An intro to mystery shopping apps, and quick cash!
Mystery shopping is a ton of fun, and usually very easy. Many of you may already use some or all of the apps listed in this post, but I'm sure there are plenty of people who don't or haven't even heard of them. In this post, I'm gonna go over the apps that I use which are a good intro into mystery shopping, and discuss what I like about them, what I dislike if anything, and how they work. These apps offer smaller tasks for you to complete in your local area, and aren't as time-consuming as regular mystery shopping, which is great if you're looking for some quick cash. The premise of all of these apps is pretty much the same: you open the app, look at the available jobs around you on a map, or in list form, and get paid for completing them. You travel to the location specified, and do the work requested in the fashion of a survey where you'd go step-by-step through the job for each task they'd like you to do. Another thing that they have in common is that they expect you to submit quality work (no blurry photos, clearly written responses, etc), and have a good attention to detail when it comes to the job's requirements and instructions.
Field Agent
REF | Invite Code: x59kv92 | NON-REF
Field Agent is, by far, my favorite of these apps that offer smaller jobs. The jobs are typically not too in-depth, and the pay is better than some of the others when considering the amount of work required. For instance, most of the jobs I do for Field Agent need only a few photos and ask a few multiple choice questions, and usually pay between $3-5. Don't expect all of them to be that way, though. For instance, I did a job a few days ago that asked me to walk around a convenience store and give my opinion on the store's cleanliness, check out a milkshake machine, look for signage/promotional material related to that machine, and give my opinions about. In total, that job took me about 10 minutes, and it paid $4. The good thing is that you can pick and choose the jobs you want to do. You reserve the job, and then go out and do it. The average window they give you to submit your completed job is 2 hours, which is way more than enough time to claim the job and get it done. Any jobs that would require more time will have a larger window for completion.
They also offer more in-depth jobs from time to time, and sometimes even multi-part consumer surveys. One of my favorite categories is Buy & Try. These are exactly what they sound like. They want you to purchase a specific product, submit a photo of your receipt, then try it out and tell them what you like and don't like about it. The best part is that in addition to paying you for the job, usually around $3, they also reimburse you for the price of the product when your job is approved. Reimbursement isn't limited to the Buy & Try category, though. If you're required to purchase something, they'll typically reimburse you for your cost of the product, and it will say so in the job's description.
Another thing that makes Field Agent stand out from the rest is that they have Scavenger Hunt categories. These are filled with products from somewhere that they need more information about. They provide you with the product's name, as it would appear in a store's inventory or on a receipt, the specific UPC of that product, and the store that it could possibly be found at. You don't actually have to find them at the listed store, though, or even at any store at all. If you have the product at your house, or a friend's house or whatever, that's perfectly fine as well. The item names are heavily abbreviated, so you've gotta be creative when trying to decipher them. If you do happen to find the exact product, which is evident by the product's UPC, then the bounty for these jobs is $6.50 for each one. My biggest piece of advice for the Scavenger Hunt items is to not spend a lot of time trying to find them, or going out of your way to do so. Stick to products you recognize, and may remember seeing somewhere. In some cases, the products shown are seasonal, regional, or even discontinued, which is why I don't suggest you go scouting for them specifically. Instead, take a peak around if you happen to already be somewhere that may carry it.
One more thing: DO THE TICKET JOBS!!! These don't pay anything, but they do sometimes qualify you for other jobs that you wouldn't be offered without having completed the qualifying ticket job first. They're very quick to do, and consist of anywhere from 1 - quite a few questions, but normally only take 30 seconds to a minute to complete. Each one you complete also gives you a ticket for their monthly drawing, and if you win that, the more tickets you have, the higher your prize will be (up to $500).
Average Pay: $3 - $5 per job
Average Approval Time: 1-3 business days
Cash Out Method: ACH (bank account required)
Minimum Cash Out: $1
Availability: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa, Mexico, Ecuador
Mobee
Referral Code: QXDD | NON-REF
This is a pretty good one, and the pay is also pretty decent. I'm ranking this below Field Agent, though, because the "missions" tend to involve a bit more walking around and require more photos/questions to be answered. You're also not paid out in cash, but rather gift cards.
If you sign up using my referral code above, you'll also get an extra $3 (300 points) after your first mission is approved.
What sets it apart from Field Agent is that they sometimes give you bonus points, when your mission is approved, for various things. Bonus points can be awarded for such things as a long distance from the last mission you completed (even if it's not on the same day), your first time completing a mission at a specific store, etc. For the distance bonus, the farther straightline distance between jobs, starting at just 10 miles, the more bonus points you'll receive.
You can also earn points for claiming Achievements (you have to manually claim them from the Achievements tab once you've reached the specified goals). My favorite of all the achievements is specifically for new users where you can receive a total of $31, collectively through 5 separate Achievements, for completing just a single mission on 30 different days. The first of these 5 Achievements rewards $1 for completing just one mission. Other Achievements are for completing a specified number of missions at certain stores like Target, Best Buy, Home Depot, Lowe's, etc.
One fallback of Mobee is that they don't pay you in dollar amounts, but it still isn't bad in my opinion. Instead, they award you with points (100 points = $1). You can redeem your points for gift cards which start as low as $5, and cover numerous retailers, restaurants, a virtual MasterCard, and more. You could also donate your earnings to a charitable organization listed in the app if you wish.
