It’s 4pm and you just remembered you have a shop scheduled to be done before 5pm on the other side of town. You do not have the printout of the job description and now you do not even have time to go home and print it out. Frazzled, you race across town in a mad dash to the store, darting in and out of increasingly heavy traffic as rush hour approaches.
Mystery shopping is a job that most of us signed up for because to some degree we enjoy shopping. There is absolutely nothing enjoyable about racing to the other side of town, trying to beat a clock, and then feeling absolutely lost as to the nature of the assignment once you get there. Being prepared and better organized will help you to enjoy this wonderful job you signed up for.
Mark your calendars! Keep a calendar by your desk, and as soon as you sign up for a shop, mark it down on your calendar. Write the location and time of the shop, as well as the mystery shopping company the shop is for. Not only will you have a quick reference tool to keep track of the jobs you need to do on any given day, but it will also keep you from over-committing. If you have 3 or 4 shops that need to be done on any given day, as well as some personal commitments, you may want to think twice before requesting another shop that needs to be done on that day.
Scout’s motto. By following the scout’s motto of “be prepared”, you will make your shops a lot less hectic and in the end more enjoyable. Every day or two, check back to that calendar on your desk and see which shops are fast-approaching. Luckily, you wrote down the company name for the shop you signed up for and can quickly log on to their website and print out the required paperwork. Take note of any special requirements of the job, such as business casual attire or the need to shop with a spouse.
On the day of the shop, review all of the shop requirements again for that shop and be sure you understand the requirements and what specific things you need to look for during the shop. Visually walk through your shop in your head, especially if you are required to wait so many minutes before approaching a salesperson or so on. If you need to ensure displays are set up appropriately or other such specific details, it is advisable to once again review the shop details and even display pictures in your materials one more time before entering the store. Remember, never bring your shop print-out materials into the store with you!
As soon as you get back to the store, make whatever notes you need to in order to accurately remember the required details of the shop. Some shoppers are even known to complete the questionnaire right there in the store parking lot (provided the salespeople cannot see you) and then enter the information online once they return home.
File it away! At home, set up a file system to keep your receipts and other information on completed jobs in a safe place. In the event you get audited by the IRS, you will need to have proof of your required purchases and other shop details on hand. If you are a casual shopper, you may just need one file folder. If you do a lot of shops, it may be easier to set up a file system with a separate file folder for each mystery shopping company you do business with.
It is highly advisable to set up an accounts receivable ledger on your computer also. Each time you do a shop, just enter into a spreadsheet the description of the shop, date the report was filed, and the amount of money due to you. When that money comes in, mark that item as “paid”. You can keep a running log of your income, and will be able to quickly see how much money is due to you at any given time. You can also very easily see if a mystery shopping company is late in paying you and may need a courtesy call or email from you to check on the status of that payment. Taking these extra few minutes with each shop will save you a lot of time down the road.
Some of these steps may same tedious, but keeping on top of your shops on a regular basis and staying organized will make you a less stressed and more satisfied mystery shopper.
I can agree to being organized. The last statement is so true.
Just another FYI keep your camera handy and have extra batteries available at all times. It never fails they die in a middle of a shop.
I use different colored pens to write in assignments on my calendar so I will know which company it is from. It saves space on my calendar yet still gives me the information I need.
Boy, did I learn the hard way when I first started. I was swamped with assignments within days of starting to mystery shop. To make matters worse, I really wasn’t sure what I needed to keep track of. Through trial and error, I have devised my own filing system, and made my own cover sheet for each job. I also have a system of tracking companies I’ve registered with and my status with them. I’ve tried several online calendars, but still prefer a paper one at my desk. I am using a great spreadsheet called SHOP SHEET to track pending jobs (Mystery shops AND merchandising “gigs), income and expenses. It is available here by request: shopsheet@juno.com. The author, Gary, is very helpful and has done a fabulous job creating a resource that will keep you organized AND provide all the information you need for tax time.
I use Windows Live to do all of my tracking… from the scheduling to the paperwork (guidelines, blank forms, completed reports, notes, and scanned images) to a tracking list of the payments and the $$ spent performing the shops.
