has anyone done mystery shopping ?

[tali122]

has anyone registered with a company and done mystery shopping or got paid for online surveys or "earned money from using your computer" opportunities- and would you recommend them?

[snapdharlich]

No and No. Wishful thinking...

[Mistopheles]

Yes yes yes! I've tried online mystery shopping - okay, but rather poorly paid - and then progressed to a 'proper' mystery shopping company. I've been working for them for 2 years now (part time) and LOVE it. Well paid, good fun, and never boring. Have even been sent to Ireland for the weekend to do a job! All the questionnaires / training etc. are online, but you do have to go out and do the job.

The online stuff is okay, really, I just found the other stuff so much better paid. Google for mystery shopping. The company I work for is NOP - www.cybershoppers.nop.co.uk -they are very good, but as I say, it's not just online work. The online company I used was emystery shopper - you'll need to google for the address.

The best way to earn money via a computer is ebay!

[Scarlett]

Yes I have done mystery shopping!! I would go into Boots and Superdrug every week and compare the prices. I had to find the items on a list (sometimes took ages) and write down what they were costing that week, and send the list back to the company. I got faster at it as I learnt where all the products were. It was INFURIATING when they changed things round!! Eventually it took me 40 mins-ish and I got paid �12 for that. I did it when I was a student and �12 was a lot!

Occasionally the shop staff would loiter and ask me if I needed help, and I had a astock of ready replies. I think I was only once asked what I was doing, and I said I was helping my friend's daughter do a school survey about price wars and comparisions of prices. That was quite scary.

I would recommend it if you need the money and like shopping!!

[Buenchico]

I don't know about the online stuff but I've known several people who've done the 'real world' type - most report that the pay is reasonable and that the job can be quite interesting.

The crazy thing, of course, is that a lot of mystery shoppers aren't much of a mystery to the staff in the shops that they visit. If Scarlett had got to know the right people she could probably have walked straight up to the manager of Superdrug and said "I need a print-out of all your prices to send to Boots"! (It would have saved a lot of time and effort!). Most shop managers (and their staff) accept that prices are in the public domain so they don't mind people knowing them.

Of course, some mystery shoppers are checking up on the staff rather than the prices but, even then, they're usually easy to recognise. I run a railway station for a living. Our team reckon that we can spot most of the mystery shoppers sent in by the train operating company. Even more obvious is W H Smith's mystery shopper who made the mistake of identifying herself to me so that she could ask for free car parking. I was happy to let her park for free but the manager of our W H Smith franchise is a friend of mine so, of course, I had a quiet word!

As it happens, I'm thinking of switching to part-time employment (so that I can spend more time with freelance writing) and mystery shopper work is one of the things which appeals to me. As I've said, I've known several people who've done it and, as long as you're reasonably self-confident, it could be worth a try.

A last word on most of those "make money from your computer" schemes. Several computing magazines have looked into these and every report I've ever read has said "Don't bother!".

Chris