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Mystery Shopping Jobs Get Paid To Test ShopMystery shopping involves a variety of activities such as going into a shop, looking around, asking a shop assistant a specific question and making a test purchase. Other mystery shopping jobs can include having a meal in a restaurant or fast food outlet and writing a report. Most reports are tick boxes or circling answers and giving a small report. There is more specific information below and an e-mail address where you can ask me specific questions not answered in this article. Mystery shopping is also called test or secret shopping and mystery shoppers are sometimes called test or secret shoppers. Here in the UK we tend to use mystery shoppers and mystery shopping. There is a list of mystery shopping companies and websites at our other website Borntoloaf.co.uk There are no skills or qualifications needed to be a mystery shopper. Anyone can become a mystery shopper. It is an excellent job for people with children because the work can be performed whilst children are at school. Some men and women do the job full time. They work for many different mystery shopping companies which gives them work most days, especially if they live near major shopping centres. Mystery shopping work would also suit students, retired people or those in full time work and wanting to supplement their income. The best mystery shoppers are those who enjoy shopping, enjoy giving feedback and assessing and are observant, have a good memory and an eye for detail. Mystery Shopping JobsDo apply for as many mystery shopping companies as possible. Specific mystery shopping companies will have specific contracts with shops, cinemas, pubs, organisations and restaurant chains. This will give you as much work as possible. Most companies will not mind you working for each other provided you maintain their clients confidentiality. In fact most would welcome you gaining more experience and becoming more adept at completing their evaluation forms. Approach each mystery shopping company as you would any other job, Remain professional and really sell yourself on the application form. Do declare any previous mystery shopping work - this has often fast tracked me to their employment. You will be asked for personal details, previous jobs and experience, interests, etc. It is normal to be asked for your bank details so that they can pay you by BACS. Most companies pay you within 4 weeks of completing a mystery shopping assignment. Doing regular work should ensure you receive monthly if not weekly payments. It is possible to earn a full time salary from mystery shopping. I had so much mystery shopping work one winter that I was out and about every day doing 2 or 3 assignments each day. I earned enough not to have to do the other self employment work I do (listed on the left), though I still did my other jobs to maximise my income. Some mystery shopping companies, such as NOP, will ask you to complete a pretend mystery shop and a test mystery shopping report. Put some effort into this and though you won't get paid it will secure you the job and you'll soon be earning regular work. Other mystery shopping companies will send or e-mail you a teaching package to work through. Others, like Intelligent Marketing Solutions Limited, will conduct a telephone interview and discuss how to perform the work. Why Do Companies Ask For Mystery Shoppers? It gives them an opportunity to assess certain work practices and promotions from a customers perspective and gain a fresh insight or opinion. Some companies like to make sure their employees are following company procedures and protocols. Rates Of Pay For A Mystery ShopperAll mystery shopping companies do give you easy to understand paperwork and job briefings. The reports you need to fill out are easy to work through and don't need much writing - most can be completed in 5 - 15 minutes. The jobs themselves can take anything from 5 minutes to one hour. The longer the job the higher payment. For example a test purchase or deposit and a test question at a bank or Post Office will generally earn you £8 and take about 10 minutes with 5 minutes to fill in the form. A test purchase and a test question at a clothes shop may take 15 - 20 minutes in the shop, looking around, trying on clothing and talking to an assistant and about 10 minutes to complete the evaluation form. Mystery shopping rates of pay vary from £8 to £25 per assignment. If a company telephones you for work that needs to be done the next day, perhaps because they have been let down by another mystery shopper, then do negotiate a higher rate of pay. They will usually pay this so that they can complete the contract fully for their client. Some companies, like Lodge Service, will automatically offer this enhanced fee. Other jobs may involve telephoning a company to ask set questions and to record their answers. Another mystery shopping job may be to send off for information and record when you receive that information by post and send the information back to the mystery shopping company. Other jobs may see you going into various shops to ask them to put up information or give customers free products to trial. These jobs usually involve an hourly fee and you will be asked to work pre-set hours. These are worth doing because they give you a regular income during the free trial or advertising promotion. Do try and get weekly work for each company you work for - this then entitles you to holiday