Mystery Shopping-some tried and true

I really like doing mystery shops. Before I go into listing shops I have done or my husband has done, I want to give some advice. In my opinion, some shops are a waste of time. For example, if there is a fast food shop that does not pay a fee but simply reimburses you for the cost of the food (~$8) then you have to account for the time you spent. Before the shop you had to find the shop (or it was e-mailed to you), then you had to read the instructions and be careful to comply with them all, then come home and spend about 1 hour filling the information out. That doesn’t sound like you get much out of it except for free food-but free food is free food-but it is even better when you get free food and a fee for doing it. However, if you were to do the same restaurant shop every month then you wouldn’t have to read the instructions all the time and you wouldn’t spend so much time filling the report out because you would know ahead of time what you needed to look for and what was going to be asked on the report.

Some companies require you to give your S.S. # which is for tax purposes (they only use it if you make over $600 with them, then you will be sent a 1099 form and have to have the taxes taken out on your own). I am very much against paying for a mystery shopping site, so that is why I am providing these links to get you started. So all in all they usually pay you a fee and reimburse you for your purchases up to a specific dollar amount that was specified by them. Also, many companies deposit your money into your PayPal account so you would need to set one up if you don’t have one already. These companies expect you to comply with all their rules and instructions. If you do not you will never be able to do shops with them again, or be on probation for a few months with them, or get a lower point scale (e.g. instead of being a 5 out of 5 you would be a 2 out of 5 which is not good).

Clicking this link will bring you to a page of certifications. Some companies you sign up for will ask you if you have a certification level. I don’t have any certification but I still have done shops. However, if you don’t have the certification you might not be a first choice for some companies but if you just want to do a few shops then I personally don’t think you need it. Plus the first certification level costs $15. Just something to think about.

What I did is I registered with www.shadowshopper.com for their free month trial. ShadowShopper sends you e-mails from companies that need shops done. Then I signed up for the companies they e-mailed us that needed shoppers. I canceled with ShadowShopper before the end of the month and just worked off of the list of companies I took from the e-mails I was sent by ShadowShopper.

This site is great for discussion and offers some postings for mystery shops: www.lilaslounge.com.

Read here for some great articles: http://www.startupjournal.com/ideas/services/20050208-spors.html

DataQuest, Ltd. 1-800-292-9797 ext. 147 (no website exists to my knowledge; done 3-5 mystery hotel shops at Sheraton hotels, including the Sheraton Yankee Clipper in Fort Lauderdale, Florida: they pay you $25 plus you get for $50 room service, and $50 at the hotel’s restaurant and you are reimbursed tips for the bellman, valet, etc. *NOTE: there is a lot to report on but if the person you are bringing along knows what is expected they are an extra help to you-my husband always noticed things I may not have noticed).

www.satisfactionservicesinc.com (sign up online with them, wait a few days and call-they say not to call but to wait for an e-mail from them but in the 2 + years I have been with them they have sent me probably 2 e-mails. From calling them I have done numerous (5 or more) valet parking shops at condominiums (paid about $10), 2-3 Wing stop (paid $5 plus reimburse food-never would have tried them if it weren’t for this shop and they have delicious flavors of wings), a fun and entertaining water taxi through Fort Lauderdale Florida waterways, 3-4 Original Steakhouse restaurants (~ $5-10-it is a steakhouse with big tv’s that have sports on), an ice cream shop, Miami Subs (~ $5 plus reimburse food), and eyeglass world (~ $10).

www.baidata.com (my husband did a Harley Davidson shop for $19 and a Bank of America shop for $10 and didn’t have to spend money at either of them)


