One of the biggest complaints many mystery shoppers share is how long it takes to get paid on their assignments. With some providers, you can complete an assignment today and not see your compensation for several weeks or even for a month or two. This not only makes it difficult for busy mystery shoppers to keep track of money that is owed to them, but it also can create a cash crunch for mystery shoppers who are waiting for their money to come in. So just how can you get paid just a little faster as a mystery shopper? Here are some options to consider:
Check Payment Options Available
If you have been mystery shopping for more than few years, your payment status with various providers may be set to receive checks by mail. This is often the slowest method of payment because it involves waiting for a provider to print checks and waiting for the mail service to deliver them. This is, of course, on top of the normal internal payment process that every provider has. You can circumvent the time-consuming aspect of getting your checks by “snail mail” by updating your payment method. Many providers today make use of PayPal or another similar service for payment.
Submit Reports Once
If your reports often come back to you for editing and revisions, you may be the source of your payment issues. Providers will not process your payment until your report has been approved, and so you first want to take steps to eliminate the need for revisions. Proof read your reports carefully before submitting them. You can also minimize the time aspect of revisions by making them a priority. As soon as you receive notice that you have a revision needed on a report, drop other things you are doing and respond to the revision request. As soon as you submit your revised report back to the provider, you will be able to get it back in the queue for payment processing.
Switch Providers
Of course, poorly written reports or reports riddled with inconsistencies are not the only reason reports are returned for revisions. You only have to visit the mystery shopping forums online a time or two to read stories about providers who keep asking their mystery shoppers for unnecessary revisions. In some cases, the revisions being requested would actually be fraudulent statements. If your provider regularly asks you to make revisions to your reports that you find unnecessary and that you believe are a waste of time, do not hesitate to stop working with a provider. This process simply requires you to stop accepting new assignments from them. Then you can sign up to work with a new provider without missing a beat.
It may seem like how fast you get paid as a mystery shopper is beyond your control. However, these are some of the things that you can do to help speed up your payments.