but you gotta love it when the fastest-paying company in the biz pays even faster for the holidays.

Especially appreciated by this guy at this particular moment. I have a big-ass bill due on the 10th, and getting fully paid for a recent gas station route and an online cellphone credit shop worth $125 will be a big help.

Cool, you have experienced Ipsos conducting business according to their model: pay a meager fee, but pay it fast. Obviously, that works for many shoppers who are, as you stated in your situation, in need of immediate funds. The below was posted last Spring.

A shopper mentioned she was near tears concerning the pittance she was accepting, due to need, for the considerable amount of work Ipsos required for the job. I do not recall if there were any problems with an editor and/or scheduler.

From a business standpoint, I do not criticize IPSOS. They have a semi-captive group of shoppers who do not have the flexibility to terminate the relationship. Therefore, IF the desire is to continue the relationship, said ICs must tolerate being subjected to low pay and a deplorable lack of communication.

As this is a business forum, I am refraining from typing my personal option of Ipsos. Suffice it to state, I am not in favor of exploitation.

I don't consider the fees I accept to be meager, and anyone nearly brought to tears by this business needs to grow some thicker skin or find another line of work.

I'm happy to do the conditional reveal and Famous Highways gas station jobs at base pay. The gross proceeds per shop represent a decent hourly rate. Obviously any bonused locations (most of the last few dozen or so I've done) are even more lucrative. As I've frequently opined, driving around mystery shopping and getting my gas paid for is preferable to driving rideshare and hoping to hit $20/hr while paying for my own gas.

Same goes for the Chinese Bear, either dine-in or online order depending on the day's schedule. The gross proceeds received for about 30 minutes work are fine by me.


And then there's the 3-brand cellphone online credit check I just did that took about 30 minutes and incurred a couple of soft credit hits. Well worth $125, as were the couple of previous bank account openings I did that paid three figures.

The fees offered for the shops I'm interested in doing have remained consistent (and acceptable) for quite some time.

Do they offer jobs with low fees for the work entailed? Sure, and only a fool would accept them.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/05/2024 03:16PM by CoolMusic.

I normally agree with "Bob the Terminator." His points and wisdom are well thought out and communicated.

I cannot say I agree on the subject of Ipsos. I do not do all their assignments, so I cannot comment on all the work requirements and sufficient or insufficient pay. I will say, their account openings for the stagecoach bank are fair and better than other bank account openings with national big banks. Bonuses are given and routinely create double the total pay (if not more). The phone call complaints to the same stagecoach complaints are simple and pay much better than some of their gas station shops for the effort required. The global Chinese fast food client pays fairly and is simple enough. I'm sure plenty of shoppers can complain about shops they feel pay unfairly with Ipsos. I don't do them, so I cannot complain about something I'm not doing or unwilling to do.

They have some airline shops that do not take much effort at all and the reimbursement/payment is fair to good.

I see plenty of other MSC that pay crap for shops too and still pay slow. But it seems like Ipsos is now the new #1 to be hated on.

Remember mystery shopping is NOT skilled labor and should not be paid like it is. There really is no barrier to entry to become a mystery shopper. Just fill out a profile with an MSC and self-assign the work (for the most part). Just about anyone can do a gas station shop or fast food shop. While some of us take this seriously and do a better job than the average shopper, in the end, it does not take a special skill to get a name, get a receipt and answer yes/no questions and write a couple of sentences on a report. Yes, there are some shops that require more skill (but the vast majority can be done by a high-schooler (if there was not an age requirement).

I never understand the hate towards IPSOS....they are almost the most balanced MSC that I've worked with in term of quantity, paid speed and requirements. They pay fast, they have plenty of jobs, and the surveys aren't hard to do. If there's anything my only complain would be sometimes, they take long to review shops, but honestly not really that long when you compare with other MSC....as for the pay....it may be low to some ppl, but I see it as fair pay for the amount of work and skills (close to none) required.

There's only 2 other MSC that I find very pleasant to work with like IPSOS...RBG and The Consumer insight, but they have way less jobs available in my area.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/05/2024 06:27PM by kisekinecro.

Im a huge fan of the quick pay too! I was paid for a heavily bonused $75 shop within a week.

As any business owner should, I keep money in reserve to pay all my bills, in full, when they are due - whether I get paid quickly or not. Fast pay is of no advantage to me.

I'm guessing that some shoppers might like IPSOS when they have cell phone bills, electricty, etc due and don't have a regular steady stream of income whether it's salaried employment, dividends from stocks, or social security. But I agree with @sestrahelena , the speed of the pay doesn't make me take more or less shops with them. It's just an added bonus that they pay sooner and I don't have to go back 3 months to see if HS Brands or Sentry has paid me yet.

It matters to me how quickly an MSC pays. I would rather have the money in my pocket than theirs. It doesn't matter that I have the funds to pay everything without waiting for MSCs to pay me. Give. Me. My. Money.

It matters much more to me whether an MSC pays according to its stated payment terms when I accept a shop than how many days it takes to receive payment.

I don't hate Ipsos but it can do a lot better in terms of communication and editing. (I don't care whether an MSC uses outside editors. The buck stops with the MSC.)

@CoolMusic Who are you to tell someone to get thicker skin or get out of this business? You don't know what they have to deal with and whether crying is their way to deal with stress.

I definitely agree with Busy about having the money in my own pocket rather than theirs for a month or more. Good point.

