The Mystery Shopping thread - IX

ukmonkey

Dear MS-ers,

As the last thread had got very long, this can slow the forum down - so it's time for a new thread...!

If you wish to red the old threads, the links are below:

Part I |Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V | Part VI | Part VII | Part VIII

This post contains a lot of advice, collated from a lot of different users, which I hope they don’t mind me using…

The MSE Mystery Shopping Thread

The people on this thread are here to help others, please be mindful of this, and remember to be polite and treat people with dignity and respect.

There is only a limited amount of Mystery Shopping jobs around, so don’t be offended if someone doesn’t want to share a piece of information with the 1000’s of visitors to this site. Whilst we are all here to help each other, sometimes we need to “look after number one”.

Please don’t expect people here to do


An introduction to Mystery Shopping

What is Mystery Shopping?

Well, quite simply MSing is a way for a company to assess the service that their customers receive. A Mystery Shopper visits the client’s premises, and acts like a “normal” shopper. So that will probably include things like asking questions and making a purchase. The scenario and requirements differ, depending upon the client.

The Mystery Shopper will then report back to the Mystery Shopping company, on such things as:

Cleanliness of the outlet
Staff availability
Product availability
Service speeds
etc



The Mystery Shopper will then be paid a fee for completing the assignment. The fee often includes at least a partial refund to go towards the goods purchased, though not in all cases.

Most Mystery Shopping companies will pay you by BACS (Bank Transfer) so don’t be worried if you are asked for your bank account number and sort code. Some companies based abroad may need something called an IBAN and/or SWIFT/BIC code/number. You can get this information either from your bank statement, from your online banking, or by calling your bank.

Numbers of jobs offered seems to vary and very much depends on your location in the country so it's difficult to generalise. Some companies have training materials and tests which help you to know exactly what to do and the standards they expect on their reports.

When you are ready pick a job, the first one is always nerve wracking. Possibly try one without timings or many complex stages as those give you just that bit much to think about on the first time.

Basics you should know before you begin mystery shopping

There are a few things you should know; these will help you hit the ground running, or alternatively, not bother with hitting the ground at all as mystery shopping isn't for everybody!




Equipment - things you'll need to get a good start with most assignments

• Stopwatch (or a timer on your mobile can be useful)
• Scanner (to enable you to scan in copies of your receipt if you are required to make a purchase)
• Printer
• Notepad & pen (pocket sized!)
• Camera/camera phone

Companies

A pretty long list of companies is listed in the post below. I would say though (and I'm sure most MSers would too) that registering with as many companies as you can get your hands on is never a bad thing. My personal advice would be that GAPbuster are probably the best company to get started with due to the number of jobs available. They're not famous for high pay but the reports are great and not too laborious.

Good and bad points of mystery shopping

Mystery shopping will never make anyone rich - the pay is simply not high enough. If you're just looking for some free meals or clothes, be aware that it's not just a case of buying them and getting paid. You need a good memory, you need to be objective and have a great eye for detail. Missing the smallest bit of information from an assignment can mean that you don't get paid for a job - this can be a nightmare if you've had to spend your own money on buying something as part of doing it too!

The great thing about mystery shopping is that you can make a difference to shops' service standards and your comments are listened to! You do get a meal or two paid for and sometimes you're paid handsomely to do them. As long as you treat the job with respect, you'll be rewarded.

The more you work for a company and the better your reports get, you will be given better paying and more rewarding jobs. Companies aren't big on giving new shoppers the best jobs; these come as a reward for your loyalty and hard work, later on.

Registering for tax

If you wish to start Mystery Shopping on a self employed basis, even just one job, you need to register with Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) within 3 months or you could face a fine of £100. Please don’t think that because you’ll potentially only earn a few quid doing MSing that you needn’t register as self employed – it’s absolutely essential that you do as being caught out can be costly. The admin work involved in being self employed is so minimal that it’s not worth avoiding - and we're here to help you do it! It might be a myth but there's been word of mystery shopping companies passing names of their shoppers to HMRC before, which can spark investigations is said shoppers are not already registered as self employed.

Forms and Guidelines you will need –

To register as Self Employed you will need to either ring HMRC on 08459 15 45 15 or download and send back the form CWF1 (http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/forms/cwf1.pdf )

(Please check the below rates I've used, in case they've changed without me updating this thread!)

