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

aplaceinthesun

Hardly post here now but thought I would have a bit of a read through. Business is business I am afraid and , as in many other fields of business , companies will always be wanting to undercut each other in order to gain themselves more clientele. My parents ran a franchise from 1984 -1998 providing a service at set rates , the competition increased and now companies selling the same sort of service charge rates that are about 50% of those back in the 80's and 90's yet there is no way that costs (fuel, staff, premises,rates,etc) have dropped by comparison indeed they will have continued to rise..... MS companies are just the same and to a certain level, not the same extreme of course, will undercut and we, the shopper, bear the brunt of this. We can , I guess, take it or leave it !

squidgeum

Is RE down or is it just me?

ManjoMungo

Hi Squidge,

RE is down for me too.... oh well, my coffee and toast is going down well !

Good Morning Everyone !

squeaky1055

Morning peeps....... RE down for me too....

Have just seen some extra value assignments on Gap. Managed to grab one in the direction I am heading today, that`s lunch sorted.

Some local grocery stores have appeared on GFK....grabbed one of those too. Same place I got to do a petrol job so very convenient.....love it when a plan comes together.

Highview

When there are no fees just reimbursements we all need to remember that it's still not a free lunch - the tax man can quite easily class the lunch as a benefit in kind and you will end up owing tax on the pizza you have enjoyed as there is no way the tax man would believe we would be prepared to do all the reporting we have to do for nothing.

tomla

proshopper wrote: »

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.

I agree with lots of this but its not the whole MS industry that is being driven down, it is every industry. But RE is an extreme example as long as I have worked for them they have always had reimbur. only jobs.

And once again it is not doing a job for free it is doing it for the reimbursement, people who depend on MS wont make a "profit" moneywise but plenty of people see value in the product equivalent to being paid money.

misssarahleigh

I have not needed to do a tax return yet as i have only just started, but i should imagen if the tax man were to do that, then i would have to list all the meals my BF paid for, given extra change incorrectly (Income!) you name it! Would be a long slippery road.

If i was not completing the report i would not have eaten out. the tax man may say that saved me making tea but i may have skipepd tea! There's a long list of hyperthetical situations.

I don't know if anybody has had experience of this but if mr tax man came after me for a pizza would not be impressed.

tomla

Highview wrote: »

When there are no fees just reimbursements we all need to remember that it's still not a free lunch - the tax man can quite easily class the lunch as a benefit in kind and you will end up owing tax on the pizza you have enjoyed as there is no way the tax man would believe we would be prepared to do all the reporting we have to do for nothing.

You don't end up owing tax on the pizza, you owe tax on the reimbursement, technical point but one that means fees and reimbursements are one and the same in the eyes of the taxman. Whether you can put some itmes down as expenses is another story.

Scotties_Mum

If the job notes say you have to order X, Y and Z, and you have a receipt for X, Y and Z then that is your 'job' otherwise you won't get paid by the MS company.

Anyway, it is all choice, for example, I am in Chelmsford all day today, and there is a premium fast food available for lunch. I am not taking it, can't bear 2 in 2 days regardless of the fee!

I have become more picky with the jobs that I take, and tend to stick to audits if I can, or visits to shops I would probably buy from anyway, but that doesn't mean that I feel I have the right to sneer on anyone that picks up things like extra jobs in their lunchtimes, or after work for convenience.

This is not a get rick quick scheme, and lots of people have come into
MS'ing as a means of an alternative income when money has been tight. If you have built up a reputation as a trusted shopper, then great, but like the rest of us, you probably accepted some rubbish on your way there.

Jo_Mc_3

RE website is working again now.:D