Mystery shopping thread 26 *please read the op first**please no client names or fees

vegasvisitor

genetic wrote: »

Does anyone mystery shop with ipsos-mori? I am familiar with the company, but didn't know they did mystery shopping, too. Is the website http://www.ishopforipsos.com/ legitimate? Thanks.

Yes, I've done a couple of jobs for them. A bit of a rigmorole to get started though, a multi-option multiple choice quiz which was a bit fiddly, then a selfie video.

I've done one clothing store non-purchase job, plus a couple of emails. They have emails and calls on just now, but you will have to remove your postcode and radius to see them.

vegasvisitor

GlasweJen wrote: »

I did a mystery pub visit for RA last night. Brief said it should be between 23/09 and 30/09 and must be on a Friday. When I took the assignment my proposed date was 30/09 but then realised we couldn't do that date.

I filled in the questionnaire and when I hit the check button it says survey complete but when I try to submit it says to answer all questions. I emailed RA last night but they've not got back to me yet. Has anyone had similar problems?

Going by your username you're not very far away, but I'm thinking you didn't do either of the ones more local to me (well by local they're still a drive across the bridge). I was reluctant because they involve driving and mention multiple drinks. I don't mind the drink purchase requirement when I can take the train (to Glasgow etc) but not much fun doing those in the car, particularly as they appear to be reimbursement only.

I've not had the problem you mention. Did you also upload any pics etc? I've mainly done tile shops for them. Nothing much more.

GlasweJen

I've uploaded 2 pictures, the receipt and the exterior as per the brief.
It sounds like the same pub chain, 2 drinks and 2 mains?

They've also not replied to my email asking for help so this is probably going to end up as non-payment which I won't mind as we go to this pub anyway but hadn't planned on going there this week.

chills87

A quick question here about declaring your income. I am a 20% tax payer as I am already employed and PAYE. I've recently started mystery shopping as a way to make a little extra money. I'm working things out and all the assignments I've done so far are a loss on paper (but not in my pocket) when you take into consideration the HMRC advised 45p per mile expenses.

My question is, do I still have to declare this work through self assessment if I am making a loss. Also, if I do post a loss on self assessment, will I be entitled to a rebate on some of my PAYE income tax?

Thanks.

Uggly_Mug

mrs_lds wrote: »

Does anyone work for Douglass Stafford? Are they a good company to work for?

I used to work for them, a few years back. They tried to shaft me for two payments for video work I sent to them and I fell out with them over that. Apparently, their recent contract disallows contractors from working for other companies (unenforceable) and I think it is that company (or it could be Performance in People) they've started fining people for silly little errors, like not putting the date in correctly on the evaluation report (again, unenforceable because clients should always give suppliers a chance to rectify errors before imposing sanctions).

I know some people do think them a reliable and good company to work for though and they have plenty of work to give out - mainly automotive if you do video. Everyone has their own experience of them.

Uggly_Mug

Larac wrote: »

TBF - there are some people who do make a living out of it. They seem to do a mix of video, audits, merchandising and some MS work. Do agree that report only work will not get you far though. I have been doing this for three years and the rates have remained static. All very much in line with my FTE who similarly has given miniscule/non existent pay rises in that time. General trend in this country, costs go up, wages remain static and the rich continue to reap the benefits.

I make my entire living out of mystery shopping. I don't do audits or merchandising. Video mainly, but some higher paid report work too now. The secret, I find, to make a living from it is to live in a great area with lots of work, also get established with many MS companies with lots of end clients and establish a good reputation with as many of the better players as you can, then the better jobs will soon be yours for the taking.

The key thing to remember when thinking of doing any kind of low fixed fee per unit, short-duration freelance work (as opposed to week long jobs or whole day jobs etc for an hourly or fixed rate) is to work out what kind of 'profit' you need to make to live your life. If you have a high lifestyle maintenance costs (kids, high maintenance partners with expensive tastes, mortgage to pay, high rent, expensive car to insure etc.) then MS is probably not going to make you sufficient profit to live on, no matter how high up you go in the pecking order. Not unless you have other income from other sources.

