As with most things in life, as a mystery shopper you can choose to earn your paychecks the quick and easy way with good assignments or you can beat your head against the wall with difficult assignments. While you most certainly would prefer to take the first route over the second any day, the difficult or course lies in picking out those easy assignments. This is, after all, one of those things that is easier said than done. In fact, picking out great mystery shopping assignments really does take some practice, and you will find that there is more to it than meets the eye.
A Closer Look at Pay: While many mystery shoppers would love to get those quick and easy assignments that have a ten minute site visit and a ten minute report, the bottom line is that you want the pay to be commensurate with the time and effort you put into the job. As you look at the job boards, pay attention to factors like how far you will have to travel, how detailed the requirements are, and what the expense reimbursement is to determine if this job is going to be worth your time. Absolutely avoid the impulse to look only at the shop pay in figuring out if you should take an assignment or not.
The Lower Paying Assignments: Many mystery shoppers are inclined to look at an assignment with a $5 pay and write it off. However, consider a scenario such as a pizza assignment that you can do from your home that requires a one minute phone call and a ten minute report. This assignment would essentially equate to the equivalent of $20 per hour. Of course not every pizza assignment is quite that easy, but the point is that the lower paying assignments can absolutely be those quick and easy assignments that you need.
Know Your Providers: Some providers are a mixed bag when it comes to offering easy or difficult assignments, but other providers are absolutely known across the industry for offering one type of assignment or another. Take time to isolate which of your providers are eating up your time with difficult, time consuming assignments, and put them to the side. Instead, focus your time working with providers who offer easier assignments that don’t unnecessarily drain your time.
Close to Home: A “quick and easy” assignment will generally never be too far from home. With this in mind, you may want to start your job search looking for assignments that are within a five or ten mile radius of your house. If you need to expand that search to keep busy, then so be it. However, you will want to pick up as many assignments as you can within that tighter radius of your home as you can. While many mystery shoppers do use their house as a home base of sorts, if you work outside the home or regularly travel along a certain path for another reason, you can also use your work location or that path as a starting point for your job search, too. The goal is to not deviate too far outside of your regular route so that you don’t waste your time traveling when you could be working on closer assignments instead.
Nobody wants to work more for less money, and these tips can help you really get the most of your time and efforts mystery shopping!
Thanks for the hint, very considerable information.
I always look at the amount of narrative required. A job with simple yes/no questions will be much easier than one that requires narrative after each question. Also it’s a good idea to see if it’s a simple purchase shop or a purchase and return shop, since visiting the store twice will take more time, and may not be worth the pay.
I usually look for how close to home it is and how easy it is for me–a shop which I have done in the past is far easier then a new shop.
Thank you that tip helped alot.