Maximising income - Mystery Shopping? Surveys? (Part Three)

Timmne

I bought my £9013 RRP car for £7300, four years ago, purely because it was late on a Saturday and I'd taken the poor sales guy's time up for so long he became desperate!

I chose the model and came up with the extras I 'needed', such as air con, alloys and metallic paint. When he asked for the £200 deposit, I mentioned the ad I'd seen for that dealership a few months (!) ago where they paid the deposit and he gave in!

An accountant/mystery shopper is NOT a good mix when you're a desperate salesperson!

Hollypear

cranezoe wrote: »

very smart way of thinking hollypear! I'm very tempted to try it with a mobile phone as I really want a contract. wonder how much I can ham it up???!

Try it. Do what I did. Stand at the entrance and slowly look around, make it appear you are having a good look at staff, the shop etc. Pointedly look at your watch and make like your pressing a button on your watch. The other thing I did was I knew exactly what I wanted. A contract that wasn't too expensive, good camera, bluetooth. Worked out in advance what roughly I needed in texts and phone minutes. Then I wrote it all down. Pulled it out and kept checking my list as though I was following a script. I used terms like "These are my primary needs and this is what I require in a handset and I insist on a live demo"

Go for it. It was dead easy. A kind of lesson in "How NOT to do MS'ing!:rotfl:

RoxyK

Timmne wrote: »

I'm not sure I understand you anyway!

If you're paid £5 fee and £5 reimbursement for a supermarket job and you have to spend at least £5, I would say that my profit was £5 because my reasoning is that I wouldn't have made anything if I hadn't spent the money.

The tax man (on the face of it) would say that you made £10 profit as the goods were taken for private use - there is even a box for this on the self employment pages on the tax return!

Like I said before, pick a logical method for you and stick to it. As long as you're comfortable that you're not fleecing the tax man and you could explain it under an investigation, you're fine.

If you want to be ultra cautious (and aligned with the tax man's view!) you should claim in the above example that you made £10 profit.

Thanks Timmne. In my case I've done some online MSing where I'm given a basic fee, a purchase allowance and a refund allowance if I'm required to return the item and comment on the return process. Hope that makes it a little clearer

Timmne

Hollypear wrote: »

Go for it. It was dead easy. A kind of lesson in "How NOT to do MS'ing!:rotfl:

If it's one of those you need, just print off a GAPburger brief! :rotfl:

cranezoe

Lol! well I may just give it a go guys! Gap have a phone shop on the site in my area that wants doing this week. I dont want to do it coz of all the reasons we know and love with gap but I might just pretend for the fun of it (and possibly a good deal on a contract!). However, I ms'd this shop last month and I really dont think they will cotton on. (zoe runs off to dig out a gap brief!)

learning_to_drive

In firefox, so it displays badly and you cant even read half the assignment...

Hollypear

Timmne wrote: »

If it's one of those you need, just print off a GAPburger brief! :rotfl:

Oh Timmne how right you are. Gap huh. Gave me a mobie job last week in a particular shopping mall outside Glasgow with free, easy parking. Took it and noticed it had a fee of £6. Literally 10 mins later I thought I would check the briefing. Fee now had jumped to £8!!! Went off and did the shop, came home went to my webexpress page to put the results on and lo and flaming behold. It had disappeared. Vanished. Gone to God knows where. In its place sitting all innocently in my assignments was one in Glasgow City centre that I hadn't placed in my basket. At a fee of this time £6. It costs over £3 on the train.

How they managed this is a mystery. Then today got an email from them saying would I like to give my opinion of them type exercise. For a moment I was tempted to reply then thought....Hah. I wouldn't cross the street for them. The quicker people blank their assignments the better. Then hopefully a better company will pick up their jobs.

Hollypear

SJW wrote: »

Does anyone belong to any other Mystery Shop forums?

I am on another one SJW. It is on proboards...called MS tearoom. Was on another before I joined here that I found on Google then found it was all Americans. One of whom sneered at me re the petrol price boom about " Oh you only have teeny weeny cars over in the Uk what are you moaning about." So I just replied "What are you moaning about why drive a big gas guzzler then moan about the fuel. Why do you Americans have to have everything bigger and better" I gave up at that before I got flung off their forum.

wantmorejobs

Anybody else think that the new tax return was way longer than it was last year?

They seem to ask even more unnecessary questions and it just seemd to take longer though. Quite happy though, managed to manipulate the mileage and printing to reduce the paper profit to a minimum....all within reason too!!!

Glad that task is over....and a lot earlier than last year too!

reddevil_04

Was wondering whether anyone is a member of the MysteryshopperUK forum ? Need info on how good it is and if possible a referral to join. Please pm me with the details.