MYSTERY SHOPPING THREAD XI ** New people make sure you read the first 2 Posts **

TractorGirl327

OK, it’s my turn to create the new thread this time, as the previous one was getting very long and this slows the site down.

Most of what is written below, is lots of advice copied from Timmne’s original compilation a while ago, with a few updates from Josie and ukmonkey’s previous threads, and other credits as mentioned.

The old threads are linked to below - it's worth reading as many of them as you can to get a feel for what you might need to know.

Part I (Thanks to nearlyrich for the OP)
Part II (Thanks to leni for the OP)
Part III (Thanks to Timmne for the OP)
Part IV (Thanks to Timmne for the OP)
Part V (Thanks to Timmne for the OP)
Part VI (Thanks to Timmne for the OP)
Part VII (Thanks to Timmne for the OP)
Part VIII (Thanks to ukmonkey for the OP)
Part IX (Thanks to ukmonkey for the OP)
Part X (Thanks to Josie for the OP)


An introduction to the mystery shopping thread

The companies mentioned below are a good place to start. Don't worry if they ask you for bank details when you apply as this is only so you can get paid. Numbers of jobs offered seems to vary and very much depends on your location in the country so it's difficult to generalise. Lots of the companies have training materials and tests which help you to know exactly what to do and the standards they expect on their reports.

Most of us have worked hard to get good at this job so whilst we are helpful we are not keen to hand on a plate information to people not willing to do the legwork too. Please also note that there is a finite pool of MS work so respect that people may not be willing to share all their knowledge with someone who in essence will be taking work away from them or causing a decrease in fees. Being able to read and digest information is a vital skill for mystery shoppers so the next stage is to read the rest of the thread and you should find people happy to answer specific queries you have.

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. Go for one close to home so you aren't going out of your way as the fee will probably not be worth it otherwise. You can always go back into most places with an excuse if you miss something or if allowed take someone else who can keep an eye out too for details such as name badges.


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
• Printer
• Notepad & pen (pocket sized!)
• Camera/camera phone

Companies

A pretty long list of companies is listed 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's probably a good 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.

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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 rates I've used below, in case they've changed since this thread was launched!)

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 £5,075(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 £5,075 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 £5,075, 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

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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 self employment, (for the majority just mystery shopping) National Insurance (self employment’s version of National insurance is known as Class 4) will not be applicable.

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“Tax doesn’t have to be taxing”

Many people are put off MSing because of the tax registration work involved - but they needn’t be. Tax is actually quite easy to deal with and when you know what to do you’ll have no issues.

Timmne is an accountant and is happy to help anyone on this thread if they have any questions. There are also a few other accountancy trained MSers who regularly visit this board who will be able to help.

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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.

There’s a spreadsheet designed by ukmonkey - MS_Logger by ukmonkey which is very whizzy with macros, or for a more basic one that will still add up how much tax you owe and keep track of all earnings, then please feel free to PM Josie, but please remember to send your email address.

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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!

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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....

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Confidentiality

Confidentiality is something MSers really need to bear in mind. Please don't mention fees or client names on this thread as neither the MSing company nor the client being shopped will be very happy about their names being discussed on here.

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!

Beware Assossia – One person on here will actually report back to the mystery shopping company that they are being discussed on moneysavingexpert. (She knows who she is!)

The fundamental issue with this is that MSing is a very competitive business and if an MSing company finds out which company shops a particular client (and even for how much) then it puts that contract in jeopardy. This, therefore means that the competition between companies will always mean lower fees for us, the shopper.

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Alerts thread

There’s also 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!

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Jobbingmusician's useful phrases thread

So, once you've started shopping, you'll need to get typing those reports! Jobbingmusician has created a thread here which 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.

TractorGirl327

Companies used by MSE Mystery Shoppers


All of the below companies use self-employed mystery shoppers (as opposed to employed ones, through a payroll). This means that to begin MSing, you must get registered for tax first (see above).

You can sign up to as many companies as you like. The more you sign up with the more choice of jobs you will have.

