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 Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2005 6:02 am |
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I've heard of people who have done it, getting paid to stay in a hotel. Sounds great to me, but I have searched far and wide for a company that does it and have come up empty. I already do a lot of mystery shopping but not one of the firms I am registered with does hotels as well. Can anyone help? Also getting paid to test drive cars, I know it does happen but which are the legit sites? I'm in the UK as well so USA only ones are no good unfortunately.
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| Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2005 8:13 am |
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I do it all the time, but I'm not really sure about the UK. In fact, my husband and I will be staying at an Amerisuites this coming Sunday night--8 miles from home, bringing the grandkids for swimming and enjoying the "bountiful breakfast" in the morning, and then hitting the bike trail close by for a 20 mile ride.
We will be reimbursed for our stay directly to my "paypal" account that I use for shopping on e-bay, plus paid $20 to boot, for filling out their forms, about 100 questions that you just mark "yes, no, or n/a". Reimbursement does take a few weeks, but I've always received reimbursement.
There are actually companies who CHARGE you for their listing of the various mystery shopping companies. DON'T PAY THEM! You can go to the volition website on your own and just scroll through and sign up at the mystery shopping company(ies) of your choice--there's over a 100 different ones to choose from and sign up is free. I believe that all of the mystery shopping companies on the volition website are completely legit. After signing up, you will receive e-mails with various offers for mystery shopping in your area. Get yourself a free e-mail box at hotmail or yahoo just for receiving these e-mails so you won't confuse them with personal or other business e-mail. I have about 5 free e-mail accounts that I use for various purposes, one for personal, one for business, one for shopping on e-bay, one for mystery shopping and one for "junk" mail that I don't even bother checking. (some sites make you provide an e-mail address just to view their forums, and then bombard you with all kinds of "junk" e-mail--so I just give them a "junk" e-mail box to send it all to!)
My husband and I do all kinds of "mystery shopping"--hotels, restaurants, jewelry stores, building contractors, etc., but don't look for mystery shopping to replace your job! Payment has ranged so far from $10 to $50 per assignment, and I've gotten paid every time, plus full reimbursement for the actual invoice of whatever they have asked me to purchase. When "mystery shopping" at restaurants, they will reimburse for 2 meals, and also usually require you buy a full meal, and dessert. You have to follow their rules precisely though or you won't get paid and they will disqualify you from future assignments.
When assignments are available in your area, they e-mail you and it is at your option to accept, decline, or just ignore. If you accept, just be sure you can follow through, you don't get penalized for declining any offers--they really want you to only accept assignments you can complete.
We really LOVE mystery shopping and getting PAID to voice our opinions to the real decision makers of various service and retail providers in our area. We feel this provides us with an opportunity to make a real difference in our community. I think we enjoy the "mini vacations" we receive by accepting hotel mystery shopping the best, and I bring along my laptop and complete the assignment, filling out all the forms and submitting them on-line before even leaving the hotel.
One recommendation though--for tax purposes. Make sure you keep all receipts, and a diary of all your expenses--in particular, car mileage, for tax purposes. Mystery shoppers are paid on an "independent contractor" basis, and you will be sent a 1099 tax form if you are paid over $600 by any one "mystery shopping" company. The company reports the amount paid on the 1099 to the IRS, and you will be taxed, but can deduct all direct expenses from payments received. So if you were paid $700 for hotel stays, you will receive a 1099 in the amount of $700, but on your tax return you can then deduct, say $600 for the hotel invoices, $50 for your gas mileage, $3 for tolls...reducing your actual tax liability to $47, instead of $700.
I don't know how this is taxed in the UK, but make sure you understand the tax rules in your country before accepting any assignments. Here in the US, if you just perform a few mystery shopping assignments and are paid under the $600 tax limit, then you don't have to worry about the tax ramifications.
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