You may also be required to pay class 2 National Insurance at the rate of £2.30 a week, but only if you earn more than £4,825 (between 06/04/08 and 05/04/09) after expenses in any one year through Self Employment. This means earning more than £4,825 in addition to your other sources of income.

If you think you will earn less than £4,825 in the financial year, then you can apply for a “Certificate of Small Earnings Exception” which means you will not have to pay NI (National Insurance) Contributions. The Exception application can be found at the end of this document CF10 - http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/forms/cf10.pdf

IMPORTANT National Insurance point: (thanks to Becles for this!)
If you earn less than £4,825, you don't have to apply for the Small Earnings Certificate and you can pay the £2.30 a week contributions.
If you are not paying NI in any other jobs, it can be worthwhile to pay these NI contributions. It will count towards any benefits you may need in the future and contributes to your state pension record.
For example, the self employed get one of two rates for Maternity Allowance, regardless of their actual earnings. If you have a Small Earnings Certificate, you get £27 a week. If you have paid enough NI contributions, you will get £117.18. It's a big difference!
Bear in mind that HMRC generally seem to have very long delays on processing these forms so don’t worry too much if it’s a few weeks before you hear anything. It's usually better to just call them!

Information on Self Assessment - http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/sa/selfemp.htm


Working out how much tax you’ll have to pay

You will be taxed at your normal tax rates for your mystery shopping. This sounds desperately vague but means that your MSing income (profit) will be added to any other income you have (employment, generally) by HMRC and taxed at the following rates (between 06/04/08 and 05/04/09):

If your total income is less than £6,035, you’ll pay no tax.
If your total income is more than this, the next £36,000 will be taxed at 20%.
Any earnings higher than £42,035 will be taxed at 40%.

Tax rates can seem confusing but following the above information logically will help you work out your tax.

For a lot of MSers, MSing is done in addition to their full time job. If the full time job pays between £6,035 and £42,035 then your MSing income will most probably be taxed at 20%.

Unless you earn more than £6,035 by mystery shopping, National Insurance (self employment’s version of National insurance is known as Class 4) will not be applicable.



Record keeping

Keeping records is something that’s vital with MSing. This is for two main reasons – one is that the MSing company may call you (potentially ages) after the job has been completed to query your report, and the other is for your tax return information at the end of the year.

In terms of tax, the record keeping can prove invaluable on a month to month basis and it’s worth investing some time and possibly money in setting up a bookkeeping system.

You could always use a spreadsheet or a manual book. There are a number of regulars on this thread who use a spreadsheet so there's always help around if you need to set one up.


Working out your profit/loss

There have been lots of people on the old MSing threads asking how to work out their taxable income. Below is a little example of how to do this for each job, with some suggestions of what you could include for each job you do:

Income (includes all fees and reimbursements): £30.00

Expenses:
Job specific costs (anything you had to pay out as part of the job) (£20.00)
10 miles @ 40p (HMRC’s agreed rate per mile) (£ 4.00)
12 pages printed @ 6p (reasonable cost of printing a page)(£ 0.72)

Profit (income less expenses) £ 5.28

You can also claim expenses against your income such as buying software or small equipment (calculator, diary etc) which aren’t necessarily related to one job.

It’s important to remember though that you can’t take the cost per page for printing from your income AND replacement printer cartridges and paper – it’s one or the other.

When the MS companies state that the fee includes all expenses, it is up to you to work out how much you have actually 'earned', and how much you have legitimately spent on expenses. And yes, it is even possible to make a loss, on paper, for the odd job!

What expenses can I claim against my income?


Claiming expenses other than the direct costs incurred in the job (meals etc) can be a bit of a minefield, and requires a bit of educated guestimating sometimes! with MSing, the usual, more obvious costs are:

• Paper & printer ink OR a cost per page (usually 6p for most people)
• Postage
• Files, dividers, folders etc
• Mileage costs (anything up to 40p per mile is acceptable)

There are some other things you can claim for though - these are more indirect costs and things you would have paid for even without MSing in most cases. These are simply contributions your business is making to you, for providing certain things. Below are some examples:

• Broadband - you can claim a % of your monthly cost against your income. For example, if you estimate that you use your internet 25% of the time for MSing, then claim 25% of your broadband costs against your income
• Telephone - this is done in a similar way to broadband. Line rental is done similar to broadband; calls are done either on this basis if you can't easily work it out, or using the exact costs if you can.
• Use of home - this is something most small businesses charge against their income. It's a bit of a notional amount (usually set at £5/£10 per month) that's supposed to contribute towards the costs of keeping your business running at home, using the heat, light and a bit of the spare room as an office!

