Guest Post: 3 Ways to Make Money this Month!
Guest Post By Nicole from Nicole’s Nickels:
I am going to be writing a monthly guest post for Collin called “3 Ways You Can Make Money This Month”. Each month, I’ll highlight one survey company, one mystery shopping company, and one online offer you can do to make some money! If I find any other interesting (and legit!) ways I’ll be sure to share them as well!
1. Surveys
I have guest posted for Collin about surveys before and I know many of you are enjoying the extra income you are able to make each month. In order to really start earning some money, you’ll need to be signed up with as many survey companies as possible. Many times you will disqualify from surveys because of your demographic and so the more opportunities you get, the more likely you will be to qualify for some of them – that’s how statistics work, right?
Remember to use a separate email address for the survey sign-ups. That way, you can log on at your leisure to do surveys when you want to and not feel overwhelmed by an overflowing inbox!
This month’s great and legit survey company is Lightspeed Research.
I have been with Lightspeed for almost 2 years and have cashed out several times for money via Paypal. They do have other ways to redeem points if you’re not into Paypal for some reason. I receive approximately 1 survey from Lightspeed per day and find the compensation to be fair for the time involved.
2. Mystery Shopping
If you’re new to mystery shopping, you’ll want to read my Mystery Shopping 101 post.
Mystery shopping is an excellent way to supplement my income and I regularly am able to go out to nice lunches and dinners for FREE because of it. All you need to be a good mystery shopper is a computer, a scanner, responsibility and organization. Just about every company is mystery shopped, the trick is finding out which mystery shopping company shops who. Because you are required to sign confidentiality agreements with each company, I can’t disclose who shops who but recommend signing up with as many as possible to find the places you want to shop!
This month’s mystery shopping company is the exception to the rule – Focus on Service. Focus on Service is the only mystery shopping company I know about that advertises the place they shop. They only shop 1 place and it’s Longhorn Steakhouse. They have a lot of openings and their form is a fairly easy one to fill out. These are great starter shops and will get you a FREE lunch or dinner after reimbursement. It’s FREE to sign up to be a shopper (NEVER pay to join, those are scams!) and you’re under no obligation to complete any shops.
3. Online Offers
I have guest posted about online offers several times for Collin. Online offers are possible if you make sure to read my instructions (here, here, and here) and follow them exactly! The most common questions and problems I hear about are when people didn’t follow the directions!
If you’re looking for an offer to start out with, try this $500 Visa giftcard from Top Notch. It requires you to complete 8 offers total with no referrals. This is a good starter offer but if you’re looking for something different just let me know!
A tip for all of these ways to make money – do NOT use your personal email address when you sign up. You can get an unlimited number of free accounts with services like gmail or yahoo. You can do separate accounts for each of these if you wanted, depending on your level of organization.
Hip2Save here: Do you complete surveys, Mystery shop, and/or participate in Online offers? If so, what tips do you have for other readers. I’d also love to hear any other ways you’ve been able to earn a few bucks Online! Please share in the comment section.
I have done the online offers and while they are time consuming and frustrating, they really do work-just do them exactly as they state and KEEP RECORDS this step is extemely important. Usually from start to finish (when you receive your $) is 3 months on average.
Do you have to claim taxes on this kind of income?
Yes, all income earned is taxable.
Nicole,
Thank you for the information. I completed the Top Notch offer about 3 months ago and have a question, would you please contact me at sillysuzy1@hotmail.com.
(Cute blog- I had never seen yours before).
Thanks,
Suzy
i have always wanted to try mystery shopping, but i am very sceptical about them… have any of you girls done this? im a little chicken…
I have been mystery shopping for about 5 years now. I really enjoy it, and as the gp said, I have ‘shopped’ many restaurants, earning me (and sometimes my hubby too) free meals. I have also got to keep lots of great products after mystery shopping a company. I’ve been able to go bowling, get my oil changed, rent free movies, etc…all for free! Plus, you usually earn a payment on top of everything else. The only downside is that most of the time, you have to shop alone, so if you have kids, that can be kind of+ difficult. Overall though, I think it’s a great way to make some extra cash for relatively easy work!
If you need anymore information, let me know and I’d be happy to help. :0)
What company do you go through? Thank you
Christine
What is mystery shopping!?!
I have only been mystery shopping for a few months (and got started because of Nicole’s original guest post…thanks, Nicole!). I personally am a big fan of Bestmark.Their forms are extremely easy. Their instructions are concise and easy to understand and follow, and they give a very fair compensation in a timely manner!
Hope that helps!
Can you take kids with this company?
Bestmark is a great company, although we don’t get the the best shops in my area. What I mean by that is that the shops are time consuming, surveys long (lots of narrative) & the pay is low. However, I have had the pleasure of doing an awesome hotel shop with this company. It was an overnight stay at an awesome resort right on the beach & also included free lunch & dinner (up to $75!) at the onsite (and really awesome!) restaurant. They do these shops from time-to-time & if they consider you a ‘good’ shopper (ie: few cancellations, shops turned in on time & done well, etc) you could get one. :0)
I’ve been a mystery shopper with Secret Shopper for almost 2 years. There are restaurants, doctor offices, banks, vets, stores, etc. The pay is great for what you have to do. I love it!
Can you take kids with you for this company
It will depend on the particular shop and not the company.