So many mystery shoppers I speak to only think of the gross fee per unit as indicative of the high earnings that can be had per annum. Quote of £40K per annum are expressed as possible. This is unrealistic and highly unlikely for the majority, but it is doable, but only if you want to put in very long weeks and have no life and are willing to travel god knows where all over the country. The costs will also be high, but the profit commensurately low by comparison to the effort made. Who wants that? The gross fee per unit approach won't help you make sufficient profit to live, if high enough profit is your reason for freelancing, as opposed to doing it as a hobby or something to do to pay for an outing or an occasional meal, etc.

Once you have worked out what profit per annum you need to make (the net amount you will actually live on after tax/NI) and MS still seems a viable option for you, then you can find out what kind of jobs you will need to take on and how many hours you need to put in to reach that profit goal.

Believe me, I've been in this game for over four years now and I have made my mistakes and worked out how best to work my schedule, and the higher per-unit jobs that involve a lot of travel, overnights, food etc. are not always as profitable as the lower fee 'on your doorstep' jobs - provided that they require minimal effort. Realistically, to make a living out of this you will need to do a combination of both.

Factor into your work the tasks you will need to complete at home too: the time needed for new client generation, mapping / scheduling your routes and doing your books too. To make good money from this, you not only need to have the pick of the better jobs and have plenty of work - preferably locally to where you live, as opposed to remoter hard to get to areas (although these tend to be richer pickings for high bonussed, hard to fill work) you will also need to commit to a long working week too. Fifty hours is common. This is not a bog standard 7 hour a day job unless you want play/pin money. A typical day for me is get up 5am, leave home 6-6.30. Get to first location at 8.30-9am, finish all fieldwork by 5-5.30(sometimes later) travel home, edit if required and upload videos and do reports. I get to bed by midnight - if I am lucky.

Unfortunately, most aspiring mystery shoppers who like the idea of doing this full time don't make the grade because they live in a low work concentration area, lack the commitment, lack the time, lack the stamina or they simply aren't skilled enough to impress the better paying MSCs at all or over the longer term to get a good reputation around the circuit to be offered the better jobs on a consistent basis. I do. I am lucky, but most give up or just do it as a hobby or for a meal out with popular report players like Grassroots and Market Force that pay token fees and reimbursement only work. These types of companies are useless is you want to do this for a living.

Mystery Shopping is hard work, and not always fun, believe me! But if you can make it to the top (whatever that means), which could take a few years, mystery shopping is rewarding financially, and in many other ways. There is nothing better than waking up and deciding for yourself whether or not you want to work or not and ambling around the countryside on a lovely sunny, warm autumn day to get to your next gig. This is so much better than being stuck in an office bored witless trying to get along with a horrid boss or colleagues you would much rather avoid. Plus you can escape the rush hour traffic on most days, which is a huge blessing -particularly when you live in London, like I do.

But remember: turnover is vanity, profit is sanity.

preecey

Has anyone received their GfK payment for the 10th today?

I'm asking because when a GfK payment falls on a Sunday or Monday it almost always clears the Saturday before.

Not today, however. Just my luck.

Buzby

I commented back in May how Gyp's slavish imposition of Flash killed using an iPad or iPhobe return of results. As a Mac user, after updating from OSX to Sierra, When returning results I get a new error message, saying that My Flash s/w is out of date - I must use a version greater than 10.0.

I'm using v23! So the error is bogus - reported it to Gyp and am told they are 'working on it' which I doubt, as after a month I'm still getting the error.

Anyone else? And more to the point, is there a solution

genetic

Anyone else having a problem with the helion website today? When I click on the assignment to enter my results, it gets stuck on "Please wait, your evaluation is loading...... " with a scrolling bar. Tried on laptop and ipad, same problem. Thanks.

MysteryMe

Someone needs to mystery shop Performance in People, utterly incompetent.

Been advised in writing 3 times of change of bank details and payments still going into the old account. Every other MSC managed to get it right first time of asking.