How to earn money for going shopping
Today's Adventure in the Biz Opp Jungle:
'In which Charlie reveals his dislike of shopping, does some digging on the Retail Eyes opportunity.... and finds the REAL way to make money from mystery shopping.'
Hi,
Shopping.
I don't know about you, but for me it's one big
"ugh".
It's me staring into a changing room mirror as I
pull on a pair of trousers, thinking "Has my gut
really got that BIG?"
Who makes these gut-warping mirrors? Thin
sadists?
Or it's me being outrageously sold to by furniture
salesmen....
"Really, there's only one left in stock? And it's half
price? And you've got someone coming back to
buy it in the next 20 minutes? And it's the Rolls
Royce of sofas? And stain resistant too? I'll take
TEN."
Either that or shopping involves me waddling out
of a delicatessen with ONE cheese, a speciality
sausage.... and NO change from £20.
It's not for me. And if you're anything like me,
you'll completely AVOID the following business
opportunity.
Seriously. Stay at home. Put on the telly.
It's not for you either.
How to earn money by
going shopping
This week, one of my readers wanted to know
what I thought about a company called 'Retail
Eyes'.
They're a 'mystery shopping company'. This
means they offer you cash for going into shops
to check out the customer service.
If you haven't come across the idea of mystery
shopping before, let me explain...
The way it works is simple. A business owner
usually wants to know what's going on when
they're not around to check up on the staff.
They go to a mystery shopping company who will
recruit secret shoppers to visit the store and go
through the sales process.
This way, businesses can pinpoint their own
weaknesses and then fix them.
Traditionally, mystery shoppers are sent into
shops, supermarkets, garages, hairdressers,
restaurants, banks and building societies
Unlike most "work at home" offers, (data entry and
all that gubbins) you can make money from
mystery shopping.
They're not generally scams, but you can't expect
to make a whole lot of money without any effort.
Best to think of it as a way you can enjoy a free
meal and a few quid extra.
How much you could earn
Fees vary, but a respectable company should
offer you between £6.00 and £20.00, plus
expenses.
Depending on how many jobs you do, you could
earn anything from £10 to £500 a week.
There's that and a freebies, of course.
Like I say, if you enjoy shopping, you'll like it. If
you don't, then run a mile.
So what about Retail Eyes?
As for Retail Eyes, my reader asks:
"It seems well set up and if you go through the first
stage registration you can search you local area. In
my area there was 7 jobs available in 15 miles from
my home. What's the catch, If any...?"
Well, I haven't had any direct reader feedback
about Retail Eyes, so I scoured a load of
consumer websites... like the Martin Lewis money
site and others of that ilk.
From my investigations, it looks like Retail Eyes
are a legitimate Mystery Shopping company.
The idea is that they list assignments in your area
and you pick them from your website. You detail
your findings and relay your experiences.
On the plus side, two people have been quite
positive about their experience:
"They've had plenty work... sandwiches, opticians,
shops etc... but you have to be very quick to get
the more popular jobs."
And another online comment says:
"I've never had problems with them - everyone I've
ever spoken to has been lovely and helpful."
But there's a catch...
The big catch appears to be this: it's hard to get
enough work to make it worthwhile. And they're
not great at keeping you updated.
One review says:
"Assignments are getting less and less worth the
hassle as the deadlines for filling in the report get
tighter and tighter with more conditions...and all for
a measly fiver(and free meal. We have been sent
to mystery shop for meals in pubs that don't even
serve food!"
Another person complains:
"I have ticked the box asking for email updates
when jobs are available and have hardly ever had
any emails."
In my view, it could be worth giving these guys a
go. From a bit of research, more well-known is a
company called Storecheckers UK, based in
Manchester.
But whatever you do...
Heed these 4 mystery
shopping warnings
Bear these guidelines in min
- Avoid the MANY dodgy mystery
shopping sites. Check for a UK phone
number and a UK address.
- You should never have to pay to join a
company - they should be offering to pay you.
- Don't send any bank details until you've
verified the Mystery shopping company.
Many of these sites are 'phishing' sites -
bogus websites that are made to look like
the genuine company. This has certainly
been reported in the case of Retail Eyes.
- Avoid companies who give the job to
the person who offers the least amount
of money. They are merely exploiting their
clients.
In my fevered little biz opp mind, I've decided that
the best way to make money from mystery
shopping is this....
Set up your OWN mystery
shopping website
It's not a bad little idea at all. In the old days it
was a popular home business. I know Avril Harper
of eBay Confidential used to so this and write
good manuals about it.
You're essentially a broker. You go to businesses
and offering to help them solve their staff and
service problems.
At the same time you recruit willing shoppers
through a website and a bit of basic marketing.
You then send the shopper to the business for £5-
£10 and take your handsome share of what the
company pays you.
Or how about setting up a mystery
shoppers email newsletter?
Here's another, even more simple way to do this...
You could gather a list of people who love
mystery shopping and put them in touch with
reputable companies.
You could email your list twice a week with the
latest jobs, reviews of mystery shopping sites,
plus you can give them tips and advice you find
on the internet.
You'd get commission from these mystery
shopping companies, and all you'd have to do is
send out a few emails each week.
Or find a struggling mystery shopping website
and offer to do their email marketing for them -
using their list of email addresses. Then you take
a cut!
If that rocks your boat, check out The Inbox
Tycoon, which shows you how to set up an email
newsletter from scratch:
Blimey. I've even excited myself about this.
Perhaps I should look into it...
Later alligator,
Charlie Wright