AboutFace, MarketStat and Service Connections still owe me for May. I'm pretty confident they'll all eventually pay, but I hate waiting this long. Obviously, I won't be shopping for AboutFace again until they fix their cash flow issues. The other two companies are just 60-day payers, from what I understand.

Anybody else still waiting for May pay? I can give you some free empathy...

Several. But the 15th to 20th pay deadlines have not hit yet, and other than AF, none are over the contracted terms of payment.

You're a veteran, dee. Do I just need to chill out? I sure could use the $, though. =)

It's always difficult balancing the need for cash to pay bills and to do more shops, vs waiting. But you need to check the payment terms you agreed to with each vendor. I say, when they are late, you need to contact them the very next day. That is because shoppers always seem to be the last paid in times of troubles, and you need to ensure that you are ahead of the payment queue curve, not at the end.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/15/2010 01:20PM by dee shops.

BSE, they want me to do another shop and they have not paid for the shop I did in May. The payment is 4-6 weeks and if they don't pay up by the end of the month, I won't do another shop for them.

Intellishop, Cirrus, Service Sleuth... I need to check some others

aTH, though their website would indicate they paid me 7/5 . . . in aTH speak, that means it may have been mailed today.

sapawlik Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> BSE, they want me to do another shop and they have
> not paid for the shop I did in May. The payment is
> 4-6 weeks and if they don't pay up by the end of
> the month, I won't do another shop for them.


I actually just looked into an outstanding payment from them the other day. They said it was up to 60 BUSINESS days to pay (not even 60 days). I'm not sure if that's on their site (I didn't go back to check) but in any event, that's their answer. I marked the 60th business day in my calendar, and am anxious to see if it will be on (their) time! My shop was also in May.

Yes, that is when I have been paid by them in the past. 60 business days. I only do the occasional bonused shop for them, due to their slow payment terms.

dee shops Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yes, that is when I have been paid by them in the
> past. 60 business days. I only do the occasional
> bonused shop for them, due to their slow payment
> terms.


Yes, I've joined that club. I'd be inclined to repeat the shop I did before, but I think that's about it. All the other fees I've seen are very low, and the fact that they pay so late is unappealing.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/16/2010 10:06PM by nicelytwicely.

Franchise Compliance, but that one is complicated by the month it took to find a way to ship the solution to them when the PO refused to do it. So I am looking at that as a "June" shop due to that problem. However, it is sitting on the Sassie log as being paid 9/15/10. That is WAY WAY WAY too long for me to get my reimbursement back, we are talking about $125.

About Face was late, and I had to make contact 3 times in order to get paid today, but that story is detailed in the About Face thread.

Sutter did owe me as well, but they paid on time per their scheduled date yesterday.

dee shops Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Franchise Compliance, but that one is complicated
> by the month it took to find a way to ship the
> solution to them when the PO refused to do it. So
> I am looking at that as a "June" shop due to that
> problem. However, it is sitting on the Sassie log
> as being paid 9/15/10. That is WAY WAY WAY too
> long for me to get my reimbursement back, we are
> talking about $125.
>
Hope everything else about the Franchise C shop was easy for you. I LOVED that shop,except the reveal part, but even that wasn't too bad (I just hate reveals, guess I'm the ultimate spy). I didn't have the shipping issue, thank goodness.

About Face, that's it....

Irene_L.A. Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> About Face, that's it....


I did a shop for AboutFace the first week in May and was paid via PayPal, the first week in July. Have you inquired?

May is paid in full for me.

Started shopping in early July and have only received three checks. Completed about 18 shops so far. Guess the whole "waiting to get paid" thing is normal. Frustrating, yet I guess it's the price of doing what we do. Still, it gets a little frustrating. Almost seems not worth it at times. Just keep telling myself that the checks will come and keep getting out there completing assignments. My other problem is sometimes being unable to find shops. Last couple of weeks have been a little "dry". Oh well...guess I'll just keep looking and signing up with more companies.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/11/2010 04:04AM by shopinsd.

The beginning is really tough. You have to figure out who pays when, what a job is worth (or NOT worth), where you will go to shop and the value you need to recoup to do so, and on it goes. As the payments start to come in, and you sign up with more companies, your base will broaden, as will, hopefully, the amount of cash you set aside for reimbursement shops. I am not talking about P/R things, but rather a high end dinner at somewhere you would like to go but couldn't afford regularly, or normal things like shampoo and groceries. It all gets better over time. The more you work it, the more you figure out what works for your life and your style. And the more you do so, the more regular the checks are flowing. :-)

The first month is the worst, shopinsd. You work for a month with no income coming in. After that first month though, the income is more regular, depending upon shops taken. I think most shoppers have questioned, at one time or another, or every other month or so if it's worth it.

You're on track - shopping and continuing to sign with more companies. Good luck!

Yup. And realize that generally shops post the last week of the month and the first week of the month, so not seeing anything now as you are signing up with new companies is not indicative that they don't have anything in your area. But just think what great shape you will be in as you start picking up shops for next month!

I find the easiest way to wade through all of the payment issues is to use windows live calendar and a spreadsheet (I use Microsoft Office.) I post my shops to a separate calendar overlay in Windows Live Calendar (This is a tab in windows live mail.) You can then click on reminders and it will automatically send you an email to remind you when the shop is scheduled. You set the time to for the reminder email as to your own preference. I usually set it at 1 day in advance.

After the shop is complete, I have a spreadsheet set up that I enter the shop information into. I have a tab with all of the MSCs I work for payment promises and actual payment experiences. I then estimate a date from the payment experience or the payment promise from the MSC and enter it in the spreadsheet.

I then go back to Windows live calendar and copy and paste the completed assignment to a different overlay I labeled pay dates. Again I set an email alert.

Each time I get paid, I add the actual pay date to the spreadsheet and check the payment amount for each shop and reimbursement. If I get paid early, I update my experience tab and reflect the current time frame. I also got the Live calendar and delete the payment due date. This way I only get alerted If a payment is not made as promised or experienced in the past.

It took me an hour to input 147 shops into the spreadsheet when i started it. The calendar took less time because most of the info was copy and paste and then edit.
Now with just a couple of extra key strokes, I have an automatic payment forecast that works pretty well to estimate for cash flow. It also reminds me when my shops are due and when to follow up on late pays or short payments. I also use the spreadsheet to record confirmation numbers from report submittals and any bonus or increased payment info on the shops. I record who offered the bonus, how much and how I was offered the bonus or increased reimbursement. Having the who, why and when for payment issues makes it very easy to resolve.