That casual burger place in my market I can fill the requirements any day for under the $10 and my usual bill with tax is for my favorite burger with the other requirements at $9.73, so the reimbursement is not the issue but rather the reduced fee makes it not worth the drive for any but the closest one to me. And yes, even with the reduced fee they are flying off the board.

I snap that particular casual burger chain every chance I get. If you get a "little" burger and small everything else, you do not spend more than the reimbursement - and the instructions and prequestions make this clear. Maybe your prices are higher than my area. Bottom line for me is that my kids and I LOVE their food and would be eating there occassionally anyway so these are great for me. Now, as far as the FF burger place - not a chance. There food is nasty and not worth the effort involved. The only time I did that one was when they called me and bonused it. I am such a sucker when someone calls me. Also, I have never had payment issues with this company - paid like clockwork.

I had to start refusing the burger shops even before they went down to $7. I couldn't take eating a burger every week. I started to get sick just looking at the available assigments. The burger was good though.Now I just do the grocery shops. I can work with receiving $12 for going in a store that I go in anyway.

lisams901 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> dee shops Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I did the $30 audit, but it was not time
> > effective.
>
> I think it depends on the speed of the manager
> working with you. At one I had a really slow
> walker/worker/mover and it took almost 3 hours. At
> another location I had a faster worker and we got
> done in just under an hour.


I had a manger who was a fast worked and a HUGE anchor store in the biggest mall in the state. ONly 1 item was mispriced. I would never do it again.

candyj Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I snap that particular casual burger chain every
> chance I get. If you get a "little" burger and
> small everything else, you do not spend more than
> the reimbursement - and the instructions and
> prequestions make this clear.

Not in my area. Here the little burger and small everything + TAX is $10.85 or $11.79 in higher priced areas.

not to disagree with you, but they have always sent my payments on the 5th or the 20th. Or at least that is when they are posted to my account at my bank. Very few of the companies that I do work for send a check any more. I prefer the direct deposit. I have a seperate account for those, and transfer money to my regular account as needed. To me it is easier.
lisams901 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> purrff Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
>
> > They have always paid on the 5th and the 20th
> of
> > the month. I can't conplain.
>
> Are you talking about Market Force? They only pay
> once a month. TrendSource pays on the 5th and
> 20th.

purrff Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> not to disagree with you, but they have always
> sent my payments on the 5th or the 20th. Or at
> least that is when they are posted to my account
> at my bank. Very few of the companies that I do
> work for send a check any more. I prefer the
> direct deposit. I have a seperate account for
> those, and transfer money to my regular account as
> needed. To me it is easier.
> lisams901 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > purrff Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> >
> > > They have always paid on the 5th and the 20th
> > of
> > > the month. I can't conplain.
> >
> > Are you talking about Market Force? They only
> pay
> > once a month. TrendSource pays on the 5th and
> > 20th.


That is really odd then. I just checked their site again because I'm reporting a shop there right now and it says payment once a month.

They pay once a month. But Certified, if she is doing work for them, might pay bimonthly. And they are owned by MFI.

dee shops Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> They pay once a month. But Certified, if she is
> doing work for them, might pay bimonthly. And
> they are owned by MFI.


That's funny, I was just coming to ask if she meant Certified. I was checking my payment info on there and, yes, I believe they do pay bimonthly.

I work for both companies. And I was going by my sta tement from the bank that cmae today, and there is two deposits from MF, and two from CF. So I don't know what to think now. Maybe they were running behind. (but I have been working for them for over 4 years and they always send it twice a month.)

I don't understand how that happens either. I only work with the old SNC arm of MFI and they always process payment on the 10th, 11th or 12th of the month and hit my account with the same date. There was one month where they made two direct deposits and they were both done the same day and arrived at the bank as separate deposits the same day.

Flash Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Love the image you build JayTee I don't even
> bother with Certified. Unless you are including
> reimbursements in your average with the SNC branch
> of MFI you are doing a much higher average than
> is/would be available in my market. Otherwise
> kudos on being able to find so many jobs per week
> (either that or "You gotta be crazy to drive that
> far!" I find it terribly important not to be too
> dependent on any one company. I start getting a
> little nervous when a single company is
> responsible for even 20% of my monthly income.
> Not interested in taking that kind of hit if they
> take a hike.

lisams901 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>Wow I wish I could find 100 shops a week in my area.


First off that 100 is me and my wife added together, so that helps. All the "per day" and "per cycle" limits are doubled.

We have a huge market here, and I am willing to travel. I usually set my parameters for 50 miles out. I generally put about 75-100 miles a day on my little putt-putt truck, I use it when I can, because it gets just over 25 mpg.

