For years now $5 mystery shopping assignments have been prevalent in the industry. They don’t pay enough for it to be worth anyone’s time…and yet they keep sticking around…
And the only reason is because some mystery shoppers are taking those assignments.That is why I am asking you to BOYCOTT those assignments.
And here is something that is surprising:
While it may be easy to blame the mystery shopping companies for these assignments, it is not that simple. The companies hate these asssignments as much as you do…but they take them because they have to compete with other companies for the same contract.
Read this comment from Pittburgh Shopper from my last blog post:
From the MSPA Conference – July 18-20, 2008
The owners of several of the MS companies did a panel discussion on the last day taking Q&A from the shoppers. They all had the same answer. The contracts were signed with the companies at the beginning of the year for set prices for shops. This was done before the cost of gas went over $4 a gallon. They all stated that nothing could be done at this time as they are all under contract. They did remind us that the IRS deduction for mileage went to fifty eight and a half cents per mile. And they all agreed that no one should accept the $4 and $5 shops.
We need to make it impossible for these $5 assignments to exist.
As shoppers we need to stand together and STOP this once and for all.
Please leave a comment below, declaring that you will NOT accept $5 assignments EVER AGAIN!
Thank you!
It’s insulting to me to be offered $5.00 for an assignment. I would never accept it.
Can you believe that one company has actually lowered their notorious $4 gas shops to $3 and still require pictures and responses to every question? WoW, that’s amazing!!!!!!!!
I want to share a story about a company I just came upon by accident, Quality Reviewers. They claim to be a mystery shopping company but there are no evaluations of companies involved in the work. The first 2 job sheets I received from them had a number of offers to sign up for some of which I was reimbursed ahead of time for the shipping and handling charges. In order to qualify for the measly dollar they pay for each offer they require one to stay with the program for 90% of the trial time before canceling. The third and fourth job sheet had quite a few offers like tan thin(cellulite reducer), vioderm (wrinkle reducer and such. After staying on the trial for 90% of the time it is impossible to return the unused portion before the deadline in order to avoid being charged the full price for the product. Even after I canceled my membership with a few of the companies I received membership charges ranging from 129-169 for the year. I was fortunate as I saved my cancellation email requests and was able to get the charges removed from my credit card. What I am trying to say in a nutshell is beware of Quality Reviewers. They said they would reimburse me the charges to ship unwanted products back to the companies and the last email I sent with a shipping charge has been ignored for over a week. I do believe they are getting credited for referring people to these companies and that there is no real mystery shopping involved whatsoever. Its a shame too because some of these products were fantastic but unfortunately the companies marketing them and the people who claim to be a mystery shopping company referring shoppers to these sites ruin the whole trial concept. BEWARE of Quality Reviewers!!!
Your story reminds me of two companies called Panda Research and Snap Dollar. Their concept was basically the same. Snap Dollar actually would send you a check after you have reached a certain amount in your account for doing those types of shops. However, Panda Research waited an entire year before they paid me the $100 I was owed. I had to send threatening emails to expose them as fraud, as they do not provide a telephone number, before I was paid through Paypal. You are correct, companies like those are getting paid, paid very well as a matter of fact, for referring customers to try products. Unfortubately, many of those companies are run by greedy individuals who only care about their bottom line at the expense of ohters.
I’ve never accepted a $5. job, nor will I ever. Between gas, paper, and ink for my printing the guidelines. I’ve already spent any profit earned.
I would never accept a job that pays $5. My expenses would be at least that much or more. It’s an insult to be offered such a low wage.
Here’s the thing… These companies stress to you to treat your shops as a professional business and not a hobby but then they pay you like it’s a hobby and not a business. They need to listen to their own advice and treat their jobs seriously in the sense of compensating them appropriately!
For those of you who are mystery shopping because you are bored, pleaseeeee find some volunteer work instead. When you accept jobs for a shameful pittance you damage the industry for all of us and some of us need this income not to buy nicknacks but to keep a roof over our heads and food on the table in the worst job market I have ever seen. Pleaseeeee don’t help the companies rip everyone off by accepting slave wages!
If you think $5 is bad, how about the one company that is constantly stting a $3 fee for doing a certain craft shop? I canNOT believe they have the nerve to even post it!
I am curious to know what the schedulers’ share is, when they post a shop for $3.00 or $5.00. Is it that the companies are not paying what it’s worth or is it that the scheduler is being greedy? Where does the buck stop? Is there any way to know what companies actually pay? Why would a scheduler even bother with such level of work? It seems that even their volume would not make it worthwhile.
I know. It just is such an insult to even post a job for such a pitiful amount! Figure how much gas it takes to run there, and the time involved doing the stupid report, not to mention any papers you print out to help you along the way. I can’t figure out how they have the nerve!
The lower pay range does seem unreasonable for on site shops. When the total cost of doing the shop is added up there is no profit at all. But I have experienced doing $5.00 shops when it has been very convenient, along my route and included reimbursement of a purchase that I wanted for myself. However I will not do an on site shop for under $5.00.
Phone shops with low pay are a different matter. Why not do a phone shop for $5.00 especially since there is no fuel overhead and no lost time travelling. Frequently the reports are so simple to do once you do a few and get the hang of it! One can easily earn $10.00 to $20.00 per hour! I like these for snow days.
Sometimes we might gripe about schedulers, but just think of the type of pressure they are under! I would much rather be a shopper with total control of what I choose to take on. Everyone’s circumstances are different. I think mystery shopping has something for everyone. Of course we all want the big bucks. The reality is that we cannot dictate to others what they can handle. Top paying jobs take extra skill and time to perform. They can be more stressful. There are a lot of new shoppers learning the ropes. They cannot usually start off with complicated, high priced shops, although there can be exceptions to the rule.