Navigating the Bare International Website

Sometimes, websites are intimidating and confusing most especially when there are so many links to click. However, the Bare International Website is very user-friendly even your grandmother can navigate it.

Here's how:

After creating an account and verifying it by clicking the link on the email that was sent to you, you need to log on by accessing the website thru bareinternational.com.

At the top right corner of the website, click on sign in.

A pop up will show asking you to choose being a client and an evaluator.  Click on Evaluator.

Another window will appear with the following url:
https://www.baidata.com/shoppers/LoginShopper.norm.php. Bookmark this on your computer so that you won't have to type it again the next time you go to this website. Key in your email address and password.

You will be directed to the Shop Log page where at the top right corner of the page, alongside the Shop Log tab, you will see the My Profile tab, My Apps tab, Job board tab and Help tab. We will tackle each tabs as we go along this post.

SHOP LOG TAB

The top part of the page is focused on the shopper's profile. You will see a link where you can change your status if ever you don't want to be active for the meantime. You will also see links which you can click to update your profile. You can also use this page to refer some friends and to check your referred friends.

The lower part is dedicated to the shops that are assigned to you. This part is where you will see all the information important for you to complete the assignment. You will also see here your score once your survey has been reported and reviewed.

MY PROFILE TAB

If you remember the page where you put in all your information upon signing up, this is that part. It contains all the information and the privacy policy. You just go here if there are information that you would like to update,

MY APPS TAB

This is the page where you can see the status of the assignments that you have applied to. I've copied the information from the website and it is very important to follow these rules:

IMPORTANT! DO NOT perform any shop unless it has a status of 'Assigned to You!' 
This page lists applications which must be approved before the shop is assigned to you.
ALSO IMPORTANT!Go to your Shop Log to view shops assigned to you directly 
(this page only displays shops that you had to apply for)
STATUS EXPLANATIONS
  * Assigned to you This shop has been assigned to you - view it in your Shop Log.
  * Pending The scheduler has not assigned this shop to a evaluator yet (please do NOT ask the schedulers on the status of pending shops).
  * Closed 
   (not shown) Shops assigned to other evaluators are removed from this page.

JOB BOARD TAB

This page is where you check and apply to available shops that need to be visited.

There's a Classic Job board link there which you can also click if you want to narrow down the shops according to the country, state or a specific zip code.

HELP TAB

If you click this page, you will be directed to another window that will instruct you to check out the FAQs on the main Bare International website.

So there. I'm sure you will be a pro in navigating the website. It takes time, of course but don't you worry. You'll get there. *wink

All pictures are courtesy of Bareinternational.com

How to sign up as a Mystery Shopper thru Bare International

Bare international is the first mystery shopping company that gave me my first opportunity to become a mystery shopper. Their platform is very easy to navigate. I just received my very first payment (Yeeey!) from them thru paypal. If you want to become their mystery shopper too..

Here's how:

Log on to http://www.bareinternational.com/

There will be a pop-up instructing you to choose your area. Just click on where you are located or the language you prefer.

It will direct you to the previous page but you will notice that the url has changed. Click on EVALUATOR SIGN UP.

Another tab will appear. It will instruct you again to select your preferred language.

After that, it will instruct you to enter your email address. It is very important that you enter a email that you always check because they always send updates thru email. Also, you should enter the same email you are using for paypal.

Then, you will be asked for your country.

After choosing your country, you will be directed to a page where the Evaluator Agreement is. It is imperative that you read through the agreement before you sign up to protect yourself and for the company to protect itself from any future legal issues. Everything you need to know is there.

Below the Agreement is where you can input your information. Your email address will be your log in name and you will be asked to choose a password.

You might wonder what an MSPA code is. Apparently, mystery shopping is not just a hobby. You can get certified thru the Mystery Shopping Providers Association or MSPA. You'll just have to undergo rigorous trainings like scuba diving, target shooting, combat skills, detonating a bomb.. Nah. Im just kidding. They have a certification program if you want to take mystery shopping to another level. For a fee of course. Just check out their website: http://www.mspa-global.org/en/

I think the MSPA certified shoppers get more jobs and have a higher pay than those who are not certified. I'm just not sure.

