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Is age a problem?

October 12, 2007 11:24PM
I am 69 years young and am listed with most of the on line survery companies; I am offered paying surveys daily only to be told I do not fit the profile, therefore I cannot take the surveys. Will I encounter the same in mystery shopping? I am very active, look much younger than my years and dress to the nines. It is so disheartening to be "turned down" for so many opportunities - they don't say it is age, but it really is.
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October 13, 2007 01:43AM
I am in a different age bracket and get turned down for many online surveys too so I've given up on them.
Few mystery shops are age specific, though there are some that 'shop' to check underage for alcohol/cigarettes or video games.
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October 14, 2007 08:35AM
Forever,

You shouldn't have a problem finding shops. The best advice I can give you is register with as many myster shopping companies as you can. Volition.com is a free site that lists over 100 mystery shopping companies, I have registered with about half of them and have worked for about 25 companies so far. Remember the more companies that you register with the more jobs that you will have a chance to get, also remember that some of the companies that you register with may not work in your area. That doesn't mean they never will it just means you will have to check their job boards and e-mails from them.
I hope this information helps.

Mike
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October 15, 2007 07:19AM
On the other hand, for any of you 18-28 year olds, there are some great compliance shops ($15 for 5 minutes, 35 for 30 minutes, tiny reports). Look for the word compliance. Some are on Volition.

I have taken to sending my photo to those shops that I did not qualify for age wise. Once they see them, they allow me the shop. You might try that if you are a youthful old geeser (lol, I am only allowed to use that word since I turned 50!)

Wannabe scheduler/editor
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December 31, 2007 01:27AM
I am 67 and have had no trouble finding MSing jobs with numerous companies.
Bestmark has some age restricted shops and some restaurant jobs require you to be in a certain age bracket. I don't do them anyway, except once in a while. I don't want to be paid with a meal, I'm in this for the money!
Once again, it's just a matter of signing up with a gazillion companies, who each have a half dozen or so clients.
If you're talking about online surveys, you'll find a lot of surveys you won't
qualify for. Heaven knows why. For more on online surveys, go to the Survey Info thread, listed on the front page of the forum topics.
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January 02, 2008 12:52AM
I am 52 and been doing this for almost 4 years..........no problem getting jobs.
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January 11, 2008 07:09PM
One of my more lucrative shops I aged out of when I hit 60. Otherwise there will always be shops you won't fit the profile for because of income, education, age (too old or too young), availability of children, availability of spouse/companion, availability of a car of a certain range of age, etc. And you will self select to be ineligible for others (for me bar shops are a problem because significant other can no longer drink due to meds and if I have more than one drink the report better not be due before tomorrow). So no, I don't think age in and of itself makes a real difference. The MSPs are looking for appropriate subsets of shoppers for establishments and even within that realm we have to select what we are comfortable with.
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February 10, 2008 08:31AM
I have the same problem as Forever_Young with surveys. Not only am I 61, but also single and childless. I'm rejected from the majority of surveys.
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February 10, 2008 03:53PM
My personal experience is that although I signed up with a number of survey companies at one time, when I did have ones I could do I earned points towards "rewards" of overpriced products that I could have gotten at Walmart for $10 and I needed $30 worth of "reward points" to get them. With several survey companies I needed to acumulate a certain number of $ credits before they cut a check. Based on one or two surveys I realized that to reach that $ amount would take enough surveys and time that I would effectively be earning about $1 per hour. These days all I do are the Pine Cone Research surveys. They are legitimate, they take 15-30 minutes to do and they pay $5 into Paypal the next day. I get about one of these per month due to demographics, but that is fine. My major time and energy is spent on MSing.
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February 10, 2008 04:10PM
My mom has been shopping off and on for a few years now. She started when she was 70. She is in an area that doesn't have many shoppers, but still, she gets calls all the time for grocery shops and gas station shops.
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February 10, 2008 05:04PM
I've also narrowed it down to Pinecone.
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February 23, 2008 09:26PM
Warning: This User Has Been Banned or Is No Longer Active
I am 60ish and have no trouble getting jobs. You must be with the wrong companies. This is one industry where experience matters more than age. Make it work, keep trying and good luck.
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May 13, 2008 11:27PM
I found out that those Survey Companies do terrible things after you have done almost or finished the Survey, they tell you thank you and that is it, and they will tell you they cannot use you. I hate them because I spent hours on this computer trying to make extra money with them, and it was a waste of time and that is when I really got interested in Mystery Shopping thanks to Cathy Stucker's book and after the first two paragraphs I was ready to try MS, and I do not regret it at all. I do realise that sometimes we all might have a shop or two that we have done and feel that we were not treated right, but if it was me, I would not bother with that company any more. There are plenty of Mystery Shopping Companies that would love to have good shoppers.
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