I have done mystery shopping before. The service I used the most is nationalshoppingservice or something like that. They do mainly papa johns. I have done it a few times. I liked it, but there are some very strict rules you have to follow. Like with the pizza you have to cut it , do all kinds of things to it, take very specific pictures and submit them.
I also did some a long time ago for temperpedic. I had to go in the stores and ask questions and fill out a report on the answers they gave me…
It can be profitable if you have alot of time on your hands…
Please be careful about violating your ICA and releasing the names of the companies shopped. The only one I know of that you can do this with is Focus on Service!
Hmm,.. Ok sorry, but I have to don’t like any of these sites. The 500 visa gc one is a joke! Anything you have to spend money on is not free!!!!! Sorry I’m just giving my 2 cents here.. I love your site collin.
I agree I signed up for an additional e-mail account just to do that one because stupid me thought that it MUST be legit if Collin posted it on her site…I forgot NOTHING in life is FREE!! By the time you complete all of those offers and pay for all of that you will have spent more than the $500 they are offering!! There is always a catch…somewhere or another!! Oh and btw I am not meaning anything bad about Collin by saying that, please dont take that wrong! I was just meaning you always post really good deals that work out just how you say so I was ready to go get my $500 gift card lol. I guess this just isn’t for me!!
I agree what is the point of paying or signing up for stuff that costs money that you don’t want or need.
Exactly…these sites are not trustworthy what-so-ever.
I don’t want to cause any trouble for Collin.. but these are terrible and do not belong to her wonderful site.
Well, I think saying they are terrible might be taking it a little too far, especially with so many people commenting that they have sucessfully done these offers! I hope you took the time to read my instructions, you will have to spend some money out of pocket but I’d say spending $30-50 to get $500 is a pretty good return on an investment – I know I can’t get that anywhere else! The offers may not be for everyone but I get a lot of very thankful and grateful emails from people who have done these offers.
Before you all say these don’t work, give them a chance! These are LEGIT ways to make money if you follow the directions in this post and in other posts. I have done a $500 Online offer and the Wii and Wii fit online offer. For the Wii offer I spent ONLY $30, so ya… that’s a freakin’ awesome deal for a Wii and Wii Fit.
AND for the $500 offer, I spent $100, so I made a $400 profit! I also got to try out lots of new products!
Don’t complain about these deals until you actually complete one!
and how much money did you dish out to get a 500 gc for free???????
I did one of the $500 and t-shirt offers last August. Total we spent about $140 mainly because I didn’t cancel the offers I wasn’t interested in quickly enough. However, I would still say that $360 was a good return on my money. Please note, these are not for the faint of heart and you have to be extremely detailed in order to keep up with everything! Read everything from Nicole at least two or three times before attempting. They do work but you have to know all the rules. If you aren’t up for the detail, do not attempt.
But all of the offers you have to sign up for you pay right then, but then you are also subscribed to them and their products for them to charge you monthly also. I know how that works you tell them you want to cancel and they still debit your account then you call and they say oh, so sorry, we will put the money back and it never gets put back… and on and on!! Seriously people if it seems to good to be true then it probably is! Not trying to rain an anybody’s parade but I just get fired up at all of these FREE offers that ARE NOT FREE!! Maybe one in 5 MILLION could be legit but I am NOT going to be the one to chance it. AND I just don’t want all of the good ladies or men here at this site to get into a disaster with this so called FREE stuff. We all are here for one reason to SAVE money, not spend useless dollars on “offers” we don’t need that may or may not come thru.
These online offers say “Free $500 Gift Card” but yes you are right, they are not free. But spending $30-$100 OOP for a $500 Visa is a $400 profit. I say that is an awesome deal. Yes if you don’t have an extra $100 to be held up for 3 months while you complete the process then I suggest not doing it. But if you can afford it, it is definitely worth it. Last year I did 2 online offers. I spent approx. $90 on each of them and got 2- $500 gift cards in return. AWESOME DEAL!!! I would have only spent about $30 on each but I messed up and did not cancel in time once on each one.
Ladies- if you have the time and follow the instructions these REALLY do work. It is not free, BUT IT IS A MONEYMAKKER in the end. If you are doing your first one you should have LOTS of deals to choose from. I suggest doing the ones that you don’t have to send anything back. For example, most of the diet pills and make up are trail offers and they spend you a month supply but if you don’t want to be charge ($60+) you have to send the rest of the supply back. This is what got me, I forgot to cancel them in time to send back. SO just be careful with that and it will all go well.
This year I am going to do some more and we are going to be doing some projects on our house $500 at a time. 🙂 I was just telling myself I need to start an offer so thank you for the motivation. Thank you Nicole for the guest post and thank you Collin for all that you do!
I have just completed my second $500.00 gift card. It should arrive in 6 to 8 weeks. Yes you have to pay some out of pocket, but both blogs that I read Collins and Nicole very clearly state this. I am so greatful for these two ladies (as well as others) take time out of their days to help. I would have never tried this without there help. THANK YOU!!!
Is the Wii offer still available? I would love to try it. I have been wanting one forever just can’t afford it. Thanks
The Wii offer now requires referrals which I don’t recommend as your referrals also need to complete every offer for you to be eligible. Anyway, the Wii offer had the same requirements as a $500 Visa giftcard offer so I recommend doing a $500 Visa giftcard offer and then just buying the Wii using the giftcard if that’s what you want!
