Making extra money doing focus groups, mystery shopping, etc.

[femmenoire]

I have put a few of my friends on to some of the companies that I do mystery shopping, research studies, taste tests, mock juries and focus groups.

Many people think they have to pay money to get this information but that couldn't be farther from the truth.

I have done them all and have gotten paid anywhere from $15 - $300 bucks.
Some companies pay in cash, some write a check and with some mystery shops some reimburse you via Paypal.

So I'm going to list companies that I know have offices pretty much anywhere that you can visit their website and log on. Please keep in mind that for research studies, mock juries, taste tests and focus groups, companies are often looking for specific demographics to test on various things. You may not always qualify.

Research companies:

www.focusgroup.com

www.plazaresearch.com

www.hagensinclair.com

www.schlesingerassociates.com

www.panelintelligence.com

http://www.q-insights.com/respondent.html

http://www.fieldwork.com/

Mystery Shopping companies:

https://www.mysteryshopinc.com/shopper.asp

http://www.kernscheduling.com/shoppers/code.php

https://www.sassieshop.com/sassie/SassieShopperSignup/Signup.php?EmsID=OTWjtdM+sxk=

http://www.a-closer-look.com/

www.bestmark.com

http://www.customer-1st.com/shopper/default.asp

http://www.focusonservice.com/

http://www.franchisecompliance.com/

http://www.mysteryguestinc.com/MGI/

http://www.mystiqueshopper.com/

http://www.sensusresearch.com/

There are some companies that are just in Atlanta for those who live here too that you can try.

http://www.pvr-research.com/page/signup.aspx

www.userinsight.com

www.cksurveys.com


You can also check your local listings on www.craigslist.org in the ETC section.
Please be leery of any company that requests money or doesn't have a website for you to register with.


Anyway, hope this helps. Nice to get a little something extra and have fun while doing it!

 

[Built4Life]

Thanks

 

[krunkwerks]

excellent post

 

[Izayoi]

Great info! I've always wanted to mystery shop.

 

[bigirl]

Great info! I've always wanted to mystery shop.

what is that?

 

[femmenoire]

what is that?

You shop and give a grade later on about the service, quality of products, etc. Some you have to reveal to the manager but for the most part they are done in hiding or mysteriously.

It's how companies check on their staff and store locations.

 

[bigirl]

You shop and give a grade later on about the service, quality of products, etc. Some you have to reveal to the manager but for the most part they are done in hiding or mysteriously.

It's how companies check on their staff and store locations.

oh so they pay you to shop and you get free stuff?

 

[femmenoire]

oh so they pay you to shop and you get free stuff?

In a way. Like, I did one for Dave & Buster's last year. It was a 2 part deal. Alcohol compliance and customer service.

They wanted me to bring a friend and order 2 drinks at the bar and see if the bartender would check my id and be sure he was charging accordingly.

Then we had to have dinner.

You have to make mental notes of everything including time you were served, time you arrived, time a waitress took your order, did he/she refill your drinks, was the menu explained, did the manager come and talk to you, etc. They generally ask that you even visit the restrooms and suggest you quickly jot down notes there so you don't forget.

Then when you get home, you go online and complete the shopper questionnaire.

1-2 weeks later you are reimbursed for whatever you spend. Some companies pay 2-25 bucks on top of that.

In that case I spent about 100 and got 150 back in a check.

 

[bigirl]

In a way. Like, I did one for Dave & Buster's last year. It was a 2 part deal. Alcohol compliance and customer service.

They wanted me to bring a friend and order 2 drinks at the bar and see if the bartender would check my id and be sure he was charging accordingly.

Then we had to have dinner.

You have to make mental notes of everything including time you were served, time you arrived, time a waitress took your order, did he/she refill your drinks, was the menu explained, did the manager come and talk to you, etc. They generally ask that you even visit the restrooms and suggest you quickly jot down notes there so you don't forget.

Then when you get home, you go online and complete the shopper questionnaire.

1-2 weeks later you are reimbursed for whatever you spend. Some companies pay 2-25 bucks on top of that.

In that case I spent about 100 and got 150 back in a check.

OK. Thanks for explaining. As far as I am concerned fuck that. You gotta lay out the $ for a multinational corporation 1-2 weeks in advance and you only get back 50 max on top? Does not compute for me.

 

[femmenoire]

OK. Thanks for explaining. As far as I am concerned fuck that. You gotta lay out the $ for a multinational corporation 1-2 weeks in advance and you only get back 50 max on top? Does not compute for me.

Well I like to eat out. My best friend and I had a blast.

But like I said there are other things like mock juries, research studies and taste tests.