pay. Though you need not take the holiday the companies are obliged to pay this to you and does make a difference in your pay packet. You must work at least 12 weeks in a row, even if it is just an hour a week, to be entitled to this. If this page has not answered your questions or you need some more advice then please feel free to e-mail me. I would also welcome any advice to increase the information on this page to make it more useful to others. So feel free to e-mail me your thoughts. I would also appreciate it if you were to send the url of the www.findextrawork.co.uk to your friends, forums and websites. Automatically Add www.findextrawork.co.uk To Your Favourites Folder - Bookmark Us. The site is updated weekly with new earning opportunities. How To Complete Mystery Shopping WorkDo read your brief and evaluation form. Be aware of what you are asked to do and any questions you need to ask. You should never give out your name or address (some mystery shopping companies like Lodge Service give you a fictitious address to use) or reveal that you are a mystery shopping unless you are asked to reveal this. For example if you are doing a supermarket audit to check the special offers and stock levels. Never take your paperwork to the location of the assignment and do not fill out the forms within sight of the location. Be honest and exact with the information. This includes the date and time of entry and exit to the location. The names and descriptions of the staff and the reply to any test questions. You are usually asked to give the shop or building name to the left and right of where you are testing to ensure it is the correct place. This is important for large cities like London, Manchester or Edinburgh which may have several branches of a specific store or bank. You may be asked to look for specific promotions or advertising posters or signs. A small notebook is helpful to write this information down and can be filled in at a nearby park or cafe well away from the test shopping area whilst the information is still fresh in your mind. This is especially useful when completing several jobs in one day and stops any confusion or wrong information being sent. When working as a mystery shopper you need to maintain confidentiality and not discuss your work with any one. You should do the work on your own and not take friends or children with you. There are some mystery shopping jobs though that ask you to do this, such as restaurant or overnight hotel visits. Do the mystery shopping jobs as honestly as you can - most stores, banks, etc have CCTV and when the managers get the report back to them they do consult the tapes! They love to spot the mystery shopper - but don't worry you do not need to act the spy and wear wigs and disguises. It's not often that you get the same job to do. I rarely revisit the same branch, shop or restaurant within a year and have never been spotted as a mystery shopper. What should you do if staff think you are a mystery shopper? The best way to handle this situation would be to ask the person what is a mystery shopper. Then have a conversation pretending you know nothing about this type of work and maybe even ask if they have any mystery shopping vacancies! You should then be able to continue your work undiscovered because the staff will not want to keep talking about mystery shopping nor encourage someone to become a mystery shopper. Many mystery shopping companies brief their employees to do this rather than to deny that they are a mystery shopper. Mystery Shopper ExpensesKeep any receipts or any paperwork you are given during the test purchase or whilst assessing information. A receipt will need to be sent back to your co-ordinator so that you can have this money refunded. If you have to make a test purchase, such as buying a meal or an item of clothing, then you will have this money refunded and you may be able to keep the items. I've been able to keep shirts, trousers, toasters, kettles, stamps, food from supermarkets and had some lovely free meals. Expenses are usually paid promptly, for example React pay within the week. Other companies, like Lodge Service, will give you an advance payment to cover expenses so that you are not out of pocket. Some companies will ask you to buy an item, like an article of clothing, and take it back a day or up to a week later for a refund. This involves two shops and journeys and you will get double travelling expenses and an increase in payment. You will need to write out reference numbers on the receipt before taking it back at the refund test shop. Grass Roots assignments often ask you to do this. You can also claim travelling expenses by car (a generous 25 pence a mile is the norm), train, tube or bus. In addition you should claim for any telephone calls or postage paid. I cannot think of any disadvantages to being a mystery shopper. The work is great fun and varied, the pay is good and you get to keep lots of test purchases and enjoy free meals whilst mystery shopping. It's great for your confidence, being trusted to undertake such important work. Completing The PaperworkMost paperwork is a straightforward case of ticking boxes or circling multiple choice replies. Once you've done several jobs the paperwork will take up less time. Some companies, like IMS and the NOP Cybershop website, allow you to complete the forms on their website - you get to fill the forms easily and they get the paperwork instantly. Others prefer you to write you the forms and send them in their