I’ve actually done one of the offers for a $500 visa card. I haven’t finished the process yet, still waiting on one offer to approve, but very confident. Don’t knock it until you try it. I was always skeptical. But, now glad I finally gave it a try. I spent probably $35 bucks in all and actually am keeping the Disney movie club offter. So, its really not bad for a $465 profit. It you spend more than $500 bucks on the offers then its really not worth your time. I’m glad Collin posted this on her site…this is just a different type of money saving/making offer for her many different reader (have to have something for everyone). Way to go Collin!! I love your site….You really helped us save lots while I was on an extended maternity leave last year. Visiting your blog is now part of my daily routine. Thanks alot.!!!
I did a $500 amazon gift card after the guest post on this site this Fall. I was successful in that I got my gift card, but it was one of the most stressful experiences we have ever had. We originally spent about $80 out of pocket – $420 is not a bad profit! BUT fighting companies to get them to stop billing us has been so stressful, even though we did everything right! Even after we’ve canceled and documented everything properly, we still get random charges from some of these companies that we have to fight. The companies are generally very nice and assure you that you will be refunded, and then it never happens! Watch your credit card statements closely – they even change names sometimes! We have had to use our credit cards fraud department several times because it’s the only way to get our money back – and we even lost some because we waited too long. This was one of the most irresponsible choices I have ever made (even though I did everything right and followed the instructions perfectly!) I will never do an offer again.
I’ve already finished one $500 gc and am waiting on my second to come in. I’d say I spent about $60 oop for the first one I did, which was WELL WORTH it to me to make a $440 profit. It does take time and patience, but I found it to be a great experience.
How long does it take to get through the offers?
I did an offer last time this was a guest post, in the summer I think. I spent about $50 OOP but ended up with items that we used, like coffee, tea, and coffee mugs for Christmas gifts. I used the gift card as my “Chirstmas money” spending off of it for gifts and such. It was a great experience for me.
You have to keep diligent records and call/ email to cancel quickly, I canceled every subscription within a week. I kept all contact info on a word document including my account # and phone # to call to cancel, also a copy of the cancelation policy.
It was really not that difficult. yes it was $50 OOP until I got the gift card, maybe an 8 week turnaround. If you follow the directions exactly it does work!!!!
Mary, for the Papa Johns one, did you get money or just free food? They called me last night & wanted me to do a mystery shopping for Papa Johns, they told me to check my email and read the instructions and to call back if I was interested … So I’m just curious what you got out of it ? 🙂
My boyfriend did a Papa John’s mystery shop not too long ago. We are signed up on the same mystery shop website, but I did different ones than him. Any way, he got reimbursed for the pizza and the tip plus he got like $10 or so for doing it.
What is the company you two use?
As Nicole mentioned several times, it is a violation of most MS companies rules to divulge the company’s name…
I, too, am always skeptical of these deals on surveys, secret shoppers, and online deals. Can anyone give any dollar amounts as to what they get when they ‘cash in’ every few months? I mean if I can make 20+ (every 3 months) I feel it would be worth my time, but I don’t want to spend hours on surveys and stuff only to make $2, every 3 months. But I guess it all adds up. As someone who is currently unemployed and on unemployment (ugh) I need to cut corners and make any extra cash I can so I am IN LOVE with this site!! I used to spend my day on gossip sites to pass the time, NOW I am on COUPON sites getting free stuff…YIPPPPPIEEEEEE =)
Cindy, I would say I make at least that, if not more. I go through a few different companies, though, and some of them use reward points and pay in gift cards. Some send you a check for every survey, others have you wait until you have a minimum balance to cash in. I just devote a little time every night to check my survey email address inbox. I feel I get a fair amount for what I put into it.
Ok great I mean I know I’m not going to get rich but a lil extra cash is always welcome (gas money, that 40 grocery bill that was only supposed to be 15..lol) I am looking into the Offers stuff now and am very confused..lol. So I may just stick with the Surveys & Secret Shoppers..lol.
The surveys take longer to make money on in my experience, but you they are also really easy and you don’t have to go anywhere to do them. On My Survey (https://www.mysurvey.com/index.cfm?action=Main.join&r=3001661) most surveys start with some screening questions that you get 10 points for completing and if you match the profile of who you are looking for they will ask you if you want to finish the survey. At that point they tell you how long the survey will probably be and how many more points you will get (anywhere from 50 to 200). For every 1000 points you accrue, you can cash it in for $10. Some months I get more surveys than others, but I have been a member for 2 years and made over $100 and also received some product samples…I got a HUGE box of Pampers easy ups to try last year. Most of our mystery shopping jobs reimburse you up to a certain amount for your purchase and then pay an additional fee for your time. McDonalds for example will reimburse your actual purchase (they give you options of what to order…10 piece nugget meal in the drive through for example and some sort of beef meal inside) and then pay you $7.50. Sometimes though they up the pay to get people to go to locations that haven’t been picked up by shoppers. There is one in a town Sealy, about 20 minutes from me, that often gets bumped up to $25 pay + the reimbursement!!! Market Force is the company that does that one. In our experience, the nicer restaurants (Cheesecake Factory, etc.) tend to pay you in a giftcard. We get $40 for a dinner shop and $30 for a brunch or lunch, but you can order anything you want. We paid for the first meal, but now we just keep the gift card on hand for our next shop and use it to pay…or sell it on Ebay to get cash for it.
