed as soon as the email goes out. Again
> and again I've applied for these, and someone has
> grabbed them. Alternatively, other urgent shops
> are hundreds of miles from here, and I wouldn't go
> that far in traffic, over bridges and through toll
> booths for any money.
>
> Your idea does work in areas that are short of
> shoppers and more sparsely populated. Flash, dee
> and Sandra Sue do pretty well with this.
>
> After almost exactly one year of shopping, and
> many hundreds of good reports for about 39
> companies, I have a relationship with exactly 3
> schedulers in 2 companies..



For me, I think there are just fewer shoppers here, rather than a sparse population. Honolulu is quite dense with peeps! :-) But, I think less shoppers are here for a number of reasons. The affluent here are REALLY so, and there are way funner ways to amuse yourself on this island if money is no object. The regular people, like me, work more than one job just to make ends meet. I think many people who could do this just don't have time. Third, the schools in HI are not very stellar-the writing skills of the average person are not so great (I see this in many of my students coming out of public schools here.) Therefore, I think sometimes I get more shops based on the fact that my reports may not need as much editing as some other peoples. The fact that I virtually never cancel, and rarely reschedule without a huge reason, has helped me to gain credibility with some firms. Sometimes I just get lucky, too, and someone posts something I have been going after with zero suceess for months as a LM shop due to a cancellation, many times as a self assign. I always try to do a superfab job on those so that I will have more oppties with those firms. Finally, This is a VERY parochial place, and I think that has worked in my favor with some firms. :-)

I feel really lucky to live in an area with fewer shoppers than some others. It HAS been a huge help in getting jobs.

Channelwatch--Stay away!!!

Has anyone worked for Satisfaction Services Inc? I have a shop to do for just reimbursement and no fee. I am new to MS and trying to get my feet wet with small shops but don't want to get screwed either.

I've done a few shops for them in the past and although they forgot to include the bridge tolls agreed to on one shop, they did include the payment for them in payment for the next shop so I came out okay. No issues with them about the shop requirements or timeliness of payment otherwise. I never bothered getting a paid membership with them because folks who had paid were not seeing any better shops or more frequent shops than I was seeing.

I get occasional bonused offers, and I am not a paid member, either. I haven't done anything for them, though, so I have no data on them, personally.

Stay away from Certified Filed Associates - Theatre checks - They will suck you in for small jobs - pay you an then stiff you on a big job.

Ok, CobaCobra, we get it you don't like Certified. It seems to be the majority opinion around here anyway. Are there companies you like working with?

If anyone has any informatin on Reflections I would appreciate it. I just found them today and have never heard of them. They have resturant shops with meals but not a shop fee. I will go farther to say most of the compaies most of you talk about I have never heard of. They are either not in this area or I have not looked enough.

Deech, I have not yet worked with Reflections though I have signed up for two of their restaurant shops. Most dining beyond ff stuff is reimbursement only with only a few paying a small fee. There are literally hundreds of companies out there. Many of them serve a small niche market either in area or client, which is why you sign up with a lot of companies and see who shops your area. It is also why it is important to recheck all of your companies in the early part of the year because many client contracts start in the beginning of the year--often with new companies.

It generally makes sense for new shoppers to use Jobslinger because it assures that they are signing up initially with companies that are shopping their area. But there are many companies that do not post on Jobslinger, so once a shopper has decided that shopping works for them it makes sense to go to the lists of companies and begin seriously signing up. The sign up process never ends. I have signed up with five more companies in the past week, none of which currently have anything in my area. But signing up and keeping track of your companies is just part of the whole shopping process.

Flash, thanks for the added information. I have been shopping for almost four years now. Did not realize it had been that long, however, I have stayed with one or two companies for the most part.

I did not start looking around until I joined the forum and read the comments. I did a lot of Market Force until I got dropped so that put me down to one company when I dropped FF. I live in a rural area so to get to a larger town I have to drive 60+ miles. There are some shops in the city where I work part time but they are movie checks, grocery stores and of post offices. The post offices are my bread and butter because I can bunch four of them with a gas shop or two and maybe a grocery store in one day. That is enough for me at one time.

I want to branch out some so I will keep looking. Thanks again and I will keep filling out the applications. I am still looking for something that pays more that $10.

shanna12 I shopped Satisfaction services-3 auto shops and 2 retail reimbursement shops. I've been paid in a timely fashion.