pre-paid envelopes. In all cases the companies like their reports written and sent in within 24 hours of completing the job. You may not get paid if you delay sending the paperwork Do write your report in a document such as Microsoft Word which will check your spelling and grammar. Income earnt from mystery shopping should be declared to your tax office on your self assessment form. You will need to complete a separate form for each employer using the information from the P60 they will send you at the end of each financial year. You do not need to declare expenses on your income tax return because they are not subject to tax. It is worth giving the company you work the most for your P45 if this becomes your major source of income. It is possible to buy books about mystery shopping or pay for more information from websites. I've never felt the need to do this and am happy to answer any questions that this article has not answered. Findextrawork is available to help any journalists or reporters with information or advice about mystery shopping. The webmaster is Christopher Buswell and can be contacted by using the details on the contact page. After initial contact by e-mail Chris Buswell will be happy to pass on a telephone number to arrange a phone interview. He has helped several magazines, papers, radio and other websites in the past. Most recently this was the DC Thomson publication The Sunday Post where he was phone interviewed by journalist Steven Bowron about being a Mystery Shopper in Scotland. Lodge Service Test Purchaser Though primarily a security protection service Lodge Service have vacancies for test purchaser shoppers which is their alternative name for mystery shoppers. After the initial application form and telephone interview test purchaser work is either sent by e-mail or mystery shopper work forms are mailed by post. This mailing also includes expense sheets. Though most mystery shopping companies ask their mystery shoppers to complete their assignment forms online Lodge Service mystery shopping assignments are completed on paper forms and then sent back to the office. Unusually for a mystery shopper company they also ask for test purchasers to be sent back before a refund of expenses is made. Though should you be financially embarrassed or have to make large payments then you can request an advance of expenses. This is a pity because we have had to buy jewellery from jewellers like H Samuel and Ernest Jones and these would have been nice to keep! The same applies to clothing from shops like Quicksilver. The paperwork for Lodge Service test purchaser work is quick to complete though and generally involves ticking boxes and writing a small comment if needed. The mystery shopping work tends to be very focused and easily done. One nice job that we frequently get from Lodgeservice is charity shops like the British Red Cross and the British Heart Foundation. These involve purchasing an item and then asking for a receipt. We usually get about £6 for these quick test purchaser jobs and can restock on toys for the children, jigsaws or books. Other work from lodgeservice.com include cinema visits which involve checking the snacks for sale and watching the adverts and gaining free entry to the film. The mystery shopping work at the cinemas can be done before the movie is shown and then you can settle down and watch a free film. These cinema test shopper visits are popular and can get quickly booked so don't hesitate when offered a cinema visit. Other mystery shopper work at Lodge Service we have done includes visiting a pub, buying a pint and assessing the service and the cleanliness of facilities including the toilet. There's not many jobs that pay you to enjoy a drink in a bar! We have also had to pretend to buy a sofa from the Sofa Workshop, buying health products from Holland and Barrett and asking for health advice and recommendations, visiting car dealerships to get the best price for a specific car make and model and visiting local gyms enquiring about membership. Payment ranges from £5 to £20 and Lodge Service will pay more if they need the test purchaser work done quicker such as the next day. The findextrawork team have never had any problems with Lodgeservice mystery shopping and have always been paid on time. Payments from Lodge Service are made by BACS directly into a bank or building society. You will need to add these details to you test shopper application form. To join Lodge Service click on the vacancies tab on the left of the www.lodgeservice.com website and apply for the test purchaser or undercover detectives mystery shopping job vacancies. Lodge Service provides free mystery shopping jobs in Scotland and Scottish mystery shoppers will work with a lovely lady from Glasgow called Margaret Gibb who tends to phone through work though sometimes she will e-mail us work. The Lodge Service official website url is www.lodgeservice.com where you can find more information and an online application form. Find Extra Work are also happy to answer any specific questions about Lodge Service Test Purchaser jobs and work we have done. React Surveys React Surveys also work with Lodge Service though separate mysteryshopping work is available and the style of paperwork is different. React Surveys are the customer service evaluation division of Lodgeservices. React Surveys provide mystery shopping work throughout the UK and Europe. Members of Findextrawork.co.uk have worked for ReactSurveys for several years and never