Thursday, 5 November 2015

Read about how I went out shopping and came home with more money than I started with!

It's strange sometimes the way mystery shops fall. It's been ages since I did any home improvement store visits then there's two in the same day. Add in a clothing concession in a department store and a coffee shop for lunch and it's a day for generating income rather than gathering free stuff. Let me explain-



Mystery shop 1 is about checking product availability and staff knowledge. I had to check stock levels of certain products before asking someone a question relating to a home improvement problem. The response should have directed me to certain products as a solution.

Fee = £6.00
Reimbursement = £1.00
Spend = £1.55
Profit/Loss = +£4.45

The second shop was a similar home improvement visit. However this one ran a little differently. I was to browse for ten minutes to see if I was approached by a store colleague. On this occasion I want approached, so the mystery shop company required me to make a small purchase and leave. It felt unsatisfactory but those were the instructions.

Fee = £5.00
Reimbursement = £1.00
Spend = £1.30
Profit/Loss = +£4.70

And the third one was the clothing concession, and a rare thing with UK mystery shopping companies - the ability to take the item back for a refund! This is usually frowned upon by mystery shopping companies. They go to all sorts of lengths to warn you against refunding the items you've bought. But with this shop I can take the item back for a full refund any time between 30 minutes and 28 days after my purchase. It means that the whole fee comes in as cash.

Fee = £0
Reimbursement = £12.00
Spend = £20.00
Profit/Loss = +£12.00 (as I will return the item for a full refund)

The final mystery shop was a franchise operation of a massive coffee shop. It was to make a basic purchase and to see if the team member upsold me to any further purchases. It's a basic enquiry and the fee almost covered lunch for two. Not a bad end to a morning of shopping!

Fee = £6.00
Reimbursement = £6.00
Spend = £13.65
Profit/Loss = -£1.65

TOTAL = +£19.50 + a tester pot of paint, 2 tiles and lunch for 2

It's by having these days where you gain money but little free goods that can balance out your mystery shop account. All-in-all, from the preparation, the travel, the conducting of the shops and completing the reports, I probably spent 4 hours on this.

If our are interested in mystery shopping then my Amazon Kindle book is a good point to get started at. It shows you step by step how to apply to become a mystery shopper and then how to complete shops like those above-


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