I pick a different direction each day.
For example Mondays I go west. Tuesdays I go north. Thursdays I go south. Saturdays I go west. This alows me to schedule routes more effectively.

I have some standing marketing jobs, once a week or bi monthly in various cities around me, and I do them on the same day of the week. Then I go through all my job boards and grab up the jobs that are in those directions on those days.

Flash, the average pay per job I mentioned does not include reimbursement, but it does include several standing merchandising jobs I do that pay $25-30. A couple of those a week helps keep the average per job higher.

Yes, I understand that merchandising would indeed help the bottom line. Your goals from this are obviously different (and equally valid) than mine. 50 miles in my market would still not support the kind of volume of work you are doing as mystery shops and I have had little interest in merchandising. I recognize that merchandising requires significantly less reporting than MSing and much more regular pay. I resist because if I wanted to make the commitment to being at ABC every Tuesday (or every other Tuesday or the first Tuesday of the month) I might as well go back to work FT for a reasonable salary and benefits And that, of course is the beauty of being an IC--you can pick up anything/everything that works for you! Congratulations!!

purrff Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I work for both companies. And I was going by my
> sta tement from the bank that cmae today, and
> there is two deposits from MF, and two from CF. So
> I don't know what to think now. Maybe they were
> running behind. (but I have been working for them
> for over 4 years and they always send it twice a
> month.)


Then you must be working for the Certified arm, as they do pay twice a month, though I cannot recall what dates...But, for sure, the Blue Portal of MFI pays once a month, on the dates Flash says (if you have DD, later if by check.) The Blue Portal is what used to be SnC.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/05/2009 05:54PM by dee shops.

Flash, you don't have to commit to a permanent merchandiser position. They have different things all the time that are a one time shot. I have only accepted one permanent that is in my town and I enjoy. One day a month and I like the people. They have lots more one time shots than repeat ones.

As far as the when Market Force pays, perhaps it depends on when you signed up with them. You know what ever their system was when you hit the "I accept" button. As for me, The payment shows on the website on the 15th and I get the check on or around the 20th.

It is very possible that there are different ICAs with shoppers from different eras. It certainly would be less of a strain on their accounting office to have us staggered throughout the month and very possible that there has been responsiveness to shopper concern about the long waits for payment to set up split month payments or other accommodations. I am perfectly happy having my whole monthly slug hit the bank on the 10th, 11th or 12th instead of having to do my bookkeeping twice.

I understand that there are one shot merchandising gigs. The folks I know who are happiest with merchandising do indeed use those as supplements to their normal 'routine' of work, but indeed they value their 'DM' who provides them with work, has a personal relationship with them such that he knows the names and ages of their kids, understands when a job was delayed because the 4 year old got sick and it took 24 hrs to find a sitter for the sick kid, etc. In fact the symbiotic relationships with DMs get so strong that many merchandisers leave when the DM changes because they feel they have lost their friend at the company. It is just a whole area where I have not chosen to take my practice.

JayTee Wrote:

> First off that 100 is me and my wife added
> together, so that helps. All the "per day" and
> "per cycle" limits are doubled.

Even at 50/week that's gotta be approaching full-time status. Maybe though you don't work each week of the month. Otherwise, a conventional 9-5 job would, at the very least, yield benefits.

Mert Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> JayTee Wrote:
>
> > First off that 100 is me and my wife added
> > together, so that helps. All the "per day" and
> > "per cycle" limits are doubled.
>
> Even at 50/week that's gotta be approaching
> full-time status. Maybe though you don't work
> each week of the month. Otherwise, a conventional
> 9-5 job would, at the very least, yield benefits.


It would indeed.

This unfortunately, is a personal weakness of mine.

When I retired, I needed a hobby and a part time income. It didn't take long for me to realize that the workaholic inside me wasn't ready to retire yet.

But, the flip side is, we took the month of July off, I only did 5 jobs all month. I can do that whenever I want, with only a week or two notice.

The next 2 months will be full, then we will take from about the 15th of November until mid January "semi-off". I wont check the jop boards or actively pursue any jobs. I will do some of my regular merchandising jobs, and will pass on some of them.

Several are getting boring now anyway, which is my other weeakness. I have an attention span to match my 2 year old granddaughter. Regular employers like people who dont get bored after about 6 months or so....

Market Force has trouble with getting shops done then finding stupid reasons not to pay you! BEWARE!!

That might be your experience, but it is not mine. I have been paid for every shop but one, and the one for which I did not get paid was my own fault - I read the incorrect section for what to order. I have been paid by them on several occasions where the only proof of my visit to an establish that should have been open but was not was a Photograph. I don't have any strong positive feelings for this company, and they are too generic and impersonal for my taste. But as far as payment goes, they have never stiffed me.

