MYSTERY SHOPPING, MERCHANDISING, ONLINE SURVEYS, ETC...
Back in 1999, while I was living in Tucson, AZ, I discovered mystery shopping. Fast forward 12 years, and I'm signed up with several mystery shopping companies and I've even ventured into merchandising (setting product end caps, placing stickers on items, setting up a display, etc.). I also do online surveys to make a little extra cash.
While I don't make a full-time income doing these assignments, it does bring me occasional extra spending money or a part-time income depending on how many and what type of shops I perform. If I had more time and didn't have kids at home, I could probably do it full time. Right now, I do my best to work the jobs/assignments into what I'm already doing for the day. For instance, if I'm going to town on Wednesday, I'll try to get a couple of assignments for then so that I'm not making a special trip into town just to do the shop.
If you can read and follow directions, have a decent memory to recall a person's name, what they looked like, and a summary of what took place, then you should have no problem doing mystery shopping.
There are a few "rules" that you should follow when signing up with mystery shopping companies.
1. Never pay a company to sign up to do shops for them.
2. Sign up for companies that are members of the MSPA (Mystery Shopping Providers Association). You can trust that companies registered with them are legitimate.
3. Sign up for a PayPal account. There are a lot of companies out there that pay only through PayPal, so you will want to be sure to sign up for an account. It's free to sign up and you can even link it to your bank account so that when you get paid on PayPal, you can transfer it directly to your bank account.
Finding mystery shopping jobs...
There are some paid services or job boards that claim to get you more or higher-paying jobs, and if you want to go that route, go for it. ShadowShopper is one such site. I believe you can sign up for a free trial before having to pay for a subscription.
Another paid job board site is jobslinger plus. Like shadow shopper, you can sign up for a free trial (no credit card info required) and then choose whether to continue the paid version or just utilize the regular jobslinger site. Job Slinger is a great site to join. It will link you to all of the mystery shopping companies partnered with them that use the Sassie reporting system. I'm currently a member and I believe there are around 44 companies currently utilizing job slinger. One of the advantages to getting a free trial of the job slinger plus account is that you can have one profile and sign up for all those other companies. Yes, you will have to sign up for each company individually, but most of the information will automatically feed over into each company's profile, so you will only have a little bit of information to fill out instead of the whole profile.
There is also a mystery shopping forum and job board at Volition. This is pretty much the same job board that you will find through the MSPA website. It's a good place to ask questions and get answers about specific mystery shopping companies, schedulers, job types, etc..from other mystery shoppers. Volition is free to join.
Getting paid...
Each mystery shopping/merchandising company has its own pay schedule. Some pay bi-weekly, some monthly, and a few pay within a week of approval of your completed shop. Here are a few examples of pay schedules that I have experienced recently...
Company A: Pays monthly on the 15th of the month via Paypal. They will pay you for all of the jobs you did for one calendar month on the 15th of the following month.
Company B: Pays monthly on the 23rd of the month via Paypal. They will pay you for all of the jobs you did from the 23rd of last month through the 22nd of this month.
Company C: Pays bi-weekly. They will pay you for the jobs that you did in the first half of the month on the first of the next month. They will pay you for the jobs that you did in the last half of the month on the 15th of the next month.
Mystery shopping companies...
Here is a list of links to mystery shopping companies. It's actually several links to the volition website and their list of companies.
USA - Company names A-G
USA - Company names H-P
USA - Company names Q-Z
International Companies - Note: These are really good to sign up with if you travel internationally at all.
Merchandising companies...
Here is a list of links to merchandising companies. The first 3 I have worked with before, so I know they're legitimate and pay when they say they will. SPAR and Pat Henry mail checks. Certified can pay via check or direct deposit. A good idea would be to sign up on the NARMS website. Recruiters often look for registered users there.
SPAR Group - www.sparinc.com
Pat Henry Group - www.pathenry.com
Marketforce / Certified Field Associates - www.certifiedfieldassociate.com
NARMS - www.NARMS.com
Below is a description and a link to the companies listed on the volition site.
Merchandising and Demo Companies: Jobs consist of such things as In Store Demos, Service Visits, New Store Set-ups, Product Resets, Product Knowledge Training, Planogram Design, and Promotional Product Distribution. These companies are all looking for part-time and full time merchandisers.
Merchandisers represent the client retailer by presenting the product in the store, by maintaining communication and developing relationships with the store personnel. Merchandisers should ultimately make an impact on sales in each store by ensuring the retail products and placement offer the best presentation to the customer, maximizing communication in the store and providing appropriate feedback to the to the retailer.
Volition.com merchandising and demo companies list
Online surveys...
I have done online surveys for several companies in the past. The one I like the best is Dollar Surveys. You just need to have a PayPal account to do their surveys. Go to the site, enter your paypal email address and submit and the site will direct you to a survey. They pay daily, usually within a few days of completing a survey, and you can complete as many surveys a day as you want.
Pinecone Research is another really good online survey company. They only accept applications at certain times, and sometimes only for specific groups of people (i.e., sometimes only people ages 18-30, etc.). HOWEVER, each survey you complete pays $3 and the funds are deposited to your PayPal account within just days after you complete the survey. Survey invitations, once you have signed up with them, will come in the form of an email. Be on the lookout for links to sign up with them, as they don't process new applications all the time.
