Mystery Shopping Pay For Leads Sites (Ask The Coach)

Question:

Do you think it's helpful to sign up with one of those web sites where you pay to find out about assignments? Are they a scam?

Answer From Coach Melanie:

First of all, it is never an absolute necessity to sign up with what I call the “pay for leads” sites. There are plenty of assignments available to shoppers by making the right connections with schedulers and companies who have active shopper needs.

You also need to be careful because there are many sites that are either scams or are just not a big enough resource to be worth paying for their leads. Plus, there are no guarantees that you will actually get the assignment as the lead is not exclusive to you.

I actually kicked the tires and did a 60 day test a well-known “pay for leads” services where I monitored every single day what kinds of assignments I was offered, how much they paid and projected the annual potential for earnings versus the outlay to be a site member. These findings are available as a special report called “The HireAShopper.com Experience: The Test Results, Pros & Cons” for a nominal fee from my web site at
http://www.mysteryshoppercoach.com/books.html.

Overall, I believe a couple of the top such sites have value for certain shoppers, but they are definitely not for everyone—-especially if you live in a small area. Plus, since some of them are getting quite pricey, I believe they price themselves out of their usefulness.

The best tactic for finding mystery shopper or merchandiser work is always to do what every independent contractor and self-employed person does, regardless of their field--learn to make contacts and network in the right places, and make an effort to market yourself to stand out from the crowd wherever possible. That's how you reliably generate business for yourself on an ongoing basis without incurring upfront costs.

Have a great day and happy shopping!

“Taking the mystery out of professional mystery shopping”—Melanie Jordan
http://www.mysteryshoppercoach.com

Copyright 2005 Melanie R. Jordan E-Publishing