I do a lot of surveys, with a few different companies. I feel like it is a good way to make a little extra. It is, by no means, like having a part time job or anything, but every little bit helps! I started last year, and cashed in on gift cards, cash, and whatnot as soon as I had enough to request them. This year, my husband and I have decided to wait to cash in until Christmas time to help us lower holiday expenses!
Yes I have been a member of numerous survey sites that are trustworthy and you get paid to do without paying a DIME or a penny for that matter..,..lol.
Yes I have been a member of numerous survey sites that are trustworthy and you get paid without paying a DIME or a penny for that matter..,..lol.
Opps double posted.. sorry
I’ve always wondered about online surveys and even did a search once for some but they didn’t seem “Legit”. My question is…does the company recommended in this post add ‘cookies’ to your computer. I don’t want my computer to become slower or sluggish if I started doing these surverys. Has anyone ever experienced this? Thanks so much!
I’ve never experienced this and am signed up with over 20 survey companies!
Tuesdae, My favorite survey site is opinion outpost and mypoints. I have been doing these ones since Dec and have cashed out one for 21.70 and the other i’m saving on still but could get a $10 giftcard. They ae easy and not too time consuming and do nothing at all to my coputer.
Oh ad i forot with the opinion outpost i also got chosen to do a special game, which has paid me $25 so far, still waiting to see how much more i have gotten. Worth doing for a little extra cash. I’m not into payng for anything or taking that much time to complete those ones worth $500.
I started doing surveys as well a few months ago. I use Toluna (now merged with Greenfield), Mypoints, Send Earnings, and Inbox Dollars. I will admit I have yet to cash out with Inbox Dollars or Send Earnings. They send ‘paid’ emails to me about twice a day, most are worth $0.06 each. When you get to $30.00, you cash it out. It takes me 2 seconds to click on it to ‘confirm’ reading it, so why not?
Mypoints is fabulous. It’s kind of like Ebates. Anytime I do online shopping, I go through mypoints. And you can earn more from bonus emails they send every day, and from printing and redeeming coupons.com coupons through their website, and from searching through their toolbar. I have cashed out for $50.00 in CVS gift cards through Mypoints and have about 2,000 points in my account right now.
Toluna sends emails with links for their surveys and again, you must qualify. But I live in a rural area and qualify for many surveys, especially food surveys where you make a purchase and then are compensated for your extensive opinions. I have cashed out 3 times from Toluna at $20.00 each time.
I have also completed 2 offers online, both for $500.00 each. You do need to READ ALL INSTRUCTIONS and keep a file to stay organized so you know when to cancel all the trial memberships you may be signing up for and watch your credit card statements.
I have mystery shopped for Bestmark numerous times at numerous locations and I feel they are a great company and they pay in a very timely manner. I’ve made $240.00 in the last 6 months from this company.
To have essentially made $1,280.00 (after discounting the money I spent out of pocket for the $500.00 offers) in 6 months from doing things online and some mystery shops that take little time away from me, I feel it is WAY worth it!
And again, thanks to Collin and Nicole!
When doing the card deals, it is advisable to have a prepaid credit card to prevent fraud. Then be VERY organized as you have to cancel all the offers before their trial period is up – usually near the due date. They show people on Oprah who do these deals often, usually they make about $2,000-$5,000 a year – and that is for the ones that do it all the time.
Thanks for the tip about using a prepaid credit card. That’s a great idea.
I just want to say that I rec. my 500 top notch gift card Dec. 23. Most of the offers at least at that time were free trials and if you are organized ( that is the Key) you just cancel them within the trial peroid and you are out no expense. I did however picked a few offers that pertained to children such as the Dr. Seuss books this is a club but you are not bound to purchased a required amount of books so I go my 3 books and a tote and that was under the Christmas tree for my son and out of my holiday budeget not my daily pocket- you must read the fine print and be organized but I believe it is well worth it with only around 30 bucks out of my holiday budget (the books and a ring for my mom) I scored 470.00 bucks that will be used on our vacation. Give it a try!
Surveys are great and I do those, but the $500 Visa gift cards and whatnot seem to be something that could be messy to get tangled up in. I love Collin’s site, but I’m sad to see that kind of junk here. If you forget to uncheck a box or check one box too many, that $500 gift card might cost you a lot more than that. 🙁
I’ve been doing surveys for about 6 months now.
My favorite one is Opinion outpost. I started around Thanksgiving with them and have earned $41.40 so far. The surveys are quick, and easy!
Go here to sign up:
h t t p://OpinionOutpost dot com/join/7643822 (To get the links to work take away the spacing between http and change the dot to an actual . )
I actually did a blog about a few of my favorite sites:
h t t p://cravingcoupons dot blogspot.com/2009/12/surveys.html
I’ve been doing surveys for about 6 months now.
My favorite one is Opinion outpost. I started around Thanksgiving with them and have earned $41.40 so far. The surveys are quick, and easy!
I actually did a blog about a few of my favorite sites..just click on my name to be linked to my blog since I can’t seem to be able to post the link directly. It will also give you the link to sign up for Opinion Outpost!
