The Mystery Shopping thread - IX

absolutelynomoney

squeaky1055 wrote: »

Don`t forget to fill in the surveys on RE. It helps make up lost points, ie:job cancellations or change of date.

Thanks for this - I had only done one survey with them and didn't notice the point reduction. Also wasn't aware that there were more surveys! Thank you - helped me redeem myself with them a little as I had to reschedule a couple, meaning my points don't look so good.

absolutelynomoney

I'm not sure I agree with what has been said about the MS challenge - I don't see it so much as "who can get the most the fastest" or "lets make a quick buck", but rather its a target to aim to and an encouraging reminder. As MS'ing is not a full-time job and it's all self-motivation to pick up a good visit, do the report well, submit it, etc, there is a certain element of having in the back of your mind the whole time, to make sure are still on point and not letting it slide. Also, when you are really trying hard to make that bit extra money to help you through the hard times, it is nice to have a target that shows you the extra effort you have put in and the rewards you have reaped - its a reminder that things aren't so bad and something to aim for to help you feel better about your financial situation, that maybe now it isn't so bad.

blindman

absolutelynomoney wrote: »

I'm not sure I agree with what has been said about the MS challenge - I don't see it so much as "who can get the most the fastest" or "lets make a quick buck", but rather its a target to aim to and an encouraging reminder. As MS'ing is not a full-time job and it's all self-motivation to pick up a good visit, do the report well, submit it, etc, there is a certain element of having in the back of your mind the whole time, to make sure are still on point and not letting it slide. Also, when you are really trying hard to make that bit extra money to help you through the hard times, it is nice to have a target that shows you the extra effort you have put in and the rewards you have reaped - its a reminder that things aren't so bad and something to aim for to help you feel better about your financial situation, that maybe now it isn't so bad.

As difficult as it is to read your post (Paragraphs ) I did and have one suggestion for the "look how much I earned this month" signature.

Please add to it the actual HOURS you spent in earning the amount.

Should put it into perspective:eek:

duchy

That's why I do the challenge -it IS a good motivator however I do see that to a passing Up Your Incomer browser looking for quick ways to earn more money it could be giving the wrong message (in the same way people see Dooyoo as a quick buck earner if they churn out the minimum number of words for a review just to get paid rather than a chance to write useful reviews).
In a purely MS forum I think the challenge works well-nestled amongst other general "earn extra money threads it may give a different message.

duchy

blindman wrote: »

Please add to it the actual HOURS you spent in earning the amount.

Should put it into perspective:eek:

Don't see why-some people are "time rich-income poor"
I work evenings-some of my mystery shopping jobs do fall below what I deem to be "acceptable" hourly rate-some/most don't. Either way MSing fits in with my lifestyle and my other jobs.
If I was working 9-5 and earning £30K as I was in my last office based job then I'd be looking for a different return on other earnings (of which MSing is one) than my more fluid current work pattern. Apparently this having several different jobs that fit around lifestyle is called stranding according to one of the Sunday supplements-personally I call it juggling

If I can earn say £400 a month in my free mornings instead of nothing-why would I worry about what my time is "worth" I could say "My time is worth more than that" and be £400 poorer a month

absolutelynomoney

blindman wrote: »

As difficult as it is to read your post (Paragraphs )

Come on, give me a break - I'm at work and typing fast cos I have lots of things to get through! I don't think its that hard to read - plenty of other posts are longer and written the same way! This isn't an MS report!!

blindman wrote: »

I did and have one suggestion for the "look how much I earned this month" signature.

Please add to it the actual HOURS you spent in earning the amount.

Should put it into perspective:eek:

I don't feel the need to qualify the time I've spent earning my money to you or anyone else - I may have spent 3 hour on fantastic jobs to earn it or 100 hours on meagre pay - it doesn't make a difference to me.

I'm earning the money to help my own situation and to help me make enough to eat and pay bills. The target I have set it what I feel is reasonable based on the amount of work in my area, the time I have spare to dedicate to MS'ing and therefore what I can achieve if I do it properly, frequently and push myself a little to earn that extra bit more.

My target is for myself and not anyone else - I felt that the mystery shop challenge was a good community effort to encourage people to meet their targets as a motivator to help them get by or get out of debt. After all - this is an MS thread in a Money Saving forum. Which is important to the way this thread runs and the atmosphere and conversation it attracts/generates.

blindman

duchy wrote: »

some of my mystery shopping jobs do fall below what I deem to be "acceptable" hourly rate

That's the point.

For the "how do I get a quick easy buck" crowd the quick glance at £400 per month signature sounds good if they don't realise it's at £2.00 per hour.:eek:

Lil_Me_2

The main reason that I signed up to the challenge was actually to try and feel a little more like part of the community that there is here.

I also think I fit all of the stereotypes handed out over the past page or so which is amusing. I "stumbled" across the MS thread whilst browsing the MSE forum. I saw peoples signatures saying how much they were making and I thought "that looks like a fun way to get a bit of money to pay off the new car".

Now I'm not naive, I know how much effort it takes to do this properly and I do it in my spare time along with a full time job. I read the first post of this thread in great detail and took the advice of using GAP as a good starting point and I've done (and still do) the burger and chicken jobs and the jobs that get you a £3.50 fee and you end up buying loads more in the shops and I'm moving on from there with a bit of experience.

However I'm sure when most people who look back to when they first started out they were probably exactly the same!

I'd like to think I asked my fair share of questions, and I'd like to think I've also given my fair share of what little advice I can give. However I doubt that many people want advice from a "newbie" so it may seem very one sided at the moment but it's not intentional.

blindman

absolutelynomoney wrote: »

Come on, give me a break - I'm at work and typing fast cos I have lots of things to get through! I don't think its that hard to read - plenty of other posts are longer and written the same way! This isn't an MS report!!

And I for one don't read them!

I don't feel the need to qualify the time I've spent earning my money to you or anyone else - I may have spent 3 hour on fantastic jobs to earn it or 100 hours on meagre pay - it doesn't make a difference to me.

My target is for myself and not anyone else -

So if the target is for yourself then why advertise it

The whole point raised by Becles was that the signatures give the impression that it's EASY\QUICK to earn £400 per month when (most of us) know it isn't.

I also get the impression that there are a lot of "look how much I earned" signatures are way off the mark and don't take into account expenses, tax, etc.

BTW
Well done for the paragraphs

Lil_Me_2

blindman wrote: »

The whole point raised by duchywas that the signatures give the impression that it's EASY\QUICK to earn £400 per month when (most of us) know it isn't.

I don't think they give the impression that it's quick or easy, just that it's a way that some people can earn that amount of money.

I looked at some of the targets and thought wow thats a lot of money and then after reading some posts it turns our that some people are on maternity leave or only work part time and that's how they can afford the time to make that amount of money.

It's also clear that there are huge differences in what people make by MS.