Many people have heard some mixed things about mystery shopping. For example, many have heard some wonderful benefits associated with mystery shopping, such as the ability to work as much or little as your want and the ability to get paid to pose as a customer in restaurants, shops and more. These and other benefits of mystery shopping may sound amazing to you, but there may be some things holding you back from signing up and taking advantage of all that mystery shopping has to offer. The fact is that many of the negative things people have heard about mystery shopping are actually misconceptions with little to no truth. So what are the top misconceptions about mystery shopping?
The Pay is Low.
Many people who have looked into mystery shopping in more detail have seen that an assignment may only pay $5-$15 dollars. This may seem like a small amount of money your effort at completing an assignment. However, there are other financial benefits associated with completing assignments that you may not be aware of. For example, because mystery shoppers are independent contractors, they can enjoy the financial benefits that any self-employed individual would. This means that you can write off the miles traveled for business purposes, expenses associated with your home office and more. In addition, you can use the reimbursement on required purchases to pay for some of your essentials like gas, groceries and more. You have to buy these things anyway, so why not get money back for buying them? Further, many assignments can be completed in under an hour. Getting paid $15 an hour plus getting reimbursed for a purchase and enjoy tax write-offs is beneficial indeed.
You Need to Take a Training Course.
There are some companies out there that offer training courses and mystery shopping certifications, and you may think you need to take these in order to earn money as a mystery shopper. You certainly can take the courses and get certified, but most mystery shoppers don’t. Mystery shopping providers don’t require these, and they don’t pay you more money because you have a certification or have taken a class. There is little to no experience required, and you can learn on the job.
You Have to Shop Alone.
There are some assignments that require you to shop alone, but this requirement is clearly stated and known to you before you accept the assignments. With most assignments, you are able to bring your kids, your spouse or your friends along with you. Many people are looking for a work-from-home job that they can do while caring for kids, an aging relative or someone else, and this is indeed a job that fits that bill. You simply have to read the requirements before accepting an assignment to make sure a specific assignments won’t forbid you from bringing someone else along.
These are just a few of the common misconceptions people have about mystery shopping and that are holding people back from fully enjoying all that this job has to offer. While you may not get rich as a mystery shopper, it is a great way for most people to earn extra money with a job based out of the house.
This article mentions many valid points. Although it is not a get rich quick means of earninbg an income, there are many benefits to mystery shopping! For one thing, the shopper is in total control. You can choose assignments that require a purchase or not, that allows you to have a companion accompany you or not (personally I like to shop alone); you can try something new or stick to what is familiar, choose the style of scheduling and reporting that you prefer, and the number of shops that you take on can be many or few. You can work at a fast pace or you can work slowly. Items that you would nomally purchase can be reimbursed with $10 – $50 to boot! End of month shops can be exiting with bonuses that climb day by day! Travel pay is often offered. Basically you can do what you want while you hold down other job(s)! There’s one catch though…..you cannot boast about your exploits with family and friends. Really, the only ones who would be in the know are your schedulers and your accountant, and maybe a close friend who can truly keep a confidence…..or you job is shot! Mystery shopping gives you an opportunity to use your imagination, ingenuity, writing skills, and powers of observation and expression. You can challenge yourself! Mystery shopping is for me!
I have been mystery shopping for several years. Every time a discussion comes up about how low the pay is someone always counters with the thought that you can write off mileage, office expenses and so on when you file your taxes. While that is so it really only benefits those who are already in a high tax bracket from other income that they have. In that case it makes a good tax write off.
There are some of us and I feel the number is not small, who are trying desperately to earn a living and for various reasons need a flexible schedule. Our income at the end of the year is so small that the standard deduction more than wipes it out so we have no tax liability to write off any expenses to. So in our case that benefit doesn’t help us a bit.