My favorite survey company is My Survey (https://www.mysurvey.com/index.cfm?action=Main.join&r=3001661). I did LIghtspeed for awhile and they stopped sending me surveys to do which was annoying. My family and I also do a lot of mystery shopping and I LOVE it!!! It gives us the chance to eat out for free. Market Force (https://www.marketforceshopper.com/XP2/) is one of our favorites because the surveys are so easy to fill out. We shop McDonald’s, Panda Express, Sonic etc through them. My favorite for higher end restaurants (which tend to pay you in gift cards to the restaurant, which we “roll” into our next secret shop) is Mystery Guest (https://www.mysteryguestinc.com/MGI/). We have a Cheesecake Factory shop for dinner with them tonight!
I’ve been doing surveys for about 2 months so far and have already received $20.00 in my paypal account from lightspeed. I requested $20.00 from surveyhead over a month ago but still haven’t received it.
Most of the surveys depend on your demographic (I’m single and don’t have kids, so anything “family” related, they don’t really want to hear from me). But I do qualify for a fair number of cultural surveys since I live in NYC. I use to be a mystery shopper when I was in college, but most of the time the payout was so low it wasn’t worth my time ($10-20 bucks or so) for a fast food shop (and I don’t eat burgers or red meat). In my opinion it all depends on how much time you have and want to spend. I say give the surveys a go, even if you never get paid, the only thing you’re out is time, right?
If you become a mystery shopper, do you have to claim it on your taxes?
Yes, any income is taxable.
I’m not organized enough to do the $500 GC type deals, but I do online surveys all the time. Been doing them for a couple of months and have at least $50.00 already. I was also selected by one of them to do a 3 day online message board survey and I earned $50 for 30 minutes of discussion a day. Can’t beat that!
My concern with these offers is the time it takes to actually reap any rewards. I have mystery shopped in the past. It took quite a bit of time to get the forms filled out, scan the receipts, etc… Then, I would get rated on my critique. This was very frustrating. Based on the score you receive, that will open up new “shops” for you. So, if for some reason they didn’t think your critique was a “good” one, then you may not be offered additional shops. I am a college professor and was mystery shopping on my summer hiatus. I am very detail oriented and took great care in the feedback I provided these companies. I still would find myself getting 4/5 and sometimes 3/5. I couldn’t figure it out! If you are a stay at home mom and you are out and about with your kids, this would be great for you. You could easily do the paperwork during nap time, etc… But, honestly, you are working for what you get. If you do a Radio Shack deal, you will spend an hour doing the shop and paperwork to get $8.00 in free batteries.
As far as the $500 gift card for free…there is no such thing as a free lunch. Folks put a tremendous amount of time into making these deals work. If you have the time, go for it! I think it sounds a bit tedious to open up several email accounts, really having to keep good records, etc… These companies are going to be on the lookout for just the smallest glitch so they won’t have to pay out. Often times, you will have to remember to call and cancel a subscription before they will start charging you.
I always try to look at the opportunity costs involved. All the time spent doing this stuff is time spent away from my family. My advice is to put a price tag on your time. Sometimes, we get bogged down in trying to take advantage of all of the great deals that we lose track of the time we have invested in them. I don’t know about you all, but my time is a scarce resource. I want to make sure I am getting as much out of my time as I possibly can. I have found,over the years, that my time has been most wisely spent clipping coupons and really curbing impulse buying.
Incidentally, I stayed home with my kids for years and didn’t go back to work until they 3rd & 4th grade. Didn’t mean to go on forever, but really felt that I had some good information to offer! 🙂
I agree with you on the MS. I mystery-shopped for a couple of years and only once was given permission to bring my children with me on a shop. Most companies discourage it because it’s impossible to keep track of response times down to the second, etc. with your children around.
That is great advice to put a price tag on your time. I did one MS and it took about 2.5 hours of my time for 10 dollars. I am working part time right now and it is easier to work a few extra hours a month, than run all over town and fuss around with paper work for a few bucks.
I agree with Mary’s post. If you figure the amount of time you’re putting into this against the payout you are probably making far less than minimum wage.
I know everyone has an opinion about online offers, but I just wanted to put in a bit of positive light. I was super skeptical about these at first until I read the directions posted by moneysavingmethods.com. She has a great compilation of info on how to actually get your giftcard, check, wii, etc. I followed her instructions exactly and within 8 weeks I had my $500 check through I-Deal. I spent about $50 total. So I would suggest checking out moneysavingmethods, it is a great tool 🙂
Thank you thank you Collin for this post! Extra money ideas is always a plus in my book! I signed up for surveys the last time you posted. Let me just say, I loooove PineCone Research. YEs, they are a stickler on who is invited and how long you have to complete them but $3 each survey adds up quickly! I am also a mystery shopper. So funny, I just submitted my shop from yesterday a few minutes ago. I have been this one off and on for 5 years now.
I love pinecone, too!
So what are some legit mystery shopper companies you guys go through?
Rebecca – If you go to my blog, Nicole’s Nickels, and click “mystery shopping” at the top, you can read the posts I have written. I will only post about a company after I have done a shop and been paid timely for it!
Guys, if you’re interested in these GC opportunities, RUSH over to Nicole’s site and read about her experiences and her guidelines. They are super concise and by following each one to a ‘t’, I got my gift card without any hitches with only a small amount out of pocket. Nicole has done a GREAT job making these things accessible and I can’t say enough good things about her site. Does it take a little time? Yes. Does it take a little money up front? Yes. Was I skeptical too? YES! Did it work? Amazingly it DID!! I was dancing in the driveway the day my first gift card came. Check out the site and follow her directions and you won’t be disappointed!
