Monthly Archive for January, 2008

10,000,000 shopping assignments for you

Published
by
Jacob
on January 31, 2008
in Tips
. 2 Comments

In 2005 there were more than 10 million mystery shopping assignments completed, according to a study commissioned by the Mystery Shopping Providers association.

That same study estimated that the mystery shopping industry was worth around $600 million 2005, and growing at 15% a year.

But here’s what’s really interesting. Reading between the lines, if there were 10 million assignments in 2005, accounting for 600 million dollars, that would average out to $60 per assignment. That means, on average, there was $60 in revenue per assignment….

Which gives us an interesting way to gauge what to expect as fair pay per assignment.

Looking at it another way, that $60 needs to be split among a large group of people. First, the mystery shopping company takes a cut. Some of that money goes to the general overhead of the business, some of it to the scheduler, the report editor, the person working with the business being shopped, the marketer, the person designing the mystery shop, and so on. And of course, there is the owner of the mystery shopping company, who wants to create as much profit as possible for him/herself.

All of which provides very little room for the mystery shopper to get a fair cut.

Fortunately, there are good companies out there that value their mystery shoppers and DO give them a fair wage for their mystery shopping.

If you want to get the best pay with mystery shopping, you need to find those good mystery shopping companies. But here’s the thing. Once you find the good companies, you’ll no longer need to take assignments from the low paying companies. And that means the low paying companies will have one less mystery shopper to work with, which means they’ll be forced to raise their rates.

So – instead of taking a low paying assignment, I say you ought to spend that time applying to more companies.

If you want to make a nice solid income with mystery shopping, then you’ve got to find the good companies. Aim for a list of 20 companies that you work with on a regular basis. And maybe another list of 15 companies that you keep tabs on every once in a while.

An update…

Published
by
Jacob
on January 30, 2008
in Misc and Personal
. 8 Comments

Last week I was inundated with reports that someone was perpetrating a check-cashing scam under the guise of MysteryShopOnline.com. Several of my subscribers reported losing thousands of dollars, and many more reported that they had been contacted by the scammer in some way.

I reported the situation to the FBI.  Apparently check-fraud is a severe problem, costing as much as $8 billion dollars a year.

Here’s what you can do:  If you lost money, or if you were contacted by someone attempting to scam you please send a report to the IC3, which is a divison of the FBI.  Do that here:  http://www.ic3.gov.

Also, please DO call your local FBI agency.  And if you have lost money, please file a report with your local police department.

Remember, never cash a large check as part of a mystery shopping assignment.  If you ever have any doubt about whether or not a check is legitimate, call the bank issuing the check and ask.  Also, if you do deposit a large check, wait until you can verify with your bank that the funds have been secured before you touch the money.

That’s about all it takes to avoid this scam.

If you are concerned about protecting your social security number, then get an EIN from the IRS.  You can do this very quickly over the internet.   Its a relatively simple way to protect your identity.

Let me know if you have any more questions.   I am here to help.

The Benefits of Mystery Shopping

Published
by
Jacob
on January 30, 2008
in Stories
. 7 Comments

I was struck by a recent post on MysteryShopForum.com.

Apparently, a woman who earns $90,000 a year in her regular job does mystery shopping in her spare time. And loves it.

But why? Because, as she says, it gives her a chance to go out and talk to people. It fulfills her need to be social. It gives her a way to deal with the stress of her real-life job.

Every mystery shopper has their own unique reason for mystery shopping.

Many people do it to earn extra cash so they can pay off credit card bills, or save money for a vacation, just plain have fun, or even to supplement their social security income.

I received an email from a lovely grandmother once. She was saving her mystery shopping money so that she could take her grand-children on a dream vacation to Disney World. That was her special reason for mystery shopping.

Why do you mystery shop?

How to Deal with Low Paying Assignments, and Come Out Ahead

Published
by
Jacob
on January 29, 2008
in Tips
. 0 Comments

For every mystery shopping assignment that pays well, it is easy to find one that pays practically nothing. Some assignments pay just five dollars for what amounts to an hours worth of work.

So how do we deal with these assignments?

Easy. Just say no. Or, ask for more money.  You might be surprised at how often they’re willing to give you more.

Or better yet, wait until the end of the month. Because if no one has taken the low paying assignment, the mystery shopping company will often put a ‘bonus’ on top of it that might make it worth your time. Its not uncommon for an assignment to get a ‘bonus’ of $10. I’ve even heard of some low paying assignments getting bonuses of $50, just because the company was desperate to get it filled.

The bottom line is that you don’t need to accept low paying assignments. Yes, accepting one or two might be good to get your feet wet, but in the long run you’re going to want to stick to the better paying assignments.

So how do you find those? First, apply to a lot of mystery shopping companies. Then find out which of these companies has assignments that you want, and that pay well.

Another way to deal with low paying assignments, as long as they’re not too low, is to group a bunch together for one quick run. Four or five $10 assignments in an afternoon just might be worth your while.

There will always be companies offering low paying assignments. And, I suspect there will always be some shoppers willing to take them.

The way to get ahead as a shopper is to apply to as many companies as you can. That way, all of them are competing for your time. The more companies you apply to, the better off you’ll be. Trust me.