Mystery Shopping

Today I would like to talk to you about mystery shopping. There are ALOT of scams surrounding mystery shopping, to the point that some think that the whole industry is a scam. That's just not true. There are plenty of reputable mystery shopping companies.

The Successful Secret Shopper: Tips, Tricks, and Advice (1)

There are sources of shops. This is one of my favorite posting sites. This link goes into the forum. The first line is job postings. You can search the postings. There as a multitude of information for mystery shoppers, merchandisers, and practically everyone.

Another site of particular interest is MSPA. Their website states that there are over 400 member companies. They also list shops but in my experience, it has been best to search volition and the individual company sites. However, this company provides mystery shopper training. This is important because some shops are reserved only for those with certification. If you either can afford it or decide to be a serious mystery shopper, I do recommend certification. I am not certified but it's because neither applies to me.

 

Always read the fine print. As a mystery shopper, you are normally considered an independent contractor. This is essential to understand because there are tax implications. Speak to an accountant or visit the IRS website for more information. Also, there are several items I feel you do need access to. You need not purchase these items, but if you have them that's even better. You will probably need a fax machine (or another way to fax, through the computer?), a spreadsheet program to keep track of payments, index cards and a box to keep up with passwords and companies, transportation, and patience. Some of these companies take awhile to pay, but it is worth the wait.

I can make 300-400 a month shopping. It's easy to get caught up in the trap of finding the "perfect" shop. Try not to do that. The pay per hour goes down. While most repay any money you spend (with a receipt), I don't always have extra money available.

Mystery shopping can be a great amount of fun, as can merchandising. I fully enjoy evaluating apartment complexes, auto dealerships, banks, restaurants, jewelry stores, and especially grocery stores. So, I hope you try this out. The information I have provided is the best to my knowledge. I promise this is one of the neatest and most fun ways to make money. There is some traveling but if you're already going to the mall, why not get paid?

Tell me all about your mystery shopping successes. I will only filter out spam. Opposing views are always welcome.

Online Education

Going back to college won't make you rich NOW, but statistics do show the more education a person has, the more earning power they have. I am back in college.

I am going to Colorado Technical University online. I enjoy learning and my degree is concentrated in Network Management. I have enjoyed returning. Funding higher education is easy. First off, I decided what I wanted to study. Then I found a matching site (the federal government has one). Then I filled out the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Assistance). Then, I started classes.

Once you fill out the FAFSA, you will know how much grants and federal loans you will qualify for. There are also private loans and scholarships available. Your school should have info on those that are available to you.

Most of the books are e-books. I recommend an e-book reader that reads PDF files. I also recommend a good computer. Mine really isn't good enough. It has only 128 megs of RAM. Another thing is high speed internet. The most important is the computer. Don't count on the local library's computers to be satisfactory. Mine doesn't keep the computer synchronized so some have Adobe Reader on them and some don't.

I recommend the computer you use for school to be a laptop. This is mostly for portability. Nothing is worse than an assignment being late.

There are several online schools. Check that they are accredited. Also, when you search for the school code, or verify the school code, you will be able to see the school's graduation, retention, and transfer rates.

Good luck!! Let me know how it goes!!

Making Money with mturk

So, I will go ahead and share the first little tidbit I have found. Mechanical Turk. This is called mturk for short. It's a site ran by Amazon. I have been doing this a few days and have earned approximately $20.00 doing odd jobs, or HITs (Human Intelligence Tasks). I have transcribed business cards, graded audio transcriptions, and participated in research surveys, among other activities. Some are mundane, some are fascinating. The ones I have been paid for range from $0.01 to  $1.00, with my average being $0.07. I am okay with this. I don't accept the highest paying ones, they seem to be mostly ways for companies to acquire my email address. I also avoid the ones that are asking me to post an advertisement on a 3rd party website. I could make alot more if I did these two things.


What I have learned so far is that I shouldn't expect too much from mturk and I need to become acquainted with some of the companies that post often. I have already done this with one of the transcription companies. Also, I should work on my transcription skills as there are alot of those jobs and they pay better than the average. I want to be able to make approximately 10 times what I am now. I will work up to it.


There are other websites similar to this one. One that I have signed up for is ShortTask. I haven't completed any tasks. It is very similar to mturk and seems to be almost the same. The main difference is ShortTask pays through PayPal and mturk pays through Amazon and can direct deposit into a US checking account. I will look a little further into this company and post about it in the near future.

Feel free to ask me any questions. I promise I will respond. I also promise that this blog will have no scams within my writing. If you find one of my ideas to be shady, please let me know.