Another great resource for Mystery Shopping information is on the Volition forums. I did mystery shopping for several months between jobs last year, but only for companies that had good feedback on Volition. It honestly takes awhile before you can make much money because you have to fill out the applications and get approved through many companies. Then you have to wait for a job to come up in your area and get selected. However, it is possible to get some good free(minus your time) dinners and some decent cash. Once you get in everyone’s system and successfully complete shops, the companies will start coming to you. In the beginning it is alot of time on the computer doing research on the companies and applying to the good ones.
I just wanted to say that it’s a little disheartening to read the comments from people say that these offers are scams who it appears haven’t ever tried to do any of the offers. They are NOT scams. There are many people who have commented on my blog and on other blogs (and sent emails and commented on the guest posts I did for Collin recently) who have received their giftcards without issue. These offers may not be for everyone but they DO work if you follow instructions. Collin is trying to help you all in every way she can and she knows that these offers do work, that’s why she asked me to post on them. All I am trying to do is give you all the tools you need to successfully complete an offer (or do a survey or mystery shop) and earn some extra money.
I agree!!! Why be rude about something just because you think it isn’t for you. My husband has done several of these and it worked great. You just have to keep good records and decide what offers you want to try. Thanks for the guest post, I think I will try for the $500 gift card!
Laura- Please be careful when doing these since your husband already did some. I am not sure on the rules about that but did read several comments on other sites about being canceled due to more than one per household. Maybe Collin or Nicole have more information on that. You may be safe if they are completely different companies but be careful that they are not sub-companies. I know these things work and hope you can do them I just don’t want you to be out any money can then get disqualified.
Thanks for the heads up….we haven’t done any for a few years and always try out new offers.
Just wanted to say thank you Collin and Nicole. I got my $500 gift card by doing all you said Nicole. It wasn’t easy but it was worth it. Thank you Collin. I check your site daily and got to NIcole through you.
I too have recently posted on what survey companies I deal with. These are good starter survey sites, easy to use and not overly complicated. They also pay pretty well and you can choose how involved you wan to be. Total I roughly make between $20-$100 combined. I hope to branch out to secret shopper this year so this post will be very helpful. Thank you.
I think what is so awesome about Collins site is that she offers such a broad range of ways to save money/make money and can reach so many people in different circumstances. I love and appreciate that she just puts it all out there FOR US to decide what is right for US. Shes not arbitrarily deciding that were not smart enough or we dont have the time to do a deal/offer.
For some, the $500 offers might seem messy or too complicated but for others who are well organized and have the time and interest, WHY NOT!? If you dont want to try it, thats completely and totally fine and dandy. But other people may very well relish the challenge of doing it and had Collin not invited Nicole to discuss it, they wouldnt have known where to start.
This is America people if you arent interested (and if youve never done it yourself) just keep on scrolling for the next post that applies to you or interests you. If someone else wants to try it, its not YOUR $30-$50 theyre spending so chill out.
Collin and Nicole, thank you SO MUCH for all the hard work. Nicole, thank you for the painstaking work you must have put into detailing this process. It would have been VERY EASY for you to just say, I know how to do it, everyone else can just figure it out on their own.
Very well put! I TOTALLY agree!!!!!
Online Offers:
I have completed 1 of these this past summer, my prize was $1000 Visa giftcard and to me it was completly worth it. You have to be organized, save every email, read ALL of the little print, make sure you sign up for offers that not only interest you but that dont cost alot (i did offers that i could save the product and add it to my Christmas stockpile), document everytime you call a company to either cancel or have a question. I used a spiral notebook and kept everything organized in there. you WILL need all of your info when you submit for your prize. Remember to save the invoices that come with the products you sign up for as well!! I went through a company called http://www.Superbrewards.com I had to sign up for 10 offers and was only allowed to cancel 2 before 30 days Good Luck!!
I haven’t really spent time on surveys yet, but plan on doing so.
I have done an online offer and received a $500 Visa card. Yes, it was lot of work, Yes, you do have to be organized, Yes, there are sneaky ways to get disqualified, But, after I felt confident that I knew all the rules and terms, I went for it and it was worth it. That helped us out financially and I plan on doing more offers this year. I probably spent a few hours signing up for my offers and organizing a spreadsheet and then a few minutes here and there calling companies if I decided the products were not for me. Honestly, I probably made $100 an hour with my time spent. I think that’s worth it as a stay at home mom.
As far as mystery shops go, I have done a few and would like to sign up for more this year. There are some that don’t pay well and require a lot of work, but you can choose to sign up or not. They are not forcing you to sign up. I am scheduled to get an oil change on my car this week, which I needed any way, and I will be reimbursed and paid on top of the reimbursement. I like that.
You just have to weigh the whole time and cost thing yourselves and decide what is best for you and of course learn from your experiences.
