Has anyone try to do mystery shopper job?
Is it worth to do? which company do you work for?
If you have full time job at the moment, how this extra job affect your tax?
Thank you !
Mystery shopper
redlover on 11/06/2014 - 15:05
Comments
U r taxed on ur mystery shopping income if it is over a certain amount, regardless of whether u have a FT job.
I had a go at this some years ago. Filling out the on line report was really time consuming each time and for the first few times I did it, I worked that I had earned a $1 an hour for the preparation, the visit (plus my petrol), and filling in the on line report. I did a few more at the local shops and it was just not worth it. Plus, I then felt a bit uncomfortable about going back to the shops I had visited.
Can't rememberer who it was for, I just googled it and emailed a few.
I don't think its worth it. You have to go into the store and assess everything, it doesn't feel natural (eg. Timing how long you wait in line and until you get your food at maccas)
i have worked and IMO its not worthit as they pay you $20 for a job (includes preparation + filing the report + submitting it ) and somwtimes the criteria is to buy petrol for $20 and you get paid $20.
You get a script to follow right from the time at home you phone up and note the store how they answer the phone, how many rings, then you say have they got this (exact) pair of sunglasses, ask them their hours, go to the store etc etc there's pages of script that you're supposed to remember all the time trying to pretend to be a normal customer.
I remember one time I had to go to a hardware store and go to the x section and ask about x. This young guy had his sunglasses on top of his head and really didn't want to talk to me. Anyway, they are always trying to make sure that you actually did the job and didn't make up the answers - the onus is on you to 'prove it'.
They rang me up, (the only time the employer actually spoke to me) and asked what I thought the reason was he had his sunglasses on his head. I said I thought it was because he thought he was way too cool to be working at the hardware store(?)
Even Alex Perry had to start somewhere.
I used to do it a lot when I was working casually, I still do some now and then. It generally pays fairly poorly and you get paid for the task not for how long it takes. You log in online and print off the task and question, etc that you need to ask and get answers for. You need a fairly good memory as you cant write anything down whilst doing the mystery shop. Once completed you answer all the questions, again, online. You get paid into your bank account in the weeks/month after. I doubt you earn enough to worry about however it is taxable income. I am with www.hoed.com.au
What is more lucrative and less work is as a respondent in focus groups, they pay around $80 for 2 hours and they call the money expense reimbursement" so no declaration necessary. The downside is you can only complete once every six months or so.
Who does focus group work?
Stable Research is one company I am a member of.
But as pointed out by others, you cannot get many of these jobs. They usually screen you out if you have done one in the previous 12 months, and even if that was for another company other than Stable Research.
I've done a couple of focus groups, one about Victorian public transport, another on Men's health and wellbeing, and another some years ago for The Age newspaper, which I think now was the precursor to taking the papers to tabloid format, as we got to see trial tabloid versions of the paper long before it ever happened.
There is also a market research company with their office at Chadstone Shopping Centre (name escapes me right now), but they have a product testing lab there. Or maybe used to, as I have not had an invitation for quite a long time now. I did a few tests over the years, baked beans was one, got $75 for that. Also did one for frozen yoghurt and another for ice cream I think.
Also, check w' any local Unis as they sometimes want to ask you questions about something or another and pay a bit.
Slave wages
It is hardly worth it. I do it, but you don't get much more than a free meal or $10-$15 of fuel out of it. Surveys take a while to complete and you have to be accurate.
Gapbuster invites you to take certification for service station and supermarket audits which pay you an hourly rate which is a bit better but still the work is random and you have to speak to store manager, wear a safety vest and watch out for traffic if doing service station audit etc. Focus groups/market research is great though you get $80+ for 1-2 hours of your time and its very easy - taste product, say if you like it etc. Sign up with lots of companies and you can probably do one or two of these a week.what happen if you pick up a job and didn't do it ?
you try it a few times they suspend account. poor labor money
Are you allowed to pick and choose which assignments you want to do?
Yes
Yes, I did mystery shopping for a spell and it was quite interesting but poorly paid. Once you take into account your travel time, your time in-store and then your time report writing, you will be lucky to earn more about $8 per hour. And the earnings are taxable and must be declared to the ATO. It is possible though to claim all your KMs as a tax deduction, which negates any tax you may have been liable to pay and may even reduce your tax on other income!
Some of the jobs were for a liquor chain and I ended up with endless bottles of wine…….
I would like to apply for it too…HOW?