I also have a seperate ‘cash’ account in Quicken and categorize all of the deposits and expenses there through a ‘mystery shopping’ category.
At the end of the tax year I send it all into Turbo Tax and cross check with the list on Live.com.
I’m still not as organized as I would like to be in handling the guidlelines and the notes and that does lead to the rare flake (I was scheduled to complete that when???)
But I have the tax thing down now!
I created a spread sheet in Excel where, each month as the shops are assigned, I write the details of each shop (date, client, shop, amount pd., amount reimbursed, any special details, etc) as a line entry. I sort by date due and then cut and paste just the names, date due and special details if needed and print out 2 sets of this abbreviated list in tiny 8 pt font, line for line. I usually have from 18 to 25 shops per month. I cut these little strips out and paste 1 set on my desk calendar and the other set in my day timer in my purse. By putting them in with paste, if I have to move one shop to another day and the deadline date is there, it is a simple matter. This whole process takes only a few minutes but has greatly reduced my feeling unprepared throughout the busy month.
If one requires a detailed report, I print out that report and leave it in my car in my Shop Folder, just in case . . . and I carry a 3″ x 5″ notebook where the other notes are immediately jotted down, and the appropriate receipts are attached for future reports as I complete the shops.
Another thing, I scan all receipts and file them digitally, since the paper ones fade away. I keep a pdf file of every shop report (by client and date), as a back up as needed and file them on a disk at the end of each year. I’ve never had to refer to these back ups, but they are there in any event.
These are all really great ideas. My major concern is all the tax stuff. Should I hire an accountant to keep up with all of this stuff or I can do this on my own. If so how? I don’t know the tax laws and I am really afraid of not having my ducks in a row when it comes to the IRS. Any feedback provided would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Nancy
I don’t know about a account but I learned the hard way last year about the self-employment tax .In 4 months I only made $3795 last year but I have to pay taxes of $150 plus $105 since I have to make payments . I was not knowledgeable about the laws either.I thought it was like the normal tax laws and you could earn $6000 before you had to start worrying about paying taxes.I would say you put $30 each month in a saving account.But H&R Block can also provide advice about how much to set aside each month.
Nancy Babyak,
On May 20th you mentioned Windows Live. I found many but can’t seem to find the right one. Can you provide more details for Windows Live?
Thank you.
I was wondering if anybody has a copy of their spreadsheet that I could get a copy of so I can be more organized all in 1 place instead of different files?
Thanks
I still don’t understand how you would pay for the things you purchase or at a restaurant. Do you pay for everything yourself and get reimbursed? That’s what worries me. Also, I’ve been reading several comments about what people do for taxes. It sounds like you’re self-employed and need to pay quarterly taxes. That’s sound like too much trouble to me. I’m not sure it would be worth it.
I have read all of your notes.altho I have
not done any shops as of yet I find all of
them helpful and hope to put them to use
thank you.
All of this information is so helpful as an ‘almost’ new shopper. My question is the same as the person above – I’m not quite sure about the tax angle. Can you deduct all of your mileage for shopping?
I went on one shop an did things wrong.I still have not been paid.
trying to get starded.
thankes
going through each article to see what to do.
thanks
I am a new shopper and like so many of you I am trying to get everything together before I jump into this. Alot of the concerns of others are the same as mine. Where do I find these answers. I also would like a copy of someones spread sheet so I can get an idea of what it should look like. I will check out the website shopsheet@juno.com, so thank you Valarie for that information.
Thank you for all the advise. I have only been shopping for a month now and I am loving it. At first I was spending 12 or more hours a day signing up for companies and looking for work. Now I only spend about 3 hours lining up jobs for 2 weeks from now. I too keep a calendar on my desk and I agree you MUST put the name of the company along with the job. I actually do the same type of shop for 2 different companies and it’s too easy to get things mixed up or lost if you’re not organized. I thank you for all the tax advise too! I have a feeling that is going to be priceless information at the end of the year.
I would like to thank Kim for giving me this referral. I can’t wait to get started. I am waiting on my first assignment and with these tips I know I will be an expert in no time.