Post by "Pop" Stran on Mar 6, 2005 0:28:34 GMT -5
There is a very common marketing con running around the web, wherein you are promised massive amounts of easy cash as a mystery shopper.
The first real truth is that over 98% of these offers are followed by the requirement that you pay a "registration fee" to prove your sincerity...and this is in itself a scam.
The companies that are hiring mystery shoppers* do NOT require any fees; The registration cost is in fact an information fee, meaning that you are simply paying someone for some research that you could do yourself.
* YES: The job really does exist. While it's not quite as simple or glamorous as the info-resellers make it sound, it is a valid sideline for extra income.
A few other important revelations are as follows:
LIE: "I shop my favorite stores, with free money, and get paid cash for doing it!"
Truth:
1. The hiring companies don't care where you prefer to shop. They are the corporate wing of a chain (or were hired by one to find mystery shoppers), and they want their own stores shopped. You don't get to choose where.
2. The money you spend comes out of your pocket, and will be reimbursed at payment. The amount is almost always very small, so while you do get to keep the purchase, it's never going to be something expensive.
3. As an independent, you are subject to the company's billing cycles.
This means that if the hiring company invoices in 30 day cycles (as most do), then the $20 job you did on the 1st of this month won't be paid for up to 60 days...and never in cash.
Many hiring companies today prefer Paypal, and a few still send paper checks.
LIE: "Your registration fee of only $29 entitles you to the elite status of, and full access to, our group of professional secret shoppers".
Truth: For your hard-earned and harder to spare thirty bucks, you get the address of a messageboard like this one.
Nine times out of ten, it's run and fed by one person who found a few links to hiring companies. She may also toss you a few bones of advice, but for the most part it's all useless crap.
Because she is leaning on the profession of mystery shopper for income, she's slowly starving...and now she's hoping to dupe as many others as possible into buying her stale research.
BTW: My first attempt to dig up this info being sold lasted a total of 3 minutes. I found dozens of companies offering mystery shopper jobs on the first try...and not one asks for more from you than a registration as an independent.
This entails a simple contract, wherein you promise to fulfill the requirements of each assignment in a timely manner.
This is a standard agreement, and I have used it many times as an independent contractor.
The first real truth is that over 98% of these offers are followed by the requirement that you pay a "registration fee" to prove your sincerity...and this is in itself a scam.
The companies that are hiring mystery shoppers* do NOT require any fees; The registration cost is in fact an information fee, meaning that you are simply paying someone for some research that you could do yourself.
* YES: The job really does exist. While it's not quite as simple or glamorous as the info-resellers make it sound, it is a valid sideline for extra income.
A few other important revelations are as follows:
LIE: "I shop my favorite stores, with free money, and get paid cash for doing it!"
Truth:
1. The hiring companies don't care where you prefer to shop. They are the corporate wing of a chain (or were hired by one to find mystery shoppers), and they want their own stores shopped. You don't get to choose where.
2. The money you spend comes out of your pocket, and will be reimbursed at payment. The amount is almost always very small, so while you do get to keep the purchase, it's never going to be something expensive.
3. As an independent, you are subject to the company's billing cycles.
This means that if the hiring company invoices in 30 day cycles (as most do), then the $20 job you did on the 1st of this month won't be paid for up to 60 days...and never in cash.
Many hiring companies today prefer Paypal, and a few still send paper checks.
LIE: "Your registration fee of only $29 entitles you to the elite status of, and full access to, our group of professional secret shoppers".
Truth: For your hard-earned and harder to spare thirty bucks, you get the address of a messageboard like this one.
Nine times out of ten, it's run and fed by one person who found a few links to hiring companies. She may also toss you a few bones of advice, but for the most part it's all useless crap.
Because she is leaning on the profession of mystery shopper for income, she's slowly starving...and now she's hoping to dupe as many others as possible into buying her stale research.
BTW: My first attempt to dig up this info being sold lasted a total of 3 minutes. I found dozens of companies offering mystery shopper jobs on the first try...and not one asks for more from you than a registration as an independent.
This entails a simple contract, wherein you promise to fulfill the requirements of each assignment in a timely manner.
This is a standard agreement, and I have used it many times as an independent contractor.