Last month things were hopping!! You had more shops than you could handle, and you were watching your paychecks stack up. But as luck would have it, this month you’re eagerly checking for new shop posts each day, only to be disappointed. What’s a mystery shopper to do?
It Doesn’t Hurt To Ask! Even the best of us experience that dreaded slow period. If you’re like most shoppers, though, there ARE shops available but you’ve been passing them over for some reason. In my area, there are always posts for the same shops. None of the shoppers in my area snatch these up and they sit around for weeks, if not months. They may require a large non-returnable purchase without reimbursement. Or the compensation may be for a service you don’t need, such as an eye exam.
Chances are the schedulers for these shops are getting pretty desperate to find a shopper to fill these jobs. Consider contacting the scheduler and explain your situation. For instance, you’d like to do the shop but don’t need that particular service. Or maybe you don’t need an $80 waffle iron and would like to be able to return it afterwards. If the scheduler has the ability to work with your request, she would probably jump at the chance to get that shop filled.
Don’t stop there, though! Schedulers have been known to provide bonus pay and reimburse your travel expenses to get a shop done. Of course you don’t want to be too greedy and jeopardize your relationship with the scheduler. But if you feel the work or travel required for the shop merits the additional compensation, be bold and ask for what you deserve! If you can’t do as many shops this month as you normally do, why not make more money for the shops you can do?
Extend Yourself! Your dry spell may be very localized. For instance, if you live in a large city, there may plenty of shops available on the other side of town. Sure, it’s farther than you usually want to travel. But if you can hit two or three shops with one visit, it may be worth your while. If the shops have been open for a while, go ahead and ask for travel reimbursement.
Don’t forget to keep track of your mileage for tax purposes! This extra work on your end will end up saving you big bucks on tax day, and will make the extra time and gas expense for your travels well worth your effort.
Shake Things Up! Some providers regularly offer different kinds of assignments, such as audits and merchandising assignments. These aren’t your typical assignments. Merchandising assignments, for instance, typically pay per hour and may take several hours to complete. With these assignments, you will reveal yourself to the store manager and go about your business of setting up a display or other such tasks.
Even if you don’t want to go that far outside of your usual type of shopping assignments, consider a different locale. For instance, if you normally shop grocery stores and restaurants, consider a movie theater trailer check or a shoe store shop. Taking shops outside your normal type of assignments will make you a more experienced shopper and will give you an added income stream during this slow period. And who knows? You may like these new shops and will want to keep doing them even after things pick back up for you again!
You can still make money during this dry spell! Use this as an opportunity to expand your horizons and do shops you normally wouldn’t do. And if the circumstances are right, maximize your profits on those shops by asking for travel or bonus pay.
I am doing just that, because I feel burnout breathing down my neck. I have registered with two merchandising companies and have several reliable easy audits coming up that will equal to $100 by itself. And if I couple that with a couple of mystery shops on top I can double the money. And don’t forget usually with the merchandising you usually don’t have an extensive report to do, just photos and maybe a check off sheet. Do it at least once, you may like it just like I did.
Hi Phyllis,
Which merchandising companies did you register with? Are they in the Northeast? I have tried to hook with a few but they don’t seem to pan out. Any info you can supply would be appreciated.
Desperate in NY.
I’ve been offered merchandising but you have to have some equipment. Microwave, table and dress in a type of uniform dress.
Too much like a steady job standing for 8 hours demonstrating an item. One of the firms I’m with is begging me to do merchandising. Try the Hampton Group one of their shops does merchandising with Wal Mart. Surely there is a Wal Mart in your area..(G)
The Hampton Group is a group of shops for mystery shopping. Might try and see what they have for you.
I’ve gotten some pretty good jobs from shops associated with the Hampton Group.
I am interested in the merchandising company that was mentioned(The Hampton Group) Do you have a link to their Website?
Thank You!
I merchandise for
http://www.certifiedfieldassociate.com
Try it.