Aba-i
Allocation of Jobs - Self allocation, you need to keep checking the website
Pay Day: Depends on the job, but generally within 2-3 weeks of the job, by cash or voucher sent by post.
Tel. no. 01727 837322

Adding clients

If you only have one client showing when you login, call Aba-i and ask if they can add on any more clients. They should be able to add two more particular clients without any problems. Emails don't get answered very often so call them for this particular request or use this link and add them on one at a time, by clicking “register” even if you’re already registered and follow the instructions, selecting your user name when it comes up. They currently have 11 clients.

To search for the whole country, click on “other” then go to the box for “search” and press the space bar, then search. From the long list that appears select the bottom option “None of these, just look for the search term above”


Amber Arch
Allocation of Jobs – By email
Pay Day – at the end of the month, by cheque
How - Raise an invoice by clicking on "invoice" on the website.

Assossia
Mainly auditing work
Allocation of jobs – by email
Payment – by BACS
How - after being emailed an invoice you complete and return

BAI/BARE
Allocation of Jobs – Self allocation although they contact you to tell you if you are successful in obtaining assignments.
Pay Day – Around 22nd of the month following the assignment
Contact no. 02 03355 9265

Business Blueprints
Allocation of Jobs - By email or phone
Pay Day: Monthly by BACS


CHG do UK (London only) Hotels, restaurants, lounges and overseas hotels etc.
They also do Cruises.
Supposedly once you've been to one location you can not go back.

Hotels PROs
Stay for 2 nights for two people.
3 London hotels are 5*, + One is 3-4* IMHO
Travel allowance to\from hotel
Possible Dinner in hotel + lounge visit.
Pay is near $100 -paid the following month

Hotel visits CONS
You must do a restaurant visit first before applying for the Hotels.
10,000 word report to be finalised 36 hrs after checkout.
25-50 photos needed too.

Very exact and strange formatting required.
Outlay of £1000 (Yes 1£K) for hotel bills dinner etc. Gets reversed on the CC after 7-10 days.
Not all meals are assessed so you have to eat out.
Pay is in $ and through Paypal (cost £7.00 to process)
Once you've done one hotel you can never do it again

Restaurants
UK (London only)
Very posh (in the 5* hotels).Menu sometimes wierd!
No travel allowance.
Bill is usually £200+ and is reversed after 7-10 days
Pay is very small ( 3 x RE fee when they pay!)
Report is 5000 words, to be in 36hrs after visit.

Lounge visit Best option IMHO.
UK (London only)
Two cocktails allowed (per person) + finger food menu from the bar.
Small report 300 words (IIRC)
Swanky lounges (usually) and great drinks!
No travel allowance
Small pay in $

Overall these jobs are for the serious shopper who can afford to pay these very large amounts and work under pressure.
TBH I'm not sure the rewards are worth it. I've yet to do a cruise (usually 7-10 days)- but I hate to think how much writing that involves

Ask or PM blindman if you want more details


Customer Perspectives Limited
Allocation of Jobs – By telephone.
Pay Day: 21 days maximum, but usually within 7-10 days

eDigitalResearch

Allocation of jobs by invitation to an email on the site
Pay: By cheque on around 20th of the month

ESA
Allocation of jobs online, but also notification by email
Pay Day: Usually received into your bank account around 9th of the month by BACS

Frontline Focus
Allocation of Jobs – By text message/email
Pay Day – 20th of month

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!

Useful link to the GAP search for more than one area - replace hxxp with http, and the country/cities with your own

hxxp/www.xec.gapbuster.com/WebSelect3/SearchAssignment.aspx?q=search&flag=true&f1=England&f2=&f3=Newcastle,Liverpool,Sheffield,London&c=&a=&start=&end=&premiumOnly=false&pageSize=2 5&p ageIndex=0

or for a particular client:

http://www.xec.gapbuster.com/WebSelect3/SearchAssignment.aspx? q=search&f1=&f2=&flag=true&f3=&c=441&a=&start=&end=&premiumOnly=&pageSize=&pageInde x=0

Replace the "441" part with different numbers for different clients.
Chicken shops - 404
Betting - 342
Burgers - 441
Burgers Special Project - 442
Pizza - 391
Stamp shop - 830
Seaside petrol - 266
Petrol Audits - 144
Petrol Competitors - 553
Corner shops - 656
Sandwiches - 519
Other Petrol - 752
Betting Competitors - 570
Phone shops- 221
Phone Competitors- 299

Some people can't get this to work in IE, so try in Firefox if you're having problems and log in to Gap first.

