Get paid to shop - £10 a go!

rjshah

May be your firewall software is blocking the link?

susieb

This is not as good as some of you make it seem. Its very hard work, loads of time sat on pc entering results, and doing tax returns. (dont even start me on the £100 fine if you fail to tell them early that you are ms)
The ms market is flooded with people at the moment with loads of cheap ms companies who I'm sure almost expect the visit to be done for no fee. Most of the pay is awful, and dont forget you have to pay for petrol and parking to even do it.
Then after spending ages typing it in, you lose it all as you input it because of a technical error their end and have to redo it all (I'm not joking this happens alot)
And dont forget the phone calls you get querying a visit you did from 2 months ago, that you are meant to remember every detail of.
Dont expect to get rich doing this. However if you live on burgers and are happy taking 8 timings while being served, and being out of pocket on the cost of the meal then go ahead!!!
Cynical aren't I?

shrek101

So who are the bad payers? Please enlighten us as we don't want to waste our time with bad payers and those who are incompetent baboons.

Aunt_Eek

I think you may be better asking who are the good payers, although most professional Mystery Shoppers would not divulge client names or rates of pay, as a matter of principle. For many jobs a very small fee (and I mean a few pounds) is all you get, and others don't pay a fee at all, but you may 'enjoy' a meal or a trip to the cinema, and then go home and within 24 hours write up copious notes that could be up to 12 pages long! It's not quite so glamorous as people think!

Becles

Mystery shopping can be what you want it to be. Some people just do a couple of assignments a week for 'pin money' through to people who do it full time as their sole income.

I'm a single mam and was working as a receptionist for minimum wage. I started doing a few assignments a week to top up my income, and gradually built up my workload until I was able to drop the office job as I hated it. At the moment I'm working full time at it doing a combination of mystery shopping, merchandising and auditing.

You need to have a very good memory and a keen eye for detail. You need to remember the brief off the top of your head as you can't look at your paperwork in the middle of the shop. In a simple purchase scenario, you may need to remember:

what shops/buildings were left and right of the shop
the time you entered shop
how many tills were open
how many people in queue
time taken to be served
name and physical description of staff member
how were you greeted
did they pack goods in the correct sized bag
were you offered a special offer/cashback/loyalty points
did you get a reciept and the correct change
were you given a thank you and friendly farewell
the time you left shop

That example is very simple. On many jobs you might also have to ask a query to a shop floor staff member, or look for promotions and note what was there, or note prices, or various other tasks. It all has to be remembered as you can't start filling in paperwork or writing things down in the middle of the shop.

Some paperwork is simple and it's just a matter of yes/no questions. However this is reflected in the low pay. Other paperwork takes a lot longer to complete. I did some jobs recently that involved looking for certain things in the shop, asking for advice to solve a problem on the shop floor and purchasing something. The company wanted a hand written account of everything that was said and happened in my own words. It took me a good half hour on each one to write it up.

If you start working for self employed companies, you must keep accurate records and fill in a tax return at the end of every tax year. You are responsible for paying your own NI. You can be fined if you do not keep proper records or notify the tax man/NI of your intention to do self employed work. You do not qualify for SSP or holiday pay, so you need to budget for time off as you won't get paid for it.

I like the job as I like the flexibility. I can take my children to/from school, and take time off for things like assembly or sports day. I have a health problem so I can pretty much work round that depending on if I'm having a good day or a bad day! I also enjoy most of the work, and I enjoy writing up reports. Writing reports isn't everyones cup of tea though!

The downside for me is the bookkeeping and tax records. I'm guilty of letting it slip sometimes and ended up with a huge pile of stuff to enter into my accounts. I also still have last years tax return outstanding as I keep putting it off.

The other downside is insecurity as the work is not regular. Sometimes there is little work around and my diary looks very lean. This week is very quiet and I have taken on 3 jobs that I don't really want to do, simply to make ends meet.

kernalpop

I sometimes do mystery shopping too but find it hard work. There are tons of briefing forms to read first, questions after questions to remember, getting stuck in traffic all for an unhealthly fee and unhealthly food.

I think people are glamourising all the good points and not mentioning the downsides to this. I have done two jobs about 2 years ago and I am still awaiting payment.

You have to print your own paperwork so using your own paper and Ink, travel is not always paid so wear and tear onthe car and petrol comes out of your own pocket.

Rarely will you get a good job and as always in life it's who you know.

I reckon Companies look after thier favourites and don't think I am one of them.

Good luck tho!!!

Kernal

Ekip

Another good one to apply to


http://www.macphersonmysteryshopping.org.uk/

supermum

I did this for a while but couldn't get enough work to warrant it and got fed up having to pay out so much money for the purchases and having to wait up to 7 weeks before I got reimbursed. Good luck to you all but be warned it's poor money for a lot of work and oh don't forget the TAX MAN!

boofy_2

Signed up with Counter Intelligence. Are there EVER any stores available? And if so, WHEN??? One of those elusive offers, AGAIN!

Kantankrus_Mare

I am a mystery shopper with a company called Focused Sales Marketing.

They dont seem to have a web site but I have been getting pub and restaurant visits off them for the past couple of years.

Its not enough to make a lot of money out of but I see it as a free lunch or drink and money is sent in cheque form a few days before assignment.

They pay approx £22 for a meals visit and anything from£10 to £15 for a drinks visit.

Work is very intermittent though,, maybe once every couple of months but to me its a bonus and I enjoy doing it as Im in the pub and restaurant business myself.

I havnt got the address to hand but if any ones interested...next time I get an assignment Ill pass it on if anyone wants to PM me