Back in 1999, while I was living in Tucson, AZ, I discovered mystery shopping. Fast forward 12 years, and I'm signed up with several mystery shopping companies and I've even ventured into merchandising (setting product end caps, placing stickers on items, setting up a display, etc.). I also do online surveys to make a little extra cash.
While I don't make a full-time income doing these assignments, it does bring me occasional extra spending money or a part-time income depending on how many and what type of shops I perform. If I had more time and didn't have kids at home, I could probably do it full time. Right now, I do my best to work the jobs/assignments into what I'm already doing for the day. For instance, if I'm going to town on Wednesday, I'll try to get a couple of assignments for then so that I'm not making a special trip into town just to do the shop.
If you can read and follow directions, have a decent memory to recall a person's name, what they looked like, and a summary of what took place, then you should have no problem doing mystery shopping.
There are a few "rules" that you should follow when signing up with mystery shopping companies.
1. Never pay a company to sign up to do shops for them.
2. Sign up for companies that are members of the MSPA (Mystery Shopping Providers Association). You can trust that companies registered with them are legitimate.
3. Sign up for a PayPal account. There are a lot of companies out there that pay only through PayPal, so you will want to be sure to sign up for an account. It's free to sign up and you can even link it to your bank account so that when you get paid on PayPal, you can transfer it directly to your bank account.
Finding mystery shopping jobs...
There are some paid services or job boards that claim to get you more or higher-paying jobs, and if you want to go that route, go for it. ShadowShopper is one such site. I believe you can sign up for a free trial before having to pay for a subscription.
Another paid job board site is jobslinger plus. Like shadow shopper, you can sign up for a free trial (no credit card info required) and then choose whether to continue the paid version or just utilize the regular jobslinger site. Job Slinger is a great site to join. It will link you to all of the mystery shopping companies partnered with them that use the Sassie reporting system. I'm currently a member and I believe there are around 44 companies currently utilizing job slinger. One of the advantages to getting a free trial of the job slinger plus account is that you can have one profile and sign up for all those other companies. Yes, you will have to sign up for each company individually, but most of the information will automatically feed over into each company's profile, so you will only have a little bit of information to fill out instead of the whole profile.
There is also a mystery shopping forum and job board at Volition. This is pretty much the same job board that you will find through the MSPA website. It's a good place to ask questions and get answers about specific mystery shopping companies, schedulers, job types, etc..from other mystery shoppers. Volition is free to join.
Getting paid...
Each mystery shopping/merchandising company has its own pay schedule. Some pay bi-weekly, some monthly, and a few pay within a week of approval of your completed shop. Here are a few examples of pay schedules that I have experienced recently...
Company A: Pays monthly on the 15th of the month via Paypal. They will pay you for all of the jobs you did for one calendar month on the 15th of the following month.
Company B: Pays monthly on the 23rd of the month via Paypal. They will pay you for all of the jobs you did from the 23rd of last month through the 22nd of this month.
Company C: Pays bi-weekly. They will pay you for the jobs that you did in the first half of the month on the first of the next month. They will pay you for the jobs that you did in the last half of the month on the 15th of the next month.
Mystery shopping companies...
Here is a list of links to mystery shopping companies. It's actually several links to the volition website and their list of companies.
USA - Company names A-G
USA - Company names H-P
USA - Company names Q-Z
International Companies - Note: These are really good to sign up with if you travel internationally at all.
Merchandising companies...
Here is a list of links to merchandising companies. The first 3 I have worked with before, so I know they're legitimate and pay when they say they will. SPAR and Pat Henry mail checks. Certified can pay via check or direct deposit. A good idea would be to sign up on the NARMS website. Recruiters often look for registered users there.
SPAR Group - www.sparinc.com
Pat Henry Group - www.pathenry.com
Marketforce / Certified Field Associates - www.certifiedfieldassociate.com
NARMS - www.NARMS.com
Below is a description and a link to the companies listed on the volition site.
Merchandising and Demo Companies: Jobs consist of such things as In Store Demos, Service Visits, New Store Set-ups, Product Resets, Product Knowledge Training, Planogram Design, and Promotional Product Distribution. These companies are all looking for part-time and full time merchandisers.
Merchandisers represent the client retailer by presenting the product in the store, by maintaining communication and developing relationships with the store personnel. Merchandisers should ultimately make an impact on sales in each store by ensuring the retail products and placement offer the best presentation to the customer, maximizing communication in the store and providing appropriate feedback to the to the retailer.
Volition.com merchandising and demo companies list
Online surveys...
I have done online surveys for several companies in the past. The one I like the best is Dollar Surveys. You just need to have a PayPal account to do their surveys. Go to the site, enter your paypal email address and submit and the site will direct you to a survey. They pay daily, usually within a few days of completing a survey, and you can complete as many surveys a day as you want.
Pinecone Research is another really good online survey company. They only accept applications at certain times, and sometimes only for specific groups of people (i.e., sometimes only people ages 18-30, etc.). HOWEVER, each survey you complete pays $3 and the funds are deposited to your PayPal account within just days after you complete the survey. Survey invitations, once you have signed up with them, will come in the form of an email. Be on the lookout for links to sign up with them, as they don't process new applications all the time.