As the dog days of summer settle upon us, back to school shopping for your kids may be the last thing on your mind. After all, lounging at the pool or heading out for a family vacation does little to motivate you to think about when your fun in the sun has to come to an end in a few months. Yet if you take the initiative and use some forethought for your back to school shopping plans this year, you can save big bucks. Whether you are thinking about school supplies, gear, clothes, shoes or other school-related items, you can use mystery shopping assignments to make back to school shopping affordable.
Start Early. The key to using mystery shopping for back to school shopping is starting early. Chances are you aren’t going to be able to find the perfect assignments at the kids’ favorite stores a week or two before school starts, when back to school shopping is in full gear. So start looking for assignments now, and buy a little bit at a time. You may only be able to buy one pair of shoes here, and one t-shirt there. But over the course of the summer, your kids will have accumulated quite a nice new wardrobe as well as many of the other supplies and gear they need, all while you were making money as a mystery shopper!
Buy Big. If you’re like most people, you wait until the last week or two before school starts to make sure the kids don’t outgrow their clothes before they can wear them to school. The answer to this problem is simple – simply buy clothes a little big. It’s also a good idea to keep the tags on the clothes, and the clothes in a bag with the receipt until a few days before the start of school. This way, if your kids do outgrow the clothes (or the kids haven’t grown into them), you can always exchange them for the right size. So use mystery shopping throughout the summer to shop away and get paid to back-to-school shop for your kids without worry about clothes not fitting in the fall.
Think Outside The Retail Store. Sure, kids need new clothes for school. But they also need a variety of other things. Think about backpacks, school supplies, gym clothes, and even snacks. You can pick these items up at a variety of mystery shopping assignments, earning money while you shop and getting your expenses at least partially reimbursed. Consider grocery store assignments, general merchandise assignments, office supply store assignments, and other venues that carry these back to school items.
Something For Everyone. Back-to-school shopping isn’t just for those mystery shoppers with young ones at home. Everyone from grandparents, aunts, and uncles, to college students can put these back-to-school mystery shopping tips to good to use and save money on their necessary purchases. You will have a great time combining the chore of back to school shopping with the excitement of your mystery shopping job!