encountered any problems. Assignments are generally e-mailed or phoned through and paperwork sent by post. Payment takes a few weeks and is paid directly to the bank. Any expenses are usually paid within the week so that the mystery shopper is never out of pocket. Common work that we have done at React Surveys out with those provided through Lodge Services is taking a car for a test drive and then trying to get a best price from the car salesman. Rates of pay from React Survey for car test shopping varies from £15 to £25 depending on how quickly they want the work done and what notice was given. The application form for mysteryshopping work can be found at the official React Surveys website url of www.reactsurveys.com on the left hand navigation under the clickable link of Request Form. The head office of reactsurveys.com is in Cirencester and they provide work throughout England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. NOP Cybershopper Mystery Shopper NOP Cybershopper mystery shopper network is part of GFK, the worldwide research marketing company. Test shoppers have their own website called NOP Cybershopper. Mystery shopping work is found on the Cybershop site and this saves the embarrassment of saying no to a mystery shopper job: you can pick and choose test shopping assignments online. Many mysteryshopping jobs are first come first served so do check the website frequently if you want lots of mystery shopping work. The main advantage of NOP Cybershopper mystery shopper work is that reports can be completed online making this quicker, easier and ideal for those who like to be paperless or consider the environment. Most of the NOP Cybershopper mystery shopper paperwork involves ticking boxes on the form and giving small comments. Most paperwork can be done within minutes. www.findextrawork.co.uk have had mysteryshopping work for banks such as The Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays and Halifax that involved making enquires about loans, credit cards, mortgages and saving accounts. Post Office work involves timing a queue and posting a letter, getting a receipt and asking a question about a PO service. Shop visit mystery shopping work visits have include electrical retailers like Currys and Comet where set questions about specific products had to be asked and then a test purchase was bought. The nice thing about working for NOP Cybershopper mystery shopper organisation is that test purchases can be kept and the expense of test purchaser are refunded. So findextrawork have a large collection of free new kettles, toasters, sandwich makers, etc. A unique type of work with NOP is telephone mystery shopping where your brief is to phone companies or services to access their response and customer services. This has included financial services and energy providers. It can include asking for information and assessing if you get sent the info requested. An application form for NOP Cybershopper mystery shopper work can be found at the official NOP Cybershop website url of http://cybershoppers.nop.co.uk which is also the site of existing staff to log in. If this mystery shopping review has not answered your questions then please feel free to contact Find Extra Work for more information. Retail Eyes Retail Eyes are an International mystery shopping company with vacancies throughout Britain. Retail Eyes mystery shopping company telephone and e-mail work through and assignments can be written on a form or completed online. Past work performed by findextrawork include visits to banks such as Lloyds TSB for information about their services or enquiring about an account, test driving cars and visiting clothing shops like Burtons. The test shopping work we have completed involved returning the clothes for a refund to check their return policy so sadly we did not get to keep the purchase, but Retail Eyes do pay more for a return test shop. Mystery shopping work undertaken for retaileyes.co.uk at short notice is rewarded by an additional payment. Please note that Retail Eyes do not normally pay travel expenses but try to match mystery shoppers to jobs within their local area. RetailEyes mystery shopper vacancies can be found at their UK website of www.retaileyes.co.uk or their US site at www.retaileyes.com Grass Roots Grass Roots mystery shopping has several websites but can be easily found at grassrootsmysteryshopping.com which has an online application form, FAQs and a guide to being a mystery shopper. Work at grassrootsmysteryshopping that findextrawork.co.uk has undertaken includes fast food outlets such as Burger King, vehicle test driving and staying overnight at hotels such as the Travel Lodge hotel. This was a nice job to do because in addition to getting free accommodation overnight there was a meal allowance for the family. This was one of the few occasions that children had to come mystery shopping as part of the undercover work. Grassroots actively encourage disabled mystery shoppers to join their company because many clients ask for disabled people to mystery shop their service or shop so that they can improve things for proper shoppers with a disability. Grassroots mystery shopping UK has a special website for their mystery shoppers to get work, paperwork and complete assignments online. It is called the MysticsWeb section of the grassrootsmysteryshopping.com site. Grassroots mystery shopper company does not pay travel expenses but the mystery shopping work can be tied in with being in the area or with other