You will be asked for a referral code if you were referred by a mystery shopper friend. This is usually the shopper code of the mystery shopper who referred you. You will also be asked for the zip codes where you are willing to do a visit. However, there will be shops outside those zip codes that you can visit if you apply.

At the bottom of the page will be the privacy policy. You also need to read this to be better equipped with regard to the website.

If you agree to the Evaluator Agreement and the Privacy Policy, hit on Sign Me Up.

If you were not able to answer those questions with the asterisks or star sign, you will see an error message which will prompt you to key in your password again and accomplish those fields that you were not able to complete.

A page will come up saying that an introductory email was sent to your email address to confirm verify your email address. You should be able to click on the link on the email that you received from Bare International. If you were not able to receive it, check your spam or bulk mail.

On the same page, you will also be requested to fill out additional fields which would help you get chosen for the shops where you will apply.

You will also be asked about gadgets  and other technological devices that you own.

Moreover, you will also be asked about vehicles you currently have. This will determine if you are suited for those visits requiring knowledge about cars and other vehicles.

If you're that not into cars, then you can still be assigned shops depending on your hobbies, skills, the restaurants where you usually eat, the place where you always spend your leisure time etc. Just make sure that you fill out these fields:

Of course, everyone would like to be paid for the services that they've rendered so don't forget to complete the following fields:

If you're outside the USA and Canada, Bare International prefers to pay thru Paypal. Just key in your email address that you're using for paypal.

There are special considerations for mystery shoppers who are from different countries.

After accomplishing all the fields on this page, hit on Save changes. You would see a confirmation that your information has been saved. You may also want to check your email to verify the email address before completing all these fields.

Happy shopping! :)

Mastering the Art of Procrastination

There's actually no art in procrastination. It's just pure, unadulterated laziness combined with complacency that stems from lack of variety or sheer boredom. Well, you're not actually completely lazy because you still get to do something more interesting to you than what you're supposed to do but putting off something more important to a later time is still laziness.

Why? Because I said so. And delaying something that you can do now. That's definitely laziness right?

Yes. I'm lazy. I'm very, very, annoyingly lazy. I'm supposed to start my fitness routine now but here I am, typing on this Jurrasicly slow laptop, thinking of the next words to say.

We are going out of town and I was really hoping for a better bod so that I could fit in my swimsuit without some very obvious bulges in the coming three weeks. Three weeks. And I'm still not panicking.

If you could picture my room, please stop. Let me do the honor. I have plates in here(Yes, I eat on the bed because I'm too lazy to eat on a table.), clothes scattered in my bed, books lying on the floor etc.

I hate myself. If I'd get a cent every time I procrastinate, I'd be a millionaire now. That's how severe I am when it comes to procrastination.

Some people seem to be always on the go. Not stopping even just to smell the flowers or catch a breath or even eat. Like there's an itch to do something whenever they're not doing anything. Sometimes, it feels good just bumming around. Let me help you.


9 Ways to Procrastinate

1. Do not take a shower early in the morning. Or at all.- Whenever I shower, I feel like doing something productive most especially when I do it early in the morning. So don't take a shower or you will be compelled to get up from your beloved bed.

Source: Picturequotes.com

2. Upon waking up, check your social media- This eats up at least an hour of my morning which could have been spent taking a bath, cooking my breakfast, going to where I should go to in an earlier time etc.

Source: Giphy.com

3. After checking your social media, play the games on your phone- Smart phones have resurrected our inner childhood by having apps and games that distracts our mind from focusing on more important things.

Source: Giphy.com

4. Do not plan your day ahead- Going with the flow of your day without prioritizing things to do will likely waste some of your precious time like buying groceries before going to the bank or doing household chores late in the day then going to somewhere important. Because surely, the traffic will get crazier later in the day and with more traffic comes more stress.

5. Drink hard or go out on the day before your appointment.- The next day, you will be hung over which will render you useless for at least half of the day which will eventually lead you to cancel the appointment.

