How does the idea of getting paid to shop or
dine out sound? If the answer to this question is great, and I have
a suspicious feeling that it is, then you may want to consider signing
up as a mystery shopper.
Mystery shopping is fast becoming a very popular means for earning some
extra cash. It appeals mostly to stay at home mums or dads, students,
the retired or to anyone who wants to supplement their income. The reason
for this is because the job is so flexible that it enables you to slot
it into your daily routine, between school runs for instance or if you're
studying or working during the day then you can carry out the assignments
in the evening or at weekends.
So what exactly is mystery shopping? It's covert reporting of customer
service to be concise, which is why it is also often referred to as
Secret Shopping. Shops and large organizations want to find out what
their customers really think of their services. They want feedback on
staff performance; they want to know if their current promotions are
being adequately supported, whether their products are desirable and
so on. So they hire a mystery-shopping agency to gather all the information
for them. Agencies need reliable staff to complete all the assignments
for their clients and hence the need for reliable mystery shoppers.
So what is required of you, the mystery shopper? Simply to visit a designated
establishment, i.e. a shop or restaurant, pose as a normal shopper and
report back your findings.
Once you've decided to become a mystery shopper the next thing to do
is sign up with a reputable agency but remember, and I can not emphasize
this enough, genuine companies will never ask you for a registration
fee, becoming a shopper is always free. When your application has passed
the screening process you will be offered assignments to complete. Each
job comes with instructions and friendly staff are not too far away
if you get stuck. Jobs are offered on an ad hoc basis via the Internet
or telephone. You don't have to accept all the jobs that are offered,
the decision is always yours, but the more jobs you do the more money
you will earn, which brings me swiftly to my next matter. Money. Mystery
shopping is not highly paid 'per se', each job fetches between £5.00
- £20.00, sometimes more, sometimes a little less, but if you
consider how long each assignment takes to complete you will find that
you could be earning approximately £7 - £10.00 per hour.
As well as the shopper fee you also get to keep all the goods you are
required to buy during a visit, so you get lots of lovely freebies!
Assignments include restaurants, bars, retail outlets, banks, cinemas,
fitness centers and more. This job is so varied you can't possibly get
bored.
When you have completed a mystery shopping assignment you are usually
required to fill in an online questionnaire within 8 - 24 hours of completion
while the information is still fresh in your mind. The questionnaires
are fairly straightforward, although this does vary from agency to agency,
but should take no longer than approximately twenty minutes to complete.
Some agencies will ask you to take a photograph of the establishment
that you visit (in case it's the wrong one!) or of an item, your home
delivered pizza for instance. So you may need a digital camera to complete
the task. A mobile phone camera is fine so long as the image is crisp
enough to show details. The last thing you want to do is send in a blurred
photograph and forfeit your payment.
You will need to keep all receipts if you are making a purchase so that
the company may reimburse you. Payments are made on a monthly basis
and usually via bank transfer. Do make sure that you register with the
Inland Revenue as a Mystery Shopper as the majority of agencies will
not deduct tax and NI from your earnings. Because mystery shopping isn't
likely be a full-time occupation and in all probability you won't earn
enough money to pay income tax (there is a threshold, which you can
find by visiting the online tax office) it is still your responsibility
to inform the tax office of your earnings and fill in a tax report once
a year.
What I particularly like about mystery shopping is that while you are
earning a bit of extra cash and helping businesses to improve their
services, you are also helping the community by improving customer service.
With a large proportion of the public reputedly choosing not to return
to an establishment where they have received bad service rather than
complain, it deems a worthwhile job to do.
And now for the downside, and as there are two sides to a coin there
is always a drawback. Mystery shopping it is not a means of reliable
work and unless you can manage to assign yourself a lot of jobs each
day, you are unlikely to make a living from it. So my antidote to this
would be to join as many mystery-shopping agencies as possible to ensure
you are kept reasonably busy. The other quibble is that you have to
be fast and furious when it comes to assigning yourself jobs as the
good ones go fast. This means having to log into your account or call
your operator regularly to ensure you get sufficient assignments.
And finally, you do have to use your own money
when required to buy something during an assessment but you will be
fully reimbursed the following month together with your salary. So if
you can live with these few shortcomings then you might want to give
it a try.