One shop unpaid--I made a judgment call to protect my anonymous status and they disagreed and rejected the shop. One where they gave me the wrong purchase requirement on the CPI and indicated I should have pointed out their error!??? Eventually they reimbursed but did not pay fee. Overall not the finest of companies to work with because the shopper is the only one who ever errs (in their opinion). But overall reasonable enough with the number of jobs available and the reliably prompt payment.

I was really hoping when MFI bought CFA that CFA would raise their pay to the MFI standards, and adopt the scheduling and pay platform that MFI uses.

Alas, I think the only thing to come of the merger was that MFI acquired a huge database of people who were willing to work for less, and they are now exploiting that.

One of my favorite companies a year ago, they are now working their way down the list...

A misguided soul here, I take these jobs specifically because they are quick and easy and affords me a free meal. The jobs are so easy that I know what I need to do when I go in and usually have it all done within 3 minutes, just the timing part takes the most time. I haven't seen the price go down though and I just completed one of them two days ago.

I also can keep the reimbursment under the 10.00 price if I order what is suggested on the CPI, anything other than that will put it above 10.00, but that's a lot of food.

My problem with these Casual Fast Food shops is all the weight I have gained....my wife (another shopper) and I have to take 2 months off every 1 to go on a diet.

Art


shop-a-holic Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I've noticed that this month, two of their shops
> went from $8 fee to $7. How cheap is that?!?!?!
> Not to mention that one of these is for a casual
> burger place with a reimbursement of $10, where
> the purchase requirement actually costs anywhere
> from $11 to $12. So essentially, they are paying
> only $5 fee now. I REFUSE to take that shop.
> Unfortunately, they seem to go like hot pancakes.
> There are enough misguided souls out there who
> would accept these terms. That's why they can get
> away with paying so little.

You aren't misguided AACJ. The shop you are referring to is possible to do in most markets staying below the maximum reimbursement. They did increase the reimbursement more than a year ago because in some markets it did not cover. The fee drop of over 12% simply means that I will do the ones closer to me but not the ones requiring I drive 7-10 miles farther. They schedule these so far out that I usually don't know if I will be in the area anyway for the more distant ones and I hate doing distant orphan shops. It is just not good business practice. In past years I could count on building a route that would accommodate the distant location taken well in advance, but not these days.

Flash, the good thing about this particular job is there is one right by my house, two that I pass by on the way to work (my real job) and one right by my work. And since I work nights and weekends, I can take a little break and make a few extra bucks and a free meal.

I have had them call and offer more money for the ones that don't get picked up often (usually the national market fast food jobs), particularly ones that are "in the sticks."

I've been pretty happy with shop-n-chek overall, steady payment and steady jobs.

Art



Flash Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You aren't misguided AACJ. The shop you are
> referring to is possible to do in most markets
> staying below the maximum reimbursement. They did
> increase the reimbursement more than a year ago
> because in some markets it did not cover. The fee
> drop of over 12% simply means that I will do the
> ones closer to me but not the ones requiring I
> drive 7-10 miles farther. They schedule these so
> far out that I usually don't know if I will be in
> the area anyway for the more distant ones and I
> hate doing distant orphan shops. It is just not
> good business practice. In past years I could
> count on building a route that would accommodate
> the distant location taken well in advance, but
> not these days.

I've done quite a few shops for SNC and it was the first company I signed up with. I do wait until their fast foods raise in price though, because $7.50 isn't worth it to me. I wait until they get up to $12, which usually happens in my neck of the woods. Most of my other jobs that I've had with them pay $10-$15. I don't think I've actually had anything cheaper other than one shop that paid only $6, which was the first one I signed up for after they called me asking to do it. It was a casual dining place... They did reimburse $16, but with what we had bought it had ended up just being enough to cover everything, so I didn't make a profit off of it other than a free meal: which I didn't mind because I loved the location and I wish I could do it again, but haven't seen it since. I also did a phone shop that was supposed to pay around $10, but when I went there the place was closed, so I ended up getting paid $5. But it really wasn't that big of a deal as it wasn't out of my way and I was out anyway and I'm glad they at least gave me half of what I would have been paid. So far no complaints. In my area the prices do start out rather low on a lot of shops, but they do get a lot of bonuses attached later on if you can hold out.

Well my two cents worth is that they took away my select shops button and that perhaps was a godsend ,angry not at all they are very cheap when it comes to their pay per shop but when your able to get a few of them under your belt then that makes it seem? a little feasible PS: How many darn hamburgers can 1 person eat? Ha! Ha!