The last one is definitely a guestimate one - it goes along the lines of using your common sense and making educated guesses. More info is available here from HMRC on allowable "other" expenses....

Confidentiality

Confidentiality is a huge part of Mystery Shopping. By virtue of the work being covert (hence the “Mystery” part of the name!), the companies would not want detailed information being posted on a public forum (don’t forget that you don’t even need to be registered to read this forum!!).
Please don’t mention client names, nor try to be cryptic.
e.g: Don’t mention “B&Q”, or refer to it as “The orange DIY store with two initials”. Simply refer to it as “A DIY store” as there are more than one DIY stores!
Alerts thread

Timmne has set up a thread specifically to alert shoppers of new job releases - the link is here. This is a very handy thread and it ensures us shoppers keep each other in the know - so if you spot a release of jobs, please let everyone know by posting on the alerts thread!

Jobbingmusician's useful phrases thread

So, once you've started shopping, you'll need to get typing those reports! Jobbingmusician has created a thread herewhich is designed to help you along with typing up those reports. As with the alerts thread, this is only as useful as we make it so PLEASE add to it if you think of anything. Thanks JM!

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Please let me know if there's anything that could do with being changed on this post. Thanks to the guys who PM'd me a while back with suggestions for the above - much appreciated.

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Finally - I'm not the expert on Mystery Shopping, so please don't PM me all your questions. Ask on the thread and one of us will answer. We're a friendly bunch, so feel free to say hi, even if you're new to all this!

ukmonkey

Company List and FAQs

(Please PM me if you'd like to add any, with details!)

Grassroots
Allocation of Jobs – Self allocation, you need to keep checking the website
Pay Day – Varies but usually 3-4 weeks after your assignment by BACS

Retail Eyes(if you get a current MSE'r to refer you they'll earn £1.50!)
Allocation of Jobs – Self allocation, you need to keep checking the website
Pay Day – 15th & 30th of the month (jobs done 1st-15th get paid on 30th; jobs on 16th-end of month are paid on the follwing 15th) - by BACS

Retail Eyes FAQ:
Q. When do RE pay?
A. RE pay by BACS (bank transfer) twice a month; mid-month (around 10th-15th) and end of month. The money should show up in your bank account approximately 2 or 3 days after the date shown on your Retail Eyes payment history.

The general rule with cut-offs is:

If you complete any assignments between 1st to 15th of a month (inclusive), payment will be made on the last working day of that month.

If you complete any assignments between the 16th and the end of the month, payment will be made on the 15th of the next month.

This is not always the case though, and should not be relied upon.

Q. How do I view my payment history?
A. When logged into the RE site, on the left you should see a section headed "Payment". Underneath is will say:
Due dd/mm/yy: £xx.xx
Due dd/mm/yy: £xx.xx
Pending: X payments
Clicking on either of these three links will take you into your "statement" and payment history.

Q. I have a payment pending, why is this?
A. When you have completed a visit, and filled in your report, the payment will stay as "pending" until your report has been proofread and approved. It's nothing to worry about and should move from pending after a few days.

Q. Retail Eyes have email me asking me to call them, do you know what this could be about?
A. It may be about one of your reports, they, or their client may have a question or two about it. Reply by email and ask them to email you with their specific questions, to which you can respond.

Q. What are the points all about on the Retail Eyes site?
A. There are several theories but have been none proved or disproved! It is thought that some clients may ask for more experienced Mystery Shoppers, hence the points system is one (albeit, possibly flawed) way of managing this.

Q. I can't see a hotel/bookmaker/etc assignment on RE, why?
A. Certain clients demand certain Mystery Shopper demographics, so as to be "shopped" by someone who is similar to one of their typical customers. For example, a bookmaker may only make their jobs available to male shoppers, as it is typically (though not exclusively, I must add!) males who visit bookies.
Another reason can be the answers that you have given to the verious questions in your profile. If you firmly believe that you should be able to see the jobs (i.e it's not because of your sex, age or location), consider calling Retail Eyes on the number given on their site. They are, on the whole, a friendly, helpful bunch, and should be able to find what the "problem" is.