@sestrahelena wrote:

As any business owner should, I keep money in reserve to pay all my bills, in full, when they are due.

I used to be able to roll that way. Why Cirrus was my #1 vendor back then. :-D

COVID (and the State of Utah) and a lying, thieving father (no, my last name is not Trump) thoroughly wiped me out financially, and that is why I exist solely on current cashflow, and making my work decisions on what will best maximize it.

So the more that flows and the sooner it flows my way, the better...

@kisekinecro wrote:

There's only 2 other MSC that I find very pleasant to work with like IPSOS...RBG and The Consumer insight, but they have way less jobs available in my area.

I would tend to agree on both the quality and the decline in available work.

Used to do all kinds of easy and nicely paid merch gigs for TCI, and found the entire experience to be pretty smooth. Same for RBG. Had a regular monthly setup for 3 thrift store audits that made for an easy $150 that showed up the 15th of the following month.

I know some have some issues with RGB's scheduling team at present, but I've not run into any subpar experiences.

@BusyBeeBuzzBuzzBuzz wrote:

@CoolMusic Who are you to tell someone to get thicker skin or get out of this business? You don't know what they have to deal with and whether crying is their way to deal with stress.

Oh boo the f*ck hoo.

I don't care how one handles stress.

My point was if the MSC industry stresses you out, you should not be in the industry, plain and simple.

It's some of the easiest work out there, with considerably fluid scheduling opportunities compared to "real" jobs. WTF is there to get stressed about???

At the same time, lyin' and spyin' is not a normal existence by any stretch of the imagination, and is not for everybody, obviously.

If one is foolish enough to accept a job for what they consider to be substandard pay, as was referenced, one doesn't also get the right to claim a mental health day over their decision.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/05/2024 10:57PM by CoolMusic.

What kind of crappy logic is this?

shopperbob talked about a shopper being near tears regarding one job due to need and the job paying too little for the amount of work. You turned that distress over ONE JOB into the shopper should leave the INDUSTRY because the INDUSTRY stressed them out.

You don't have any idea how much MS experience or even work experience that person had, what kind of shop it was, how old she was, or why she needed to turn to a low-paying shop. Did she lose her regular job suddenly and still have to pay for food and rent? Was she going through a divorce and had dependents? Was she desperately trying MS and anything she could think of to generate some cash flow before she could land on her feet?

Was she new to MS and simply didn't know which were the 10-foot-pole shops? We often have experienced shoppers post about regretting taking shops they found out involved too much work for the pay. Been there, done that! (Some buy-a-phone-and-return-it shops, for example!) I wanted to cry, too, after spending tens of hours and making multiple phone calls and trips before I finally managed to cancel one of the services. So what? I did the shop and moved on, never accepting one of those shops again. I have been shopping for over 20 years and rarely feel stressed over any shop now.

Also, if she was stressed over an MS shop, what makes you think she would do better In another industry?

Stress is often a fact of life and different people cope with stress differently. shopperbob did not say anything about that shopper taking a mental health day. I don't know if she managed to complete that shop successfully. If she did, more power to her and I hope she learned to cope better and to choose better shops.

What would you rather people do? Quit whenever they feel stressed instead of trying to deal with it and grow?

Idiotic!

@CoolMusic wrote:

@BusyBeeBuzzBuzzBuzz wrote:

@CoolMusic Who are you to tell someone to get thicker skin or get out of this business? You don't know what they have to deal with and whether crying is their way to deal with stress.

Oh boo the f*ck hoo.

I don't care how one handles stress.

My point was if the MSC industry stresses you out, you should not be in the industry, plain and simple.

It's some of the easiest work out there, with considerably fluid scheduling opportunities compared to "real" jobs. WTF is there to get stressed about???

At the same time, lyin' and spyin' is not a normal existence by any stretch of the imagination, and is not for everybody, obviously.

If one is foolish enough to accept a job for what they consider to be substandard pay, as was referenced, one doesn't also get the right to claim a mental health day over their decision.

What a bunch of total freaking meh from where I sit.

There are all kinds of jobs available and all kinds of people for which certain jobs are inappropriate and vice versa.

If you can't stand the heat...



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/06/2024 12:45PM by CoolMusic.

Now, now, kids. Play nice!

Somebody is stressed over the news for some reason...get over it ..You'll be fine

Going to side with CoolMusic ! 15 years and counting in this business.
Lame excuses stink. Boo hoo is correct. Can't take the heat, move on and
work at a fast food place (always hiring) or Walmart or whatever.
Never once coming to tears over any work. Unless you count tears of joy !
14 years ago, getting paid $1200 for 10 Sunoco's (from the the now defunct CRI)
Or mega bonused work from Maritz.

From everything I’ve read on this site, working with Ipsos is a crap shoot. Some get lucky and have no issues for long periods of time, but from what I’ve seen, they also tend to be the ones who take low paying, below minimum wage shops. Others get a few bonused shops - until a burn attempt happens. Then there are those who get burned and end up in tears because they tried to build a working relationship by accepting lower paying shops that still got rejected. There are now some laws to protect these poor people. Nobody deserves that and they should be paid. Who among us is perfect?
Now that Trump is in charge again, he will reverse the federal protections like he did the last time. He’ll leave it to Elon. This time the stakes will be higher for Ipsos though, since there are more people paying attention to their abuse tactics.