mystery shopping jobs with a different company who does pay travel costs. www.findextrawork.co.uk has always been paid promptly by Grass Roots mystery shoppers and they will pay directly to a bank or building society account by BACS. More information and an application form to be a mystery shopper can be found at the official Grass Roots web site url at www.grassrootsmysteryshopping.com IMS IMS (Intelligent Marketing Solutions) UK mystery shopping can be found at ukims.co.uk and mystery shoppers complete their paperwork online. Assignments for mystery shoppers can be phoned by a manager or requested online at their website of ukims or e-mailed. Payment is made directly to your bank account and any expenses are repaid and items purchased as a test purchase are kept by the mystery shopper. In the past find extra work have mystery shopped jeans and fashion shops for UK IMS and have a nice wardrobe of trousers and shirts - and got paid for shopping. Common work is test driving cars at local garages and going into car salesrooms to enquire about prices of cars and then trying to get a better price from the salesperson. UK IMS also have short term campaigns which involve distributing advertising material on behalf of a client such as window stickers for newsagents, posters, display advertising or free samples. These are quite profitable because UK IMS prefer to give one mystery shopper the brief for their area so several hundred pounds can be earnt over a few days. In addition UK IMS have contracts to go into shops and give our free samples or ask their mystery shoppers to do product demonstrations to customers. You may have seen these at grocery shops like Tesco or Asda where a person gives out a sample of a drink or new sweet say and then give you a coupon and point you in the direction of where to buy the product. Other examples are being given a new sample of an ISP such as AOL or BT as you enter a computer shop such as PC World or Comet. These are all mystery shoppers working in conjunction with shop staff and management. So not all mystery shopping jobs and vacancies are undercover. Another example is going to restock greetings cards in an area of shops. The UK IMS (Intelligent Marketing Solutions) website can be found at http://www.ukims.co.uk where there is a test shopper application form for mystery shopping jobs so that you can get paid to test shop. Mystery Worshippers It is not just shops and stores that need mystery shoppers to help them assess and improve services. Churches such as the Church of Scotland employ a team of mystery worshippers to go to church services around the UK and write a report about the minister, the church service length and style, congregation, music, choir, facilities, the warmth of welcome, pew books, etc. These undercover agents working as mystery worshippers for the church include regular mystery shoppers specially trained as mystery worshippers by various church denominations. For example the Heart of England Christian Resources Exhibition regularly mystery worship counties in England each year. These undercover teams attend church as if a normal worshipper and secretly inspect the church. The mystery worshippers are specially trained to give an outside opinion of the church back to the Heart of England Christian Resources Exhibition so that they can report back to ministers and church officials in an effort to improve church services and increase visitors to churches throughout the United Kingdom. The Heart of England Christian Resources Exhibition hired regular mystery shoppers who were used to mystery shopping shops and trained them in what to look for as a mystery worshipper and how to report their mystery worship visit. The Christian Research Association organised the study that collated the results and findings of each mystery worship visit. The findings will be discussed at the exhibition at the Telford International Centre which takes place from the 21 to 23 February 2008. Ship of Fools Independent mystery worshippers include The Ship of Fools who travel throughout the British Isles and Internationally to countries like Canada and the USA and mystery shop churches and leave their calling card on the collection plate so that reverends know to look at their website www.shipoffools.com to read their mystery worship mystery shop report. Some church officials even printed the report in their Diocese newsletters for the regular congregation to read. TheShipOfFools are sponsored by the Christian Aid ISP surefish. An application form to become a Mystery worshipper for The Ship of Fools can be found at shipoffools.com site. Chip Shop of the Year Competition As an example of how important mystery shopping jobs and reports are to the retail and food industry the chip shop of the year competition organisers employ mystery shoppers. They are paid to visit two chip shops each day and assess the quality and taste of the fish and chips as well as the service, cleanliness of the chip shop, etc. The results from mystery shoppers are collected from throughout the UK and collated as part of the qualifying process for the chip shop of the year competition. The eventual winner of the chip shop of the year competition can see their revenue increase by an additional 40% over several months and the organisers of the chip shop of the year competition seafish.org consider the increase in advertising for the winning chip shop to be worth about £1.3 million per year. |
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