If they said you had to see it to believe it then they should’ve given me glasses years ago. This is the real deal. You work, you get paid. Where else can you get paid to shop? With mystery shopping as your back-up plan, you can do the shops you want on your time and make more than a dime. Continue reading “Mystery Shopping as a ‘Back-up Plan’”
Category: About Mystery Shopping
Extra Extra Read all About It!
One of the defining features of the Great Recession and not so great recovery has been the surge in long-term unemployment. As of March this year, more than 3.7 million Americans had been out of work for more than six months, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the median duration of unemployment was 16.3 weeks. Although this is down from the record high in 2010, it is still far away from the above pre-recession norms. Continue reading “Extra Extra Read all About It!”
Yes, There Really Is a Free Lunch! Part II
How does a piping hot burger and side of crunchy, perfectly seasoned fries sound for lunch next week? Or, dinner that you didn’t lift a finger, (or a pot or pan), to prepare? Last week, we just scratched the surface to explore how to take advantage of mystery shopping where you can enjoy a free meal. Many opportunities exist for you to enjoy breakfast, lunch, or dinner for free, plus a fee! Continue reading “Yes, There Really Is a Free Lunch! Part II”
Yes, There Really Is a Free Lunch! Part I
We’ve all heard the saying, “There’s No Free Lunch!” The implication is that you can’t get something for nothing. Mystery shopping offers an abundance of opportunities to prove the naysayers wrong. If you play your cards right, you can get your lunch and a guest’s breakfast, lunch, or dinner, for free! Continue reading “Yes, There Really Is a Free Lunch! Part I”
EARN CASH AND HELP THE ELDERLY
Giving back to society has always been viewed as a positive humanitarian virtue to support your community.
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WHY BECOME A MYSTERY SHOPPER
Have you ever wanted to share your suggestions about a restaurant, apartment, or retail store? Have you always wanted to try a new restaurant or look at an apartment complex yet couldn’t justify it?
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How Many Shops Can I Manage at Once?
As a brand new shopper you often wonder how many shops you can start off with. When you are first starting, take it slow. Accept one shop, complete it and see how you feel about the time constraints. With apartment shops, as you gain more experience you can sign up for more shops at one time.
You might sign up for a shop and it takes you a week to get your target on the phone. During that time, you could have completed another shop. The thing is, you never know how long it may take you to reach a target.
If you are mystery shopping in addition to a full-time job, you need to be careful in pacing yourself with shop sign ups. When you commit to complete a shop, the company is counting on you to come through and complete it in a timely manner. If you sign up for four shops, sometimes contacting the target agents do not work out to fit with your regular full-time job. This can cause you to falter on completing the shops you signed up for in a timely manner. With a full-time job it is often a good idea to take apartment shops one or two at a time.
Remember to be careful if you are working for multiple mystery shopping companies too. Start slowly to learn the time constraints with various types of shops and make sure you have the time to complete everything you have committed to completing. One apartment shop and a lunch shop in a day seems quite doable. But having a breakfast shop, lunch shop, and dinner shop all with specified time constraints and an apartment shop with a specific target agent may lead to being overwhelmed and cause you to rush through assignments, missing important details.
If you are mystery shopping full-time, you have more flexibility. However, be very careful not to overbook yourself. If you continually drop shops, it has an impact on your ability to receive shops later. You will not be seen as dependable, and it can cost you income.
Why Companies Use Mystery Shoppers
Don’t worry. You’re not just a glorified tattle tale. Take it from me, mystery shoppers can often feel that way especially when they are writing a report on someone who provided a subpar experience. But companies don’t just use mystery shoppers so that they can catch their leasing agents making mistakes on the job.
Mystery Shoppers and Leasing Professionals: We’re All Actors
It’s true, we’re all actors in some respect. We “act” a certain way on the job, we “act” a certain way at home and even another way when we’re in public. While the root of all this action is hopefully including remaining true to who you are as an individual, we are all expected to “act” a certain way.
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Basics of Being an Independent Contractor
As a mystery shopper, you are an independent contractor and not an employee of the mystery shopping companies you provide services to. As an independent contractor, the companies you provide services to are not required to withhold taxes from your compensation. They do not pay unemployment insurance, workers compensation insurance, or take social security withholdings on your earnings. You are not eligible to receive any tax-free benefits from the company.
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