I have done surveys and recently started mystery shopping for 2 companies. I only do the surveys if I have the time, which is not on a regular basis, so I haven’t earned any actual money from them yet. I guess I am just not willing or able to spend that much time on those, although I have gotten some health and beauty products to try, and that’s pretty nice. Easy to do, also. I like the mystery shopping so far, and have been paid pretty quickly from both places. The last one I did was for an eyeglass store, I had to schedule an eye exam and purchase glasses, ( which I needed to do like 5 years ago) and got reimbursed $150. So, total OOP with my insurance was $32, not bad for an eye exam and nice pair of glasses. Very much worth my time. I have yet to attempt the online offers. I have read Nicole’s tips for doing those,(great site BTW!) and also Carrie’s on moneysavingmethods, but I guess i am afraid of screwing it up, because it seems REALLY easy to do,but who knows, I might give it a shot. And as for the comments about there being no free ride, NO KIDDING? If that’s what you’re looking for, you’re in the wrong place…the government is the only place that I know of that hands out billions of our dollars to people for free..maybe you should look there…;)
Ellen you made me giggle! 🙂
No need to get nasty ;(
How was that nasty?
Guess I should have been replying to Ellen…sorry!
HE HE!! Ellen, you rock!
Sarah
Ellen sssooo funny “thanks”
Ellen,
Are you referring to the earlier comment about “there’s no such thing as a free lunch”? I don’t think she is actually looking for a free ride! I think she was referring to the fact that all of the time and effort we invest in mystery shopping, couponing, etc… has a value to it. So these gift cards, etc…aren’t really free. It really sounds like you and Mary are pretty much in agreement!
Wow, thank you ladies for all the great tips, i think i may try for the online offers after i read the posts and have them practically memorized lol…
collin thanks for the variety and thanks nicole for the hard work!
I just wanted to mention that If your planning on doing the bigger GC deals ($500-$1000) then you MUST use a legit credit card…. I tried to use a prepaid credit card and none of my offers validated. I, unfortunatly, didn’t have a permanant cc in my name so i had to stop. Also, Please do all your offers on the first day of signing up…. this makes it so much easier to keep organized…..
I also wanted to say that I have tried the smaller GC deals and they DID WORK! I was able to use my prepaid credit card for these just fine…. I don’t think its the company giving the $500 ones that are as picky.. its the companies whose offers you’re signing up for that will not validate you unless they have a permanent card for you.
can you give the name is the website you used for your Offer?? I am NOT using my CC for these offers..lol. I get in too much trouble with our Debit Card so I know better than to use it or my CC. I plan on going out to get a Prepaid card today but don’t want o waste time and money only for them to not get validated or dq’ed because I didn’t have a valid CC. I’ll happlily take a $100 or $250 card any day!! I am excited but am not going to attempt an offer until I have my PPCC, spiral notebook, and all items ready in hand to do it ALL right. So could you share a LEGIT site that has lower offers that will take a PPCC?? Thanks in advance =)
Hey Nicole! I saw you in Women’s World a couple of months ago! Awesome! 🙂
My little way of makng money lately has been picking up Manager Markdowns at the grocery store and reselling them on ebay…… I recently found boxes of Nicoderm CQ patches marked down to $16.00 I had a $15 coupon so I paid $1.00 plus tax and then resold them for $15.00…. I also recently found boxes of condoms marked down to $1.99 each with a $2.00 peelie sticker on the box…. I picked up all of them for free and then resold them as a lot on ebay for $24.00! I always make sure the expiry date is atleast 6 months away before i pick up for resell. Just my little thought!
I like the mystery shopping. I have one I have used for almost 2 years now.The pay is $5 per shop with a $9 grocery reimbursement but I look at it as $14 in free groceries..plus I can use coupons so think how many gorceries I can get!!
I do two or three of the shops per month depending. I happen to be in an area with 8 of these stores so I have a lot of choice. Of course there is another person in my area that will take the shops before I see them post sometimes(can you hear me hiss like a mad cat?) but seems like the next month they don’t sign up again. I stick with just doing 3 out of the 8 becasuse you can get burnt out on it.
I am signed up with Marketforce but have never done a shop because I’m not that into fast food and the requirments are too much for this mommy with 4.
I have to say, for online surveys, my pick is MINDFIELD:
https://mindfieldonline.com/referral/dcb74a70
Totally legit and I have already received over $50 in surveys (been a member for about a month)! Very easy!
I am a member of others and haven’t gotten nearly the offers/screeners/follow-thrus with other sites as I have with mindfield (just my experience)!
I mystery shopped for a couple of years, and it’s not easy work. You have to be SUPER detail-oriented, many companies want timing down to the second (as in, what time was it that you stood at the desk? How many seconds before you were greeted? How many seconds before you were given your total? etc etc etc). And all the companies I shopped for didn’t let you bring children on a shop, so that’s hard too. All of the companies I worked for were legit and paid decently, but they all reminded their shoppers frequently that they had access to the store’s surveillance video, so things better be VERY accurate.
My favorite jobs were hotel shops, because it meant I got a good nights sleep and great room service for free…but it was always bittersweet because I’d come home and have to spend 5 hours on the essay questions. But again, it was a lot of pressure being accurate on times, appearances, details.
