Mystery Shopping

LuckyPenny

Hi
Can anyone please recommend which are the best mystery shopping companies in terms of a) the most lucrative and b) not too time costing c) not too many loops holes to jump through?

Thanks all
:money:

michael1983l

I presume with household budgets so stretched these days that there will be stiff competition for accounts and very little reward as people are willing to do a lot for a little these days. I will keep an eye out on the responses though as it is an interesting proposition.

~Beanie~

None of them are very lucrative any more. The fees are going down all the time.

I do a lot of food ones, where you might get a meal paid for but the fee for doing it is only £3 or similar. They will pay an allowance of say 'up to £15' and if your meal costs more, you pay it yourself.

They all have long questionnaires to complete. For the meal ones that I do, you have to time things like how long you wait to get served, how long it takes for the food to arrive, did they check your meal was OK and if so, how long did it take them, how long after finishing your meal did it take them to clear the tables. You have to get the name of the person that served you and a description of them, same for the person who delivers your food (if its someone different). You have to check that they greet you correctly, note whether they offer you any extras or offer to upgrade our meal and/or drink to a larger one. You have to see if there are any special offers advertised, you have to check the toilets.

You have to remember all this, you can't write it down!! I used to pretend I was texting someone and write it n my phone but the last few jobs I have done specified in the assignment notes that no mobiles were to be used.

The competition is fierce, you have to constantly check the websites for jobs, which are allocated on a first come first served basis and they seem to go a lot faster than they used to. They do check CCTV as well so you can't make the timings up or use your phone when they have specifically said not to.

All in all, if you are doing it to try and make extra money then I wouldn't bother.

LuckyPenny

Thank you for your responses. I might try some of the marketing research companies - I'm signed up for a company called Saros and the money you get from that seem really good, although I have not been chosen yet!

michael1983l

LuckyPenny wrote: »

Thank you for your responses. I might try some of the marketing research companies - I'm signed up for a company called Saros and the money you get from that seem really good, although I have not been chosen yet!

I tried the market research avenue once. What a complete waste of time that was. 20 minute surveys to make 10 pence, if you were lucky enough to be selected for one, which rarely happened. 30 pence an hour, no thanks.

~Beanie~

I still do mystery shopping but these days its as more of a hobby because as I said, you will never make any money from it, there aren't enough jobs and too many shoppers.

Do it as a bit of fun and maybe get a free meal but don't do it purely as a money making exercise as it won't be.

mum2one

I mystery shopped regulary for a period of 3 years (stopped about 2 yrs ago) over that period of time I noticed the differences for the worst, where as meal you would say get £20 (meal allowance) plus £10 fee - now that would be £15 towards meals and if your lucky £3 - then the report could be up to 10 pages long, most questions want an answer as well as a tick, eg u visited the ladies toilets, so you tick box for ladies - then you would have to write I visited the ladies toilet.

A lot of companies are now dropping mystery shoppers as its too expensive.

There are that many people signed up for the mystery shopping that your literally looking for a needle in a haystack.

Tax - you need to be registered as self employed, then if your using your car - you need to notify your insurance company that your self employed - higher your insurance, as that now comes as business use......

A lot of the time your be expected to travel - no petrol expenses - wear and tear on the car........

Larac

LuckyPenny wrote: »

Hi
Can anyone please recommend which are the best mystery shopping companies in terms of a) the most lucrative and b) not too time costing c) not too many loops holes to jump through?

Thanks all
:money:

Would recommend you go to the Up Income section as there is a mystery shopping thread which has lots of useful information.