Any experience as mystery shoppers (Bestmark)?

[JeenLeen]

A former co-worker of mine is looking at working for Bestmark, a mystery shopper company (USA). I'm potentially interested as well. Does anyone have any experience with this company or other similar ones?

It looks like Bestmark is legit and not a scam. My former co-worker mentioned they are recognized by (or whatever the proper term is) the Better Business Bureau. There is an FAQ on their webpage (http://www.bestmark.com/scam_alert.htm) about some scams pretending to be Bestmark, but from what I've seen so far they seem legit.

Even if it just brings in a few bucks and covers some good dinner dates for my wife & me, that could be nice. Better if some good money and/or useful stuff to buy and get reimbursed for. I've had to handle surveys at work, so I think I'd be decent at filling out the surveys they require.

[Fri]

Cracked had an article about being mystery shopper once. Might be relevant to you, might be not.

http://www.cracked.com/personal-experiences-2242-i-spy-you-at-work-4-mystery-shopper-realities.html

(and part of this article, check number 4)
http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-terrible-jobs-anyone-can-and-no-one-should-do/

It's cracked, so take it what you will.

[Grek]

I've done it before and ultimately you end up working for way less than minimum wage, as your travel times aren't compensated. Also, don't use it for dates. They're nowhere near as fun as a regular date, because you're focused on work instead of on the person you're with.

Wouldn't personally recommend.

[NePb]

Also, don't use it for dates. They're nowhere near as fun as a regular date, because you're focused on work instead of on the person you're with.



That sounds like a story and a half.

[Stan]

My wife did it some but has mostly stopped. It's cool to get free (if you don't count the labor) stuff on occasion, but it would be hard to do as a job. For some, mostly restaurants, you need to get multiple times, so get watch that will do multiple counts. She did mostly ones with reimbursements, not payments. Keep receipts - if your income from a source is less than a certain amount, I think you don't have to list it on your taxes ($600 maybe? don't trust me on this). Get names when you can.

You have to do a few to get the better shops, but don't be afraid to be picky. There are people whose job it is to make sure all the shops are filled, they will pressure to take jobs and they are often ignorant of your local geography and might try to get you to do ones an hour away. If you're on the fence, they might offer bonuses.

We've had several upscale dining experiences (bill for 2 >$100) covered by an hour writing a report. But most of the nice ones, you can do only 1-2 a year so the staff don't figure it out. They're actually fine for dates as most of the stuff you need is a the beginning. But read the report before you go so you know what to remember.

In addition to Bestmark, you can try the following, browse and see what types of things they have in your area:

volition
service connections
Ann Michaels
ICU Associates.