Yay!  I got another payment from mystery shopping.  As I stated before, as I get paid by these sites, I will add them to the "mystery shopping" tab above.  PLEASE READ ALL OF THE MYSTERY SHOPPING STUFF BEFORE YOU START! 

The first site I am going to recommend is "Beyond Hello".  To get an invitation, please e-mail me.  jenniferlandsberger@yahoo.com.  Please include your e-mail address.  I will send the invitation e-mail, which will have the link and all of the information for the site. 

As part of the privacy agreement, I can't give job details or amounts...but, I promise that this site is WELL WORTH YOUR TIME!

(I am in the process of trying to get a "referral link" from them to put on the page.  In the meantime, I have to send out physical e-mail requests). 

Q: What IS Freebie Trading?

Freebie trading is when someone (such as myself) pays you to go to a site and complete an offer, such as ordering pet meds, doing a trial offer of a credit monitoring service, buying ASOTV products, or trying one of thousand other trial offers- such as game sites, movie rental companies, video game rental companies, etc. 

Q: Am I Going to Lose Money Trying This Offer?

NO!  Never do a site that is going to cause you to lose money.  For example, I am paying $30 to complete Git-R-Free Garage Sale.  If you see a product on the site selling for $40, DON'T BUY IT.  You just lost $10 out of the deal.  But if you see two trial offers that will total $10, then go for it!  You will have made $20! 

Q: Okay, this sounds cool.  What Do I Do Next?

Click on the "Cash Today!" button on the directory list at the top.  There is a list of sites and what I am paying.  Use the "check offer" link to see if you can find a site you like.  Then contact me!  Either via AIM (Jenlandsberger), Yahoo!Messanger (jenniferlandsberger) or e-mail (jenniferlandsberger@yahoo.com). 
We can either privately agree on a trade  -or-  you can sign up for Calistyle (it's free) to have an outsider monitor our trade for additional protection!

If you have a question that isn't answered below, e-mail me: jenniferlandsberger@yahoo.com.  I will reply to you directly and probably add it to my list!  

Q: Do I get paid the same for all sites?
A: NO!  Some sites will only pay $10 and there are others that pay up to $100 or more.  Of course, you have to do a lot of offers to qualify for the $100 sites.  Start small! 

Q:  Do I have to use Firefox?
A: No, but it is recommended.  It works much like Explorer (but better) and is free.  I HIGHLY suggest Firefox.

Q: Do I have to have a Paypal account?
A: YES!  And it has to be verified.  Which means that you have to have a bank or credit account linked with Paypal.  Paypal does the process of verifying.  It has nothing to do with any freebie trading site. 

Q: Do I have to have a credit card?
A: No.  There are a few sites that don't required a credit card.  However, they pay low and it is often hard to get them to credit.

I've increased the payout on the Make-R-Happy Git-R-Free site to $175!! 

You have to complete 100% worth of offers, and there are many offers that are free!

If you want to look over the offers:
MakeRHappy Git-R-Free: http://makerhappy.git-r-free.com/view_offers.php

If you want to agree to the trade through a proper forum, feel free to join Calistyle!  It is free to join, and we can make the trade agreement there, which protects both parties!  
Check out the offers!

If you're interested, feel free to join Calistyle via the link below...I will get a message saying you joined and contact you.
-or-
e-mail me at: jenniferlandsberger@yahoo.com
or AIM: jenlandsberger
Yahoo Messenger!: jenniferlandsberger
If you want to talk about it on the phone: e-mail or instant message me and I'll send you my phone number! 

Who pays me?

Large corporations such as McDonalds, Wal-Mart, Barnes & Noble, and others contract a mystery shopping company to do their mystery shopping.  This company is the one who pays you. 

 Why do they pay me? 

Mystery shopping is one of the best ways that companies can figure out how good their customer service, cleaning, and other attributes measure up.  Companies realize that employees act differently when management is watching them than they do when management isn’t present.  It is the job of mystery shoppers to report how stores are doing. 

What do I have to do?

For most jobs, it involves entering a store, seeing how clean it is, making a purchase, note the customer service, and leave.  Often, you will return the item and note the customer service and cleanliness during the return. 

Does it cost me money?

