MYSTERY SHOPPING THREAD XII - ** New people please read posts 1 & 2 **

tomla

Pizza shops on RE mostly now have small fees where they haven't got them done yet.

If you don't want to a job that has no fee then don't take it but people will do them not only because you aren't speaking to the mystery shopping worlds entire range of shoppers (I spent three years MS'ing before I ever came here) but because to be honest sometimes the reimbursement IS payment enough.

This isn't us driving down fees this is MS companies finding the market value and if the market falls below your minimum then you need to find a new market.

Scotties_Mum

Don't see the problem myself, I do the jobs I want, and leave the ones I don't.

MS dispels the theory that there is no such thing as a free lunch. (yes free, not free plus £5). As long as the rest of my day makes me money, I see those as a perk, not that I do them often, but that is choice.

You could work on the same theory that every time I carry out a supermarket audit for you know who, I always end up buying more shopping!

paulherts

tomla wrote: »

Pizza shops on RE mostly now have small fees where they haven't got them done yet.

Exactly they have the ability to pay they are not paying as there are so many people willing to work for nothing. Even GAP gave a better reimbursement which covered the cost of a pizza when they did them as a competitor visit.

As Blindman rightly points out this was much better paid when TNS had the account.

There was also another poster decrying the reduction in fees over the past four years. This will continue and we will all suffer for that.

misssarahleigh

I have just started mystery shopping, and must admit i'm enjoying it a lot. Although i just pop up to ask a random question i have been following the post for nearly a month and you all seem like really nice people.

I used to make money on 'cashback' (earning pennies from clicking and searching websites). This didn't make me millions but was well suited while at college and university. What used to pay 50p a day for one click has dissapeared, the 15p ones now only worth 2p. I have around £100 pending over 20 sites because one company won't pay the site etc. What used to be a very good little earner has totally been wiped out.

So i understand those shoppers who have seen their business and profit dwindle over the years, as, although maybe not on the same scale in money terms i have eperienced the same problem.

I very much enjoy my clicking but no longer do this as it's just not worth it.

Becles

I look at the "big picture" when I take jobs on.

I'm doing a pizza buffet tomorrow and taking the bairns. I'll go over the reimbursement amount, so be out of pocket based on the job alone.

However, I'll not have to cook an evening meal for them so I'm saving around £4 on ingredients for a meal. I'll not have to spend time cooking it, or clearing away afterwards. Plus the bairns think it's a treat going there, so I get the pleasure of their company and knowing I made them happy. You can't really put a price on that.

tomla

paulherts wrote: »

Exactly they have the ability to pay they are not paying as there are so many people willing to work for nothing. Even GAP gave a better reimbursement which covered the cost of a pizza when they did them as a competitor visit.

As Blindman rightly points out this was much better paid when TNS had the account.

There was also another poster decrying the reduction in fees over the past four years. This will continue and we will all suffer for that.

No, all this proves is they have the ability to pay MORE when they need to get a job done, just like taking a job at an increased fee when a MS company calls you.

And once again as lots of people have said on here now, it isn't working for nothing, its working for reimbursement.

I understand your point about fees but actually its not about just MS'ing as a post above this points out. We are living in a world where pay is decreasing across the board. If you refuse to do it someone else will.

funny-bunny_4

paulherts wrote: »

Do you think RE say to the pizza company don't worry about paying us a fee for assessing your customer service?

Of course they don't.

RE are just making bigger profits by not passing on the fees paid by their clients. Questioning why should you get a fee for everything you do is naive, RE get a fee for every job you complete and should pass a proportion of that on to you.

I remember reading a short while go that the shops, pay the ms co's about £120 for a shop, we get £0-£15 top's ... nice bit of profit for someone, !!!!!

tomla

I remember reading it was less than that and if you get £15 tops you need to find some new companies to work for.

of course there is profit in it.

proshopper

tomla wrote: »

This isn't us driving down fees this is MS companies finding the market value and if the market falls below your minimum then you need to find a new market.

I beg to differ on this. The no fee/low fee jobs are effectively reducing fees across the board. The MS companies are all competing for the same clients - and are undercutting each other in the process. I have this information from one of the horse's mouths!

OK, so the companies are paring their overheads and presumably their own profits to compete. But it is rather obvious that the easiest overhead to reduce is the shopper fee.

It is all very well saying that someone will do the job for no fee. Yes, they will. Which must be why, for example, RE has (and presumably needs) 450,000 active shoppers.

I MS to make a living. I do a professional job. I am still employed by a couple of companies (they pay my tax and NI). No way would they expect me to do a job for free. Why should it be any different if I do the work on a self-employed basis?

A particular company I work for would not expect me to say: "Lovely. I'm going to have six cups of hot chocolate and six cakes today. Don't worry about paying me for my six evaluations and my six top quality reports. I'll have had enough calories today to keep me going for a few days without needing to buy any other food.":rotfl:

Having said that, I am as guilty as any - I take on a small number of reimbursement only jobs. Very occasionally, I do it to broaden my experience. More often it it because I actually want the item that the reimbursement covers and the job is in a place that I am already visiting. As has been said already, it is a way of getting treats for the family.

I think that low fee/no fee work is probably going to become more prevalent throughout the industry. If this is so, I will just continue with the "less attractive" jobs, such as complex evaluations of service providers and profit protection investigations. The clients concerned have exacting requirements and to meet these, the MS companies will still want experienced workers for the assignments. I cannot visualise RE-type companies as major players in this field as I cannot see how they can deliver the consistent quality.

funny-bunny_4

tomla wrote: »

I remember reading it was less than that and if you get £15 tops you need to find some new companies to work for.

of course there is profit in it.

£15 is a good payment!!!! what companies do you work for that obviously pay a lot more......go on u no u wanna :j