Guardian journalist seeks help with 'mystery shopping' article

DonnaLFerguson

Hello,
I'm a freelance journalist for The Guardian. Apologies in advance for touting for business - I have been given permission to post this by the MSE team.
I'm writing an article about mystery shopping, specifically:
- how you become a mystery shopper, what skills you need and how it works/how you start out
-what the perks are and what the potential pitfalls are (eg. do you have to declare your burgers to the taxman). The pros and cons basically!

It would also be great to find someone who has become a
mystery shopping millionaire/lives solely on their mystery shopping to feature in the piece, if any MSE forum users would like to be featured in the article?

Similarly if you tried mystery shopping, hated it or found it was rubbish financially, would be interested in hearing from you too.

Please email me: donna.freelancer+media@gmail.com with your telephone number and a convenient time to call if you would like to take part.

If you want to check I am who I say I am, you can find me tweeting from @DonnaLFerguson https://twitter.com/DonnaLFerguson or read my articles for The Guardian here: http://www.theguardian.com/profile/donna-ferguson

Thanks for your time and I look forward to your responses. I will credit moneysavingexpert for help I receive in the article.

Former_MSE_Forum_Manager

Hi all,

Just a quick note that we've approved Donna's post above.

ljshopper

Hi Donnal,
I think you are being a bit cheeky. Those of us who make a living out of this are unlikely to give up any information to enable people to compete with us for work.
The ones that do help you will be the ones who do not know much.

Best of luck.

DonnaLFerguson

interesting - is it that competitive then?
I'm interested in talking to people about their experiences, it doesn't have be giving away any secrets.

directdebiter

I think the point is that if someone is doing really well through mystery shopping - why would they want to encourage new entrants into the market? From what I have seen when I have looked into it - but only a perception - is that it is already quite difficult to get a good regular or one-off 'gig' and this is quite ad-hoc rather than a full time regular good income. e.g. I don't see many adverts on jobsites for mystery shoppers for this reason.

Also Retailers can get more represantative broader feedback these days from customer surveys (real customers) that are commonly distributed via till receipts.

But I maybe wrong?

whitelabel

eg. do you have to declare your burgers to the taxman)

The fact you ask this suggests a lot. And not in a good way
As a freelancer your self are you therefore suggesting you don't declare all your income and jobs in Your tax returns?

Anyone who does speaks to you is most likely a rep for one of the agencies that pays peanuts trying to get free advertising for their conpany

If you researched this area and forum many of your questions have already been answered, though not free of copyright to put in an article.

Dormouse

Mystery shopping is very competitive, but that's only one reason real MSers dislike the way mystery shopping is usually portrayed/misrepresented in the media. Most articles tend to be all about the 'free lunches' and the 'free shopping', whereas MSers, more than anyone, know that there is no such thing as a free lunch

Some people who dabble in MSing look at it as a few freebies here and there, but for the serious professionals, it's a job like any other. And yes, we pay tax - she says, having just submitted her tax return (with a massive 6 hours to spare!)

cte1111

I think people are being a bit paranoid here. The 'secrets' of mystery shopping are clearly laid out in the mystery shopping thread on this forum. Anyone can read these and learn how to sign up to the MS companies to look for work.

Donna's just writing an article on a growing industry and asking for people to contribute if they wish. If you don't, then there's no reason to post. I'd be happy to share my story, having mystery shopped for 8 years and at points used it as my main income.

New people try mystery shopping every day, for those of us who are already well known to the MS companies and do our best to be reliable and write thorough reports, this shouldn't be a threat.

whitelabel

I'm not sure who Laura and it's a bold statement to call it growing, if anything it's shrinking, both in clients -choosing to use free customer survey 's, fees -rarely increasing year on year like other wages in line with inflation. The only thing that does grow is competition, when articles get published, and people think anyone can "have a go as its sounds easy and something for nothing "

Cybi-Ping

DonnaLFerguson wrote: »

I will credit moneysavingexpert for help I receive in the article.

So you're not even offering to give credit and remuneration for the information mystery shoppers provide.

kitchpoo

As soon as you tell me how to become a successful freelance journalist for the Guardian, I'll tell you a bit about mystery shopping.