Thanks for the post. Collin, after your Wii post I went to Nicoles site and read all the instructions for oline offers. I was scared to death… but gave it a try. Kept good records. Was still scared to death! Read all the emails sent to me. Still scared to death! Received the confirmation that I had been approved. Not scared to death, but still scared! Checked my credit card, no crazy charges. Feeling a little better, still a little scared. $500 Gift card arrives via Fed Ex. Feeling really excited, still afraid the card won’t be good. Went to Home Depot spent $300 on a closet organizer. Card is good, I danced in the parking lot!! So here’s a recap: These offers are not for everyone. They are scary! But for me it was so worth it!! I spent $40 oop. I had no problems canceling the products I did not want. No extra charges showed up on my credit card. I plan to do another one next month. Thanks Collin and Nicole. I have sent several friends (who I know to be detailed) to your site for the online offer instructions. You guys are the best!!
Check out tmy blog entry for some of my favorite blog sites/opinions! I started doing surveys about 4 months ago (however I only have been doing them seriously since Nov) and I’ve earned $129 so far through various companies! It’s easy and a nice way to earn some “fun” money!
https://cravingcoupons.blogspot.com/2009/12/surveys.html
Wow! These $500 gift cards sound great, but really scary!!!
i would love to do the mystery shopping …
can someone email me a few companies that are good and easy to do…
🙂
Thanks
merima22@yahoo.com
I finally got my $100 Victoria’s secret gift card today. I signed up for a bunch of free credit check sites. So it can be done. You just have to remember when to cancel. I had given up on getting this and it came fed ex today !!!! 🙂
I have been mystery shopping for over a year and love it. There are ones you get paid for and some reumburse you or both. You know all these details upfront so you can pick what you want. Since I work full time, I only do shops of stores I will already be at- grocery store, oil change, restaurants, movies, eyeglasses, general stores, and a couple of my favorite clothing and shoe stores that I love having an excuse to go to. 🙂 There are even hotel shops. I make it a goal to sign up for enough to get about $200 a month. Last year I made $2675 from it. It doesn’t take much time since I am going to these places already. Pairing that with my couponing I impacted my family’s finances by over $7,000 last year. That’s a great part time job that I can make my own hours, sometimes bring my family too. You do have to sign up for many companies to get that many shops regularly. I am signed up for about 20 and do about 10 shops per month.
Regarding surveys, I have been doing them for about 5 months, and I am about to pay out for $45 on 2 different companies (I do Valued Opinions and MyView and SurveySavvy). I read Nicole’s post earlier about surveys, got a third email address and signed up for a whole bunch…but then got kind of burned out checking different companies. I would get all stressed when surveys showed up and I didn’t feel like I had the time to do them right then (because they disappear fast). I decided to just limit myself to the companies I was already working with and RELAX about surveys…if I have the time, great. If not, no big deal. So, that’s what works for me…but it’s a great opportunity to make a few bucks. I’m thinking maybe I’ll get brave and redirect a few more survey companies to my main email. I personally just get tired thinking about checking 3 emails regularly!
I just finished two $500 gc offers thanks to the info on Nicoles blog! I spent right around $40 each and that includes any shipping I had to do! They are simple if you just pay attention to all the details! I was scared at first, but they’re so worth it and definitely not scams! Does anyone blog about lower gc offers?
Elise: There are some lower giftcard offers on my blog, just click “online offers” at the top. There are some $50 ones and some $100 ones but you need to do half as many offers for the $100 one as you do for the $500 one, that’s why I don’t recommend them. You get the most bang for your buck with the $500 ones but I do post them so everyone can make their own decision!
I’ve been a very prolific mystery shopper for almost four years. I have done lots of different kinds of shops, including amusement park, hotels, fine dining, fast food, casual restaurants, retail, movies, bowling, mini golf – you name it. I’ve even seen shops for funeral homes and churches! I was able to get reimbursed PLUS earn a $25 fee for $100 in veterinary services for my dog. Mystery shopping is fun and can earn you money, but it is also a lot of work, and it is serious business. It is ONLY for well-organized, detail-oriented people who can write well. If you have any questions about mystery shopping, feel free to email me at melanie_odette@yahoo.com. I’ll be glad to help! 🙂
PS I am a gold-certified mystery shopper.
Question
I filled out all my offers and it says wait 30 days to approve. If I cancel before 30 days, will it not approve them??
The 30 days they say is irrelevant since they will not manually credit offers at any time. Follow my instructions and do any replacements after 13 days. Talking about cancelling is prohibited in their terms and conditions.
Hi There,
I was interested in doing the $500 gift VISA card deal, but noticed that you are required to have 2 other households complete this also. Can you direct me to any other $500 deals that don’t require referrals?
Thanks bunches!
I was just wondering, the people who spent $40-$50 on the offers & got the $500 gc, what offers did you do? I get all freaked out when I see all the offers & I don’t know the cheapest way to go about it or what offers to pick. Thanks!
I did my first online offer after she did a guest post for you back in June/July 2009. I have earned a $500 visa giftcard; $500 Home Depot card and I just received a check for $695 because the Kate Spade tennis bag that I was to receive has been discontinued!! That’s $1695.00 in less than 7 months!!
Very, very, very time consuming but WELL WORTH IT!! So sorry to hear that there are not really any out there anymore that you can do without the referral piece ( I won’t do those) I was just planning on starting my next one!
I filled out the form for Focus On Service and it was a simple form. Took some time to read the rules but I got an assignment the next day! Have already completed the first assignment and filled out the survey! My husband and I enjoyed a nice dinner in exchange for a survey that only took about 30 min. Too bad they only let you do 2 surveys a year! Thanks for letting us in on this one!