RSSBe a mystery shopper and work from home!
Imagine getting paid to eat out, buy pet food, vitamins, doughnuts, or getting paid to test drive a luxury car. Wouldn’t that be amazing? Sure, it might not be a full time business, but since you do, or would like to do, all of those things anyway mystery shopping is a great way to make money while working from home. Don’t start daydreaming, though. This isn’t going to be a get rich scheme or even a full time gig. This requires effort, time, reliability, and a little creativity.
Getting Started
First things first, there are a couple basics to master before you get started.
What is my relationship with the mystery shopper company?
When you are accepted to the mystery shopper program, you likely won’t be an employee. That means that you aren’t going to get a W-2 at the end of the tax year and that the company won’t deduct payroll taxes out of the checks that they send to you. You will most likely be considered an independent contractor, which means that you’ll get a 1099-misc form at the end of the year. You’ll want to make sure that you keep a running total for the whole year of what you have made so that you’ll be able to pay the right amount in taxes either as a running total or before April 15th.
What supplies do I need to get started?
The supplies you will need will be things related to what you are doing. You’ll need a computer with high speed internet access so that you can communicate quickly with them. You’ll also want to have a printer so that you can print out their forms and assignment descriptions. It is also good to know that they won’t be paying your expenses, so you’ll want to budget those into your costs. You’ll also want to make sure that you have a good dictionary, grammar and mechanics book, and thesaurus handy. These will help you ensure that your reports are concise, well edited, and grammatically correct.
Don’t pay to become a shopper
Usually you would expect to find this heading in some sort of warnings section. Don’t worry, you’ll find the warning there too, but because this is a crucial bit of information to have at the beginning, I put it up front. Most of the companies and ads claiming to have inside information about what you can do to get rich quick etc. as a mystery shopper are bogus. Don’t fall for it. Most of the information you can get from these people is available for free elsewhere. There are plenty of companies who don’t charge you to join as well, which brings me to my next point.
Find the free gigs
There are plenty of opportunities out there that don’t cost a thin dime to get started with, and you should use those, since you are looking to make money. Two of the ones I can recommend are free networks that have good reputations and will help you find the best mystery shopping jobs around.
These two are:
The Mystery Shopping Providers Association
Volition.com has a large selection of forums where you can network and increase your knowledge about what mystery shopping information is available.
The Mystery Shopping Providers Association has over 150 member companies in other nations and is an industry group. They also offer certification programs, that, although they do cost money, allow you to be a better secret shopper. You can also use their site to find all sorts of opportunities as well.
Prove yourself!
This is where the hard works comes in. When you begin, you won’t be sent to the posh eateries or the swanky stores. Why? Because the scheduler doesn’t know who you are, how reliable you are, and what you’re willing to do. So when you get into the business you will want to show that you are reliable and competent. You do this by articulate, observant reports. The reason that you will do this is so that the company can know specifics. So, for instance, if you go to a retail establishment, you will want to take note of how well the store is organized, whether or not the associates made eye contact with you, whether or not they smiled at you, whether or not they were effective in helping you, how long it took them to respond to your questions, etc. The idea is giving the company the best kind of idea of how they look to normal customers and how things happen on a day to day basis. Always think of what the company would want to know and include that in your reports.
Guidelines
You’ll always be getting guidelines from the company before you get an assignment. Make sure that you follow these to a tee. There was a lady who made the wrong order at a Wendy’s. Why? She claimed later that she was a vegetarian. Not helpful. The whole point is to help the company get an idea of how things happen on a daily basis.
You’ll also want to make sure that you don’t ever take notes in the open. Wait until you’re in the restroom or out of the store.
Don’t forget to be prompt with your reports. The sooner you can get them in, the better. But don’t take the easy way out and forget about punctuation, spelling, and grammar.
Make sure that you also set up an new email address, because you will be getting loads of new emails and you won’t want to flood your personal email address with all of those new emails.
Set up a Paypal account as well. Many companies require it, and even if the ones you sign up don’t require it, it is a wise idea to have one just in case.
Create a profile
Having a profile handy is very helpful for you when applying. You’ll want to include a list of the zip codes that you are willing to shop in, a sample of your writing, and maybe even a list of shopping items that you couldn’t do justice to (like teetotaler going out for a martini).
The Rewards
Will you be an instant millionaire? Probably not, but with the hard work that you put into it, combined with decent writing and promptness, you’ll probably be assigned to the nicer restaurants and stores. Not a bad idea for working at home and getting some extra bonuses!
Filed Under: Work From Home
August 4, 2011 at 12:25 am |
Well put, sir, well put. I’ll ceritanly make note of that.
August 5, 2011 at 5:06 pm |
I’m so glad that the internet allows free info like this!
October 17, 2011 at 2:47 am |
I can’t belviee you’re not playing with me–that was so helpful.
October 17, 2011 at 9:33 am |
Hot damn, looking pertty useful buddy.
April 26, 2012 at 9:04 pm |
When there are problems with shops that you have done a asenmigsnt from Ma bell as you referred to it is not around.There is email only and you can be ignored or emailed once and for one mistake that never even happened you dont get to explain or document and are now banned from company .now is that right do we not only not get paid for just one or maybe a couple of shops because out of the blue they ban you and dont pay you for anything that was done previous. So, Mabell does not exist for alot of companies and when it does and the scheduler has a problem if they were professional then a call would have resolved everything but instead a unprofessional way is to not deal with it, send one final email and never respond and take you off the site So, now is that right with their communication Eliza This comes from companies that you were their number one shopper .what happened did the scheduler mess up and cover up for their mistakes .good question when you are being ignored. A phone call is the result that you want to resolve but it does not always happen and alot dont do that they only email .