Another fallback, which actually kinda annoys me, but hasn't actually been an issue in my years of using the app, is that you cannot reserve missions. The mission must be available when you arrive at the location requested, and you aren't able to start it until you are there. Luckily, I don't live in a large area, so this hasn't been a problem for me as of yet.
Average Pay: $2 - $5 (200-500 points) per job
Average Approval Time: 3-5 business days
Cash Out Method: Gift Cards
Minimum Cash Out: $3 (for charitable donations), $5 (for gift cards)
Availability: United States, Canada
EasyShift
EasyShift is good, but you must pay attention to the requirements of each "shift." The rate of pay for EasyShift, in regard to the amount of work required, isn't normally as high as Field Agent or Mobee, but if you pick the right ones, it certainly can be, so be sure to read what's required of you for each of the shifts before you reserve them, as sometimes you'll find it's just not worth your time. Also, even though the rate of pay isn't always as high, the amount paid per job is usually higher than the former two.
Like Field Agent, you are able to reserve shifts, so you don't have to worry about it being taken by the time you get to your location.
The biggest problem I've had with EasyShift is the in-app camera, which doesn't show the full area of what you're capturing. This can be a bit annoying when you're asked to take a photo of something, which I'm pretty sure is required in every job if I'm not mistaken. The good thing is that you can review your photos, and delete/retake them if you need to. I've pretty much gotten used to this quirk, and adjust accordingly, so it doesn't bother me as much as it used to, but it would still be nice if they fixed it. Keep in mind that I'm using an Android device, so this may not be an issue for iOS users.
Average Pay: $5 - $10 per job
Average Approval Time: 3-7 business days
Cash Out Method: PayPal
Minimum Cash Out: None (Your pay for each shift is deposited into your PayPal account within a few days of it being approved)
Availability: United States
Merchandiser by Survey.com
REF | Referral Code: kevinfMJY6 | NON-REF
This is definitely a fun and very lucrative one. The pay rate for this app is actually really good. The only reason I'm putting it way down here is because the work involved for each of the "gigs" is more in-depth and sometimes labor-intensive. However, you do have the opportunity to earn much more, and you can be in direct contact with the people who are running the projects, which helps to lead to more and higher-paying gigs if you're able to complete more of the same ones, for instance. It also helps should you have any questions, or issues that need to be addressed.
The best parts of this app are the pay, the variety of gigs posted, and the direct contact with project managers/assigners.
To give a recent example, I completed a gig at a local Walmart which required that I scan the shelf tags of all products on all endcaps of the specified departments within the store. This type of gig is especially easy, since the in-app barcode scanner allows you to scan barcode after barcode in batches without having to submit each one. That gig took me roughly 30-45 minutes to complete, and paid $25.
To give an example of the opportunities for extra work, a while back my mother (who referred me to the app) requested, and was assigned, an audit of a beer cave at a local Circle K convenience store. The audit took about 10 or so minutes to complete, and paid quite decently. The project assigner contacted her via text message asking if she'd be interested in completing a route that same audit at all of the Circle K convenience stores a few cities over (about an hour drive from her home, and included 15-20 stores total). She accepted when he said they'd pay her mileage, a bonus, and a bit more for each of the audits than the first of she could have it done by the end of the upcoming weekend. In total, she made a little over a few hundred dollars for the two or so days she put into it. They really like quality work, by the way. After completing those, he asked if she'd be interested in completing another route of the same audits, but in the next state which is about 2 hours from her home. She wished she would've had the time to do it, since he offered mileage, hotel and food costs, and another slight pay bump to each of the audits. Unfortunately it needed to be done during a time when she had previous engagements, so she had to decline.
The types of gigs they offer include those such as quick and simple audits, product demos that you'd perform in stores (these usually require about 3-4 hours of your time, and also an application to be submitted and approved, but they pay very well. As an example, they're currently running a 4-hour product demo project which pays $20/hour), product shelf resets, POS placements (this is where you'd be placing promotional material or signage, product displays, etc. for a specific product in a store), and more!
The one thing that may be intimidating about the app is navigation. There are quite a few things to click on to get the information you need. This isn't a huge issue, however, since after using it for some time, you get used to the app's layout and how to find everything you need to be successful.
Average Pay: $7 - $20 per job
Approval Time: 8 business days (scheduled)
Cash Out Method: PayPal
Minimum Cash Out: $5 (You must request a payout in the app. Payments are sent on a specified schedule, which also depends on the date you request your payout. The payment schedule for 2019 can be viewed here.)
Availability: United States
Honorable Mentions
The following apps are those which I don't use very often because they don't list very many jobs in my area, so they're not as lucrative to me. I'm still going to list them because they may still be worth a look for you, since you never know what they may have available in your area.
Gigwalk
NON-REF
Availability: United States, Canada
Cash Out Method: PayPal
Observa
REF | Referral Code: initial-gharial | NON-REF
Availability: United States (Maybe others. Their site lists only North America as a whole)
Cash Out Method: PayPal, Coinbase (Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, and Litecoin)
If there are any other similar apps that you all use, feel free to drop them in the comments along with something about them. I'm always on the lookout for more apps to add to my arsensal.
If you have any questions about any of the aforementioned apps, feel free to ask in the comments. I'll do my best to answer anything I can.
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source https://www.reddit.com/r/beermoney/comments/dkxcel/an_intro_to_mystery_shopping_apps_and_quick_cash/
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