Mystery Shoppers

LauranceB · 05-01-2010 11:47am #1

I notice on the FAS website today a company looking for mystery shoppers. Does anyone know anything about this or have you done it before?

I know I'm scraping the barrel!:rolleyes:

Mrs OBumble · 05-01-2010 12:09pm

It's self-employment, so not possible if you're on JB.

Mostly you need internet access, and "bid" for jobs. The lucky one gets the job, does the shop and has to write a report.

Apparently some are better paid than others, I don't know any details beyond that, though.

ravydavygravy · 05-01-2010 12:16pm

We use mystery shoppers from time to time - just go into a retailer, do some shopping, and then let us know how the experience was - lets us know if our products are easy to use, and to see if retailers have difficulty explaining them to customers. Sometimes the mystery shopper would be given a specific problem to act out, again to see if we have provided the retailers with the correct tools to help deal with customers.

I'd say its pretty low pay for easy work, but any work is good work these days :-)

Columbo · 05-01-2010 9:44pm

Yeah, I found a number of these jobs listed for different areas on <some website>

Seem to be ok and a job is a job these days...

OP didn't ask where to find these jobs, so don't post to websites that list them - GS

pow wow · 06-01-2010 4:43am

I do it and have done for about 3 years or so. It's not regular enough (or lucrative enough!) to make a living out of but the pocket money isn't too shabby and it's interesting. Usually the reports you have to write are pretty extensive though, so although 30 euro might seem a lot for enquiring about a mortgage or upgrading your mobile phone, the time the report takes can make it seem less of a sweet deal.

As other posters have said, you bid for the jobs (I usually get one email per day per company I work for listing all the available stuff). They're allocated on a mixture of first come first serve and your previous shopper rating/how good your reports are.

Once you are allocated the job you receive a 'brief' outlining the scenario and a couple of specific questions or issues you need to raise with whoever you're dealing with and you can review the layout of the report you need to complete so you're familiar with what you need to be paying attention to. It's not just a case of summarising the conversation, the reports can and do ask all sorts of things from what you thought of the decor to what was playing on the tvs in the store when you were there. The reports I do are usually 50/50 yes/no tick boxes and free text comments - the latter is where the time gets eaten up.

Sorry for the long post

It's an interesting way to earn some extra money!

jw297 · 07-01-2010 8:25pm

I've done a few mystery shops over the past year. I haven't applied for all the shops that were available, and didnt get accepted for some of the ones I did apply for, so have been making a bit of extra cash, but it wouldnt pay the rent. As the previous poster mentioned the reports can be a bit long alright so when you work out the hourly pay its sometimes not as good as it first sounds!
I've had good experiences with the people I've dealt with though, payment and expense reimbursement is usually the month after doing the shops, and I've had no problems with that. Have had several free lunches, an overnight hotel stay and some groceries out if it, which has been nice!
If you're not doing anything else anyway then I'd recommend doing it, but be aware that you might have to sign up to several agencies to make a living out of it.

Package · 08-02-2010 11:45am

ive dont it before, it was ok pay.. i recently signed up again from the jobs.ie website. i recieved an email back with an aplication for say this,,.

Thank you for responding to our advert for mystery shoppers.

Please click on the following like to register as a mystery shopper;

https://www.sassieshop.com/sassie/SassieShopperSignup/Signup.php?EmsID=j1pKKnTSzT0%3D

Then proceed to sign up! The answers to the questions will help us recruit you for mystery shopping jobs. Please note that grammar and spelling are important aspects to completing mystery shopping reports. You can check for available jobs on the ‘Jobs Board’ and you will also receive emails from us to inform you of available jobs.

PLEASE DO NOT APPLY UNLESS YOU HAVE A VERY HIGH STANDARD OF WRITTEN ENGLISH AND GRAMMAR AND EXCELLENT ANALYTICAL SKILLS!

On application you will be asked for your account number and sort code – this is because we pay via banking on line. Nothing can be done with this information apart from paying money into your account. All information is encrypted

so when you go to the link, one of the things you have to do is give all your personal info, name, address, phone number, bank account and sort code.

all this sounds like an identity scam to me,, what do you think/.?

jw297 · 08-02-2010 1:35pm

They need all that information to pay your wage into your bank account. The two companies I've dealt with have been fine.

Jesica Fletcher · 26-08-2010 10:51pm

Package wrote: »

ive dont it before, it was ok pay.. i recently signed up again from the jobs.ie website. i recieved an email back with an aplication for say this,,.

Thank you for responding to our advert for mystery shoppers.

Please click on the following like to register as a mystery shopper;

https://www.sassieshop.com/sassie/SassieShopperSignup/Signup.php?EmsID=j1pKKnTSzT0%3D

Then proceed to sign up! The answers to the questions will help us recruit you for mystery shopping jobs. Please note that grammar and spelling are important aspects to completing mystery shopping reports. You can check for available jobs on the ‘Jobs Board’ and you will also receive emails from us to inform you of available jobs.

PLEASE DO NOT APPLY UNLESS YOU HAVE A VERY HIGH STANDARD OF WRITTEN ENGLISH AND GRAMMAR AND EXCELLENT ANALYTICAL SKILLS!

On application you will be asked for your account number and sort code – this is because we pay via banking on line. Nothing can be done with this information apart from paying money into your account. All information is encrypted

so when you go to the link, one of the things you have to do is give all your personal info, name, address, phone number, bank account and sort code.

all this sounds like an identity scam to me,, what do you think/.?

I was a bit iffy about that site for the same reason! Did you end up signing up and if so how did you get on?

buttcrackbill · 10-10-2023 1:28pm

Hi have just been successful in an application for this. Want to earn some extra cash. I already have a part time job . The email states I am responsible for my own tax affairs for this which puts me off as surely I already pay tax in my current employment and only want to earn abit extra without declaring to Revenue. Can I just not declare to Revenue and get paid by Revolut?

endacl · 10-10-2023 1:34pm

No

turbodiesel · 12-10-2023 7:50am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121218532#Comment_121218532

Yes you must declare all sources of income (especially ones with a paper or electronic audit trail 😉).

But it's not all bad news. For the likes of a mystery shopper job, you can offset some expenses like your mobile phone/PC/Internet and motoring expenses and may even get a tax refund.

https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/money-and-tax/tax/income-tax/taxation-of-self-employed-people/

L1011 · 12-10-2023 7:52am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121226895#Comment_121226895

Motoring expenses for additional work when you are PAYE already is virtually impossible to claim due to the workload involved. Similarly you would be very hard pressed to claim for phone and computer expenses for what is a part time job

turbodiesel · 12-10-2023 8:01am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121226902#Comment_121226902

That's going to depend on how much part time/2nd job you have bringing in an income. I've been dual income (full time paye and also self employed working 10-20 hrs a week) for over a decade. For me the "in house" expenses are 10% of my utilities plus wear and tear on a room, plus a large percentage of my motoring expenses for a particular vehicle (as i have another vehicle registered and insured in my name). Most years I have made a profit and paid tax but there have been no big surprises.

L1011 · 12-10-2023 8:11am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121226929#Comment_121226929

None of that is going to wash for a few mystery shopper shifts though.

Mystery Shoppers

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