Q. I've just taken a job but lots of available jobs disappeared at the same time. How can they vanish so quickly?
A. Often, Retail Eyes and/or their clients, only allow you to do one job of that type from that "wave" of jobs. So if you see 100 pub visits, and you accept one, what should then be 99, may drop to 0 as you're not allowed to take any other the other pub jobs. This is purely an example.

Also, one forum regular was told that as they have had so many new shoppers signing up with them recently, they’re “going to start” limiting how many jobs people can do per wave/client.

Q: How do I release a job that I've accepted but can no longer complete?
A: When you are logged into the RE site, you should see, towards the top left, a link that says "X Active" (where X is a number). Click on this link, then scroll to the job you wish to release. To the bottom right of the job details, you'll see a link that says "Release". click on this, and follow the on-screen prompts.

GapBuster
Allocation of Jobs - Self allocation, you need to keep checking the website
Pay Day – end of the month following your assignment by BACS
NO PHONE CONTACT WITH THIS COMPANY UNLESS SPECIFICALLY ASKED TO RING BY A STAFF MEMBER - PHONING GAPBUSTER IS REGARDED AS A SACKING OFFENCE!
TNS
Allocation of Jobs - Self allocation, you need to keep checking the website
Pay Day – 28th of the month following the assignment
BAI/BARE
Allocation of Jobs – Self allocation although they contact you to tell you if you are successful in obtaining assignments.
Pay Day – 25th of the month following the assignment
GFK
Allocation of Jobs - Self allocation, you need to keep checking the website
Pay Day = 25th of month (or after if this falls on a weekend)
Retail Maxim
Allocation of Jobs – By text message/email
Pay Day –?
Frontline Focus
Allocation of Jobs – By text message/email
Pay Day – 20th of month
Amber Arch
Allocation of Jobs – By email
Pay Day – 3-5 days after the report is received by them - paid by cheque
Optimum Contact
Allocation of Jobs – By e-mail, acceptance of allocation is done online.
Pay Day: About 2 weeks after work is completed, by BACS.
Customer Perspectives Limited
Allocation of Jobs – By telephone.
Pay Day: 21 days maximum, but usually within 7-10 days.
Mystery Customer Evaluations
Allocation of Jobs - By email
Pay Day: 30th of the month - if you do a job on 1st, you'll get paid on 30th - do a job on 27th and still get paid on 30th!
Business Blueprints
Allocation of Jobs - By email or phone
Pay Day: Monthly by BACS
Aba-i
Allocation of Jobs - Self allocation, you need to keep checking the website
Pay Day: Depends on the job, but generally within a couple of weeks of the job, by cash or voucher sent by post

How to add other clients - coming soon

ESA
Allocation of jobs - Self allocation, you need to keep checking the website - though jobs alerts are emailed anyway.

ukmonkey

**also reserved**

TractorGirl327

Bookmarked

angel13

I presume this is the new thread then

aplaceinthesun

hello everyone !

princess_leia_3

TractorGirl327 wrote: »

Bookmarked

Ditto

mharzuk

ukmonkey wrote: »

**also reserved**

Thanks UKM
I wanted to say something witty asking if you have your towel ready to reserve your sunlounger by the pool this summer but thought better of it...... oops;)

DebtHater

TractorGirl327 wrote: »

Bookmarked

Same here :rotfl:

KaramelRose

Hey guys, and it's very exciting to have a new thread!

Did my first petrol job for aba-i yesterday and was a visit to a competitor as well. Quite possibly the EASIEST mystery shop I've done to date! I was so impressed. The report only took me a few minutes and there wasn't too much to have to remember and observe. The visit only took a few minutes each... bargin!

Definitley up for doing some of those again!

ukmonkey

KaramelRose wrote: »

Hey guys, and it's very exciting to have a new thread!

Did my first petrol job for aba-i yesterday and was a visit to a competitor as well. Quite possibly the EASIEST mystery shop I've done to date! I was so impressed. The report only took me a few minutes and there wasn't too much to have to remember and observe. The visit only took a few minutes each... bargin!

Definitley up for doing some of those again!

+1 - I did two jobs (so four visits, IYKWIM) and yes, very very easy jobs. Almost as easy as the BARE car jobs, but a damn sight quicker than the BARE car jobs!!