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Entrepreneurship:  Mystery shopping  |
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mikesgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
3659 Posts
Sherri
Elma
WA
USA
3659 Posts |
 Posted - May 22 2007 : 4:27:10 PM
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| Any of you ever do mystery shopping? How was it? Is it worth it? |
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Kim
True Blue Farmgirl
146 Posts
Kim
Pflugerville
Texas
USA
146 Posts |
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faithymom
True Blue Farmgirl
360 Posts
Faith
Sandpoint
ID
USA
360 Posts |
Posted - May 22 2007 : 7:28:20 PM
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Hmm...I've done a bit...gas stations, banks, flooring store...
I don't really think it's worth it in the long run, but it was alright.
Some are easy and require no out-of-pocket expenses, but I did a gas station audit that took forever to do, and twice as long to enter all the stuff online. It didn't require purchasing anything, but I think I made a whopping $2 an hour for it.
I don't know how you could make that your income source, but I do live in a small town, maybe the opportunities are greater elsewhere.
"All television is educational television. The only question is, what is it teaching?"-Fmr. FCC Commissioner Nicholas Johnson |
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willowtreecreek
True Blue Farmgirl
4813 Posts
Julie
Russell
AR
USA
4813 Posts |
Posted - May 23 2007 : 06:04:58 AM
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I did it but don't think it was worth it. I live in a small town and had to travel about 50 or more miles for most of the things. The problem was the paperwork though and if you make a mistake they don't reimburse you. Also they require SO MUCH personal info and I began to worry about identity theft. I do have a friend however who does it and LOVEs it!
Jewelry, art, baskets, etc.
www.willowartist.etsy.com
www.willowtreecreek.com |
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nashbabe
True Blue Farmgirl
687 Posts
687 Posts |
Posted - May 24 2007 : 7:34:01 PM
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I used to test soda machines for a company. Yep, go from fast food place to fast food place and check the machines and see if they were working correctly. Boring as heck, but flexible and that's what I need when I have to drive a kid to school fourish hours a day. They would pay a flat rate. I did it for around a year and a half but as gas prices went up it just wasn't worth it. I had learned to do it efficiently and well and even then I didn't get what I wanted out of it so I decided to stop.
The problem with mystery shopping/quality control is that each gig would be different, they often have very detailed requirements that you must achieve with the store, and then have to spend a bunch of time documenting afterwards...and as others have said, it must be accurate...some mystery shops they tried to get me to do were very specific about what was needed...for my soda work I had to fill out a ten page questionnaire for each store, and spend time calling managers to set appointments, in addition to driving there on my nickel and spending the testing time.
Usually the manager in charge of the project hadn't really done what you had to do and tried to persuade you what a great gig it was...which it really wasn't, it always took longer than stated. I did a job for them one time that took for-stinking ever. I did complain about it and get some extra money as a result, but another really long one netted me nothing extra. That was the end of that and I put my foot down...no more.
Grew up on a farm...moved to da city... |
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Entrepreneurship: Mystery shopping |
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Mystery shopping