I got 300 bucks to do a mock jury on a real case presented by real lawyers. It was kind of sad and they had graphic materials to present but it helped the plaintiff decide whether or not they should pursue the matter in court.

 

[thetonystarks]

Man...that sounds good! I could always use some extra money.

 

[bigirl]

Well I like to eat out. My best friend and I had a blast.

But like I said there are other things like mock juries, research studies and taste tests.

I got 300 bucks to do a mock jury on a real case presented by real lawyers. It was kind of sad and they had graphic materials to present but it helped the plaintiff decide whether or not they should pursue the matter in court.

that jury one sounds a little better.

 

[femmenoire]

The best company in my opinion is Hagen-Sinclair.

They do interactive online studies so you don't even have to leave your house. You may have to get on a conference call while doing your survey but that's not all the time. It depends on the company requesting the research.

After completion you get your check in a week.

I did one with them browsing the yellowpages.com's new web page. It was fun and only took an hour. Got $175 for that one.

 

[Adam Knows]

sprint hires secret shoppers as well.

 

[Cleopatra_J]

I always see the ads for mystery shoppers in the University paper, but I never applied. I tried to get my friend to do it though. I def. think I'm going to check this stuff out, because my part-time isn't where its at!!

 

[femmenoire]

sprint hires secret shoppers as well.

Yeah I've done research studies for them and Verizon. Especially for their websites.

 

[mcguyver]

Femme would you mind elaborating on the process. What happens after you sign up?

 

[itzmotto]

good drop

 

[femmenoire]

Femme would you mind elaborating on the process. What happens after you sign up?

You'll get emails asking if you want to participate in a study or shop and you'll get the details. Some have sex, age, race requirements and some require that you eat certain foods, smoke, drink, etc.

Depends on the company.

If a cell phone company wants to do research most likely, they would want you to have a cell phone.

If there is a study on newborns, most likely you will need to have a newborn to qualify.

I've gotten financial institution studies and sometimes they want you to bank with the specific institution trying to gather research and sometimes they don't want you to. It depends on what information they are trying to gather.

 

[mcguyver]

I was just wondering if you sign up whether i would be drowning in junk mail and spam.

 

[femmenoire]

I was just wondering if you sign up whether i would be drowning in junk mail and spam.

If emails bother you that much you probably don't want to sign up.

All I do is create a separate folder for those emails.

 

[mcguyver]

If emails bother you that much you probably don't want to sign up.

All I do is create a separate folder for those emails.

Only the junk mail and spam bothers me.

 

[BLK FIRE!!!]

Good look baby! Brotha can always use an extra buck or 2

 

[femmenoire]

Bump!

 

[mcguyver]

Make a sticky outta this Femme.

 

[femmenoire]

Make a sticky outta this Femme.

I was thinking about doing that but we got like 4 stickies.

I should because I get new emails all the time from new companies.

I'll see how this fares in terms of views first.

 

[BigATLslim]

I really don't want to disrupt this thread but I have something that will definitely help every woman on this board that is in this thread. Log on here www.virtualskyline.com, there is a movie that is 15 minutes tops that explains how you can stay home, do what you are already doing and realistically come up.

 

[laroca]

do they have one for international femme I live abroad but it seems like all of them, its for the mainland... I live in Guam and I travel around europe and U.S sometimes... I want to do that but I am not aware any for international customers

 

[CybaCipha]

good deal femme. I used to do mystery shops all the time at radio shack, car dealerships and fast food places. I don't have long lunch hours anymore so the lunch ones are out. Free lunch at least once or twice a week was awesome for me at the time!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't fucks with fast food anymore though. Car shops were great cause you get to "play" with a new vehicle without having to buy anything. I used to get 75 - 100 for those.

 

[cooliojones]

Wow...last post was about a year ago? These are tried-and-true solutions to coming up, and most of us are still trying to take the lazy way out.

Thanks femme for posting this. I wish I has checked it out when you first posted it. I'd definitely gonna check into those research studies, I did one a year ago and got $450, but haven't found or done one since. Started Mystery Shopping in October, I love it!! I want to combine as many of these as possible to make some good P/T income.

Also I heard about being a court researcher, you can make some dough. Good looking out, and this serves as a BUMP for those who are serious about making 2009 a real year to remember!

 

[DeSiRe]

focus groups are the truth

u get $100 or more for expressing your opinion for a hour

all you have to do is call to get registered in the database and they will call you if they think you quality

lemme suggest you make friends with the person u speak with...ask if its ok to call them ocassionally to see if they have any groups to put you in

you will help them get thier quota and you get paid

 

[Andeyhollawho]

I like money.

So I'm in!

 

[SuchATease]

Damn why didn't I see this sooner!! I'm def. going to hit up all those websites and post my thoughts...