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)

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

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!
Tel. No. 0131 208 4433

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. Need to submit invoice on their website.

React Surveys
Allocation of jobs by email, but website selection coming soon
Pay Day: complete the invoice and expenses claim form when you submit the job details.

Retail Eyes (if you get a current MSE'r to refer you they'll earn £1.50! So pls ask)
Allocation of Jobs – Self allocation, you need to keep checking the website
For Telephone and hotel jobs, you must have a valid work email address and phone number, i.e. not gmail, yahoo, aol, hotmail etc.
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 following 15th) - by BACS - remember to add your bank details!



Retail Maxim
Allocation of Jobs – By text message/email
Pay Day – ?

TNS
Allocation of Jobs - Self allocation, you need to keep checking the website
Pay Day – 28th of the month following the assignment
Contact no. 0208 967 4164 (database administrator)
Contact no. 0208 967 1333 (payroll)
Contact email: [EMAIL="contactus.mshop@tns-global.com"]contactus.mshop@tns-global.com[/EMAIL]

Tern
Notification of jobs by email, apply online and you will be notified if you’ve been successful or not
Payday: By cheque, after submitting your invoice at the end of the month.

TractorGirl327

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
This is a thread where people can ask questions and the experienced Mystery shoppers are happy to help. However, there are some questions which are asked time and time again so we have tried to answer them all here. If you can’t find the answer here to your specific question, ask us on the thread – we won’t bite (well, not very hard, and not unless we haven’t been fed!!!)

Gapbuster FAQ

Q: I've been told to get a business card for a mobile phone shop, or couldn't get one, what do I do?
A: Scan in the brochure, business card or hand out you were given instead.

Q: Where can I print off my job notes on Gap?
A: Go to Web Express and enter the job no.

Q: How can I tell which jobs Gap have paid me for?
A: You will need to look at My Assignments and work it out from there, bearing in mind pay dates as listed above.

Q: Is it ok to take others with me on a pizza job?
A: Yes up to four people but the two in your party must pay separately

Q: Can I use coupons?
A: No

Q: Can I take advantage of a meal deal or special offer?
A: Probably only where it would look suspicious not to, e.g. a free side order, not go large or equivalent.


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, what could this 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.

TNS FAQs

Q: How do I know which depts to shop at the supermarket? / There seem to be 100s of questions on my supermarket questionaire?
A: When you click on the link you are sent it will tell you, or log in and look at "My Visits" then click on the job and it will also be listed there.

Spikeg33

OoooH! A super shiny new thread, thanks TG :T Bookmarked

fabsaver

Thanks TG;)

IlonaRN

Thank you TG! Must try and keep up with this one, I completely missed the last one!

scubaangel

Thanks TG, cant believe how quickly the last thread filled up!!

Rosy_Violet

:TNice one TG:T

mharzuk

Thanks TG :j

vicz123

Hey everyone! I'm due to do a breakfast burger job tomorrow at a branch inside a supermarket. Just occured to me that supermarket doesn't open til 10 and just been on burger website at the burger branch is also not open until 10. time on brief is 8-10am and it let me select sunday. Any body had this or have an idea on what to do?

ukmonkey

vicz123 wrote: »

Hey everyone! I'm due to do a breakfast burger job tomorrow at a branch inside a supermarket. Just occured to me that supermarket doesn't open til 10 and just been on burger website at the burger branch is also not open until 10. time on brief is 8-10am and it let me select sunday. Any body had this or have an idea on what to do?

Reschedule it.