Some others that are similar in style to baidata.com are the following:
http://www.sassieshop.com/2kern/shoppers/LoginShopper.norm.php

http://www.sassieshop.com/2sutter/shoppers/LoginShopper.norm.php

http://www.athpoweronline.com/shoppers/LoginShopper.norm.php

http://www.sassieshop.com/2ipsos/shoppers/LoginShopper.norm.php

https://www.sassieshop.com/2sgmarketing/custom/shoppers/LoginShopper.norm.php?mode=&EmailH=&password=

www.sassieshop.com/2nis

https://www.shopnchekshopper.com/XP2/ (I did an Outback restaurant with them once)

http://www.sassieshop.com/2mysteryshopinc/shoppers/LoginShopper.norm.php

http://www.servicecheckreport.com/shoppers/LoginShopper.norm.php (got paid $7 and went to a movie with my husband and got a free meal)

http://volition.com/mysteryUSA1.html (sign up for these as long as you don’t have to pay-I have signed up for a few but not all because that is a lot-near the middle on the left side of the screen is 2 more links for an alphabetical list of mystery shops)

http://evaluator2.second-to-none.com/evaluator/Login.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fevaluator%2fDefault.aspx

http://www.mymysteryshop.com/shoppers/LoginShopper.php

http://www.kinesis-cem.com/ShopperSignUp.html (I went bowling and got a free meal)

http://www.jancyn.com/work.php

http://www.gapbuster.com/xec/default.aspx?culture=1033

http://mysteryshops.com/ (their instructions look a little too confusing for me, so I have never done any shops with them before)


Don't forget to sign up for free at http://www.agloco.com/r/BBBS4943 (refer to post A New-Internet Craze?...or Just Hype in January)

$500 Gift Card for only $4.80!!! Sweet deal!!

(almost) Free Trial....with Benefits

So I was curious about these free offers and how they work. Some offers require you to sign up for services (free trials, small cost for a trial, or just paying for a service) and/or require referrals (where other people sign up for a service and have to pay-the logistics of all that are too much of a hassle for me so I just go on to an offer that doesn’t require a referral).

I found this link: www.YourTopBrands.com

I signed up for it on Thursday, February 15, 2007. You get a $500 AmEx gift card (GC) (it is less than $600 so you don’t receive a 1099 form and have to pay about 30% taxes on it) and only have to sign up for three services (some offers for the same amount you have to sign up for 6 or more services).

There are 3 pages which have about 10 service choices and from those I did the following:
Page 1: Complete Home w/ free $10 Lowes gift card (30 day trial, no initial cost)
Page 2: PriceStore by Bargain Network w/$25 WalMart gc (be careful because it is a 7 day trial and thereafter is a charge of about $39.80 and it initially costs $1)
Page 3: CallWave (30 day trial, no initial cost)

I called YourTopBrands and asked about how long it would take for those services I signed up for to show on my status page that I had completed them. The representative said the companies have up to 30 days to let YourTopBrands know that I signed up with them. That is the part that stinks because that would mean I have to keep the Price Store past the 7 day trial and pay about the montly cost). However, for fun let us say I canceled all the services at the 30 day mark:

Complete Home: +$10 Lowes gc
Price Store: -$39.80 +25 WalMart gc
CallWave: nothing

The total cost is $4.80 for a $500 American Express gift card. TOTALLY WORTH IT!!!!

Here is a link so that you can read more on your own for YourTopBrands http://www.scam.com/showthread.php?t=13985&page=1&pp=40&highlight=yourtopbrands and come up with your own opinion on whether you think it is worth it. On this link and other forums within this page there are lots of people who have received gift cards, checks, gifts (t.v., PS3, laptop, etc). Honestly, I will keep with the lower dollar amounts so as not to pay taxes on it and as to not sign up for numerous services that would be a hassle to keep track of. Still, it is neat because it is semi-free. The “profit” outweighs the initial cost.

Some other sites that people have had more luck with are:
www.nuitech.com, www.brandarama.com. But it would be wise to read through some of the posts and threads to get an idea of how it all works: www.anything4free.com

Some people have had to wait 5 months before they received what they signed up for. It can be frustrating but worth it. Plus, lets say you spend $100 total on the services you had sign up for (usually about 24 services) and you receive a laptop-you can turn around and sell that and make money off of it or give it as a gift!

Don't forget to sign up for free at www.agloco.com (refer to post A New-Internet Craze?...or Just Hype in January)