No.  Never pay to mystery shop.  You should be paid reimbursement for any purchase you have to make and/or a base fee for your service.  Usually both.  Never take a job that is going to cost you money. 

Is this a way to share my opinion?

NO!  Mystery shopping is about the facts, not about opinions.  If a person is rude, explain why: did they not make eye contact, did they not greet you, did they have a private conversation in front of you?  If they said something that was rude, report the exact words, not just your impressions.  Reports must be accurate with details.  Often, employees will be rewarded or punished based on your reports.  Also, most places have security cameras.  They WILL verify the accuracy of a report if it causes concern. 

MySurvey.com is one of the best survey sites out there.  Surveys come on a regular basis and the pay for the surveys is some of the best out there.  Another good feature is that they send surveys that you almost always qualify for.  Unlike many survey sites, they actually use the demographic information they have BEFORE they send the survey.  Cash-out is easy and you only need $10.00 to cash out.  And payment is fast!  I would recommend this site to anyone and everyone!

WooHoo!  Yet another payment from Adgitize!  Payment proof at the bottom of this post.

And an update on the survey site "Valued Opinions."
After three weeks of waiting, I did finally receive a response to my multiple support requests.  One of the surveys has been credited.  The other one (the $2 one) has NOT shown up yet, but they said it would.  Due to this, I've changed the grade from "F" to "D".  I will try a couple more surveys from them just to give them a fair shot.  It could have been a temporary problem, and I hate to judge unfairly.  I'll keep you updated!   

Okay, you've heard of "freebie trading" and you're wondering exactly what it is.  It's actually very simple, despite the complexity some sites seem to have.

First of all, companies want people to try and buy their products.  To help get the word out and to encourage people to sign up for trial periods, they pay an outside website to promote their products.  For the sake of understanding, let's call this outside site "Get Green for Trials".

So, the outside company selling their product pays "Get Green for Trials", the freebie trading site.

"Get Green for Trails" is going to pay the person who refers you to the site.

You go to the site and sign up for a trial offer(s).  As soon as you get credited, the person referring you to the site pays YOU.  They usually give you about half of what they earned.

If you decide to buy the product (which is an option!), then you'll end up paying the outside company selling their product.  If you decide not to buy it, you can cancel and are only charged for the trial period or shipping and handling or whatever. 

That is a basic description of freebie trading is.  Be sure to check out the other posts in the contents link for further information!!

Yet another survey site that I have actually been paid from!  Amazing, I know.  Opinion Outpost I rate as an "A".

Cash-out is fast and easy.  You need a minimum of $5 to cash out, but I haven't received a single survey that paid less than $1, so it does not take long at all to reach minimum cash-out. 

Qualifying for surveys is short and sweet.  No answering 20 or 30 questions just to find out you don't qualify for the survey. 

Survey length is appropriate for compensation.  If anything, compensation is a bit better than some of the other sites. 

There are personal profiles you need to fill out when you first join, but they're not overly long.

My only slight problem with the site is that I don't qualify for many of their surveys.  But the longer I'm a member, the more surveys I get that I qualify for.  It is definitely worth your time and effort to join this site!   

I've been doing some mystery shopping lately, and I have to tell you guys, it is fun!  I wasn't going to cover it on this site, but I got to looking, and there are jobs everywhere!  I even looked up the small rural town in Iowa where my parents live...there were a few jobs there.  Plus more within 30 miles (and in rural Iowa, 30 miles is like running to the grocery store is to the rest of us). 

You've probably seen a bunch of sites that charge $30 or $40 for a list of places in which you can apply to mystery shop.  Well, in keeping with my original promise, I'm not going to charge you a cent.  As I get paid from different companies, I will post the link in which to sign up with them.  I am, like with the survey sites, going to wait until I get paid.  I'm not going to be sending anyone to scam sites.

So, here is a quick outline of future postings that I'm going to do relating to mystery shopping.  If you have a question that isn't covered below, PLEASE LEAVE ME A COMMENT (or contact me) and I will answer the question. 

1) Mystery Shopping 101- What is it?  Who pays who?  How do I make money?  And related "basic" questions.
2) A "how-to" post on writing a good profile
3) An example of how a basic mystery shopping trip goes- what you need to observe, questions that normally get asked, etc.