Hi Shop Maven,
Thanks for the suggestions. I had a sensational April and then in May my income dropped by $700. I know why and it is okay. I had performed 115 shops during the month of April which is an average of close to 4 shops per day. I was also ready to drop from exhaustion since mystery shopping is not the only thing that I do. I turned down bonuses last month because I had to regroup and get some much needed rest. I receive lots of shop postings on a daily basis and it did not make since for me to go out and try to perform shops with an energy deficit. I have come to the realization that my drive and determination may be there, but I make errors when what I need is rest and not more money. I also overlook some shops because I get bored with shopping the same locations over and over again. Those shops do provide a steady income stream but I just don’t want to continue doing the same locations every month. During the month of May, I spread my wings and did some shops that were outside of my normal shopping area and shopping type. I consider it to be a challenge to take on different shops to be a more fully rounded shopper. I did some far away shops at the end of the month that had been posted from the beginning of the month. I strung those bonused shops together and I found the change of scenery and shop type to be refreshing. It had to be worth my while to make the trip. When I do have a “slow” period, I register with additional companies so that I can have even more variety in my shopping experiences. I went on vacation during the first week of June and now I feel refreshed and rejuvenated. When I came back I had over 600 e-mails. I am also registered with companies that post merchandising jobs. I eye ball them and if they are not worth my while I will not take them. I keep track of my mileage by searching on Rand McNally and I print a hard copy of the directions. I use the hard copy to post the mileage to my Excel shop log. Today I printed off a training manual for a new company that I registered with before going on vacation. Once I take their test, I know that I will have more shops to choose from. It makes good sense to me to register, register, register with additional companies for variety and an abundance of shopping opportunities.
For merchandizing, does anyone know of any where you don’t have to get down to floor level? I am disabled enough that I cannot do that action but I think I could do some merchandizing.
Promotional Work, In-store Demonstrator, Retail Auditing, Stock Counting, Paid Market Research Focus Groups, On road Scooter Advertising, can be other fun work opportunities.
http://www.gapbuster.com is one of my favourite, Mystery Shop companies!
Hello, does anyone have the website address for The Hampton Group that was mentioned by Billie J.? I have been mystery shopping, demonstrating, and merchandising for a couple of years and I would like to get more merchandising jobs. Thanks!!
I am considering doing merchandising jobs due to the gas prices, and I already live in a rural area. Certified Associates when they notify me the jobs are always not there any more when I look. I look as soon as I get their e-mail. I would love to do Theatres but there are no offers for this area, even though we do have a theatre.
One thing I want to mention was that the last shopping job I did was for KernScheduling, and they wrote me an e-mail telling that I was not getting paid for the job I had done because I was not consistent with my answers well I did a few stores for them and got pretty good reviews but the shop they were talking about I was never assigned to do it and I had already gotten paid for the two that I had done, so I told them I know that I am not getting paid for that particular shop because I was not assigned to do it. Needless to say they were unhappy but so was I especially when I was not assigned that shop and did not click on it to even do it. They never apologized or anything so I just do not or will not shop for them again. I wish they would get their people straight before they tell me I did something wrong. If any of my schedulers correct me on mistakes that I have made while shopping then I welcome their thoughts, and I learn from them, I do not get angry because this is to assist me and other shoppers like me. I do not know why some Schedulers do not see that we love what we do it is a lot of fun and most of us really enjoy it, I know I do and so do a lot of you. I sure hope that never happens again because I try to be very careful and read my instructions repeatedly until I almost know them by heart because I care enough to really do it right.
http://www.thehamptongroup.com.
I’m pretty sure this is the web site.
http://www.Convergencemrkting.com is a great company to work for if your interested in getting into marketing .they do resets from Candy to clothing and they need people from every state.they pay milage ,milage reimbursment ,per deim and your lodging if your sent out to a city that is not close to home if the assignment is going to last for more than a day .They sent my boyfriend and I out to Texas in Jan. of this year,for 2 weeks to set up the Hannha Montana Clothing line in Wal Mart and all our expenses were paid for the airfare,rent a car ,hotel was all taken care of .We just had to cover our food and gas but they reimbursed us for the gas and paid us .30 cents a mile for milage and paid the per diem of $20 a day.on our next check .You just need to send in the reciets for your gas and you get paid for your milage if they send you farther than 30 miles away from home and per diem if you are away from home for 2 days or more . I love working for them .Plus if you get someone hired on and they use you as a reference when they apply after they work 100 hours you get a $50 bonus.
I also had done alot of merchandising job for http://www.certifiedfieldassociates.com