Source: Dailystar.co.uk

6. Postpone any important appointments to meet up a friend.- Friendship comes first right? Anyway, gossiping is faaar more important than going to a financial literacy seminar and you can still attend it next month or the month after or after three months when the stock market already crashed. (Please don't.)

7. Watch a movie. Or two. Make it three while staying up late- Anyway, the park is just there and you can jog whenever you want to. However, there's a typhoon coming in next week so it's going to be the week or weeks after the typhoon. Or typhoons.

Source: Firsttoknow.com

8. Stare at the ceiling pondering about the same things over and over again and still having the same conclusion.- Need I say more? This really takes up time before you sleep which will make you stay up late as well.

9. Do all of these everyday.

I hope that as I have helped you on your baby steps towards procrastination, it would also help me towards my fetus steps in fighting off my laziness and procrastinating.

Christmas won't be the same without you

Today marks the first day of Christmas here in the Philippines. We got the longest Christmas in the world starting from the first of  September up to the Feast of the Three Kings which is on the first Sunday of January. Yes. It's that long. And absurd.

What with Christmas songs filling up the air as early as September when typhoons are more frequent. Increasing number of homeless children and adults begging in the streets. Capitalist owners of malls preying on people by launching sales every other week which actually lead to heavier traffic as if we haven't had enough of the daily traffic jams.

Courtesy: Philstar.com

I strongly believe it will be worse this year since election is nearing. What better idea to campaign than using the festive season to plaster their faces on to tarpaulins that greet us a "Maligayang Pasko at Manigong Bagong Taon from insert name here".

I'm not really a Christmas person. Well, I was but something happened that changed my mind.

There were only a handful of people I dearly love, and one of them was my grandmother. Her mind never gets old and she's always on the move, traveling, dancing, singing, gardening. She never gets tired even when she's already in her early 80's. She's the one of the most generous people I've ever met and whenever our parents would hit us, she was there to defend us because she didn't believe in punishments.

I always thought she would live a longer life because she was a healthy living person and she looked happy and content every single time. I hoped and prayed that she will stay with us long enough for me to take her to places she had always wanted to go to and also for me to buy her a grand piano. I wanted to be her Santa Claus this time not the other way around which was what she always had been.

However, things will always happen no matter how hard we pray or hope.

Six years ago, I just graduated from college and just took up my licensure examination and was just waiting for the results.

A couple of weeks before Christmas eve, We received a call that she was sent to a hospital because she blacked out. They said that she had been suffering from hypertension which made her blood vessels weak and due to the constant pressure that was within her vessels, an artery burst which caused massive internal bleeding.

Being a nursing graduate, I knew it was very serious. That we would lose her. But I still hoped. I still prayed. I bargained her life with my passing the examination. I didn't care if I had to do it all over again many times or if I didn't pass at all just as long as she would stay with us, even for just three years. By then, I would be employed and would be able to pay my dues to her.

Still, she passed away. My Santa Claus had left me forever.

They say that youth ends when someone you deeply love dies. For me it's true.

After what happened, I stopped going to early morning mass. I stopped looking forward to Christmas gifts. I stopped believing in the spirit of Christmas.

For me, Christmas is just another day. Nothing special. A mere propaganda produced by capitalists to drive people from their houses to spend their hard earned money on tangible things that didn't really matter at all if you come to think of it.

Christmas is just around the corner. I hope it stays that way.

Mixing business with pleasure 2 (How to become a successful Mystery Shopper)

Mystery shopping has given me the opportunity to travel to places I've never been before while earning. I actually thought that I finally had found what I was looking for. Every visit has become an adventure. However, one of the facts in life is to have a balance in everything. Yin and Yang, hot and cold, adventures and misadventures.

Although I mentioned that I get to travel while earning, don't expect much on the earning part. You will earn if you're able to plan ahead. Remember lesson number 1. Be prepared. Plan ahead. Have a budget and stick to it.

This is the part where the misadventure but still adventure, I guess, starts.

Of course with Mystery shopping, you don't just visit the stores assigned to you but you have to report them afterwards. Since we're exhausted with Day 1, I was only able to submit my report on just 1 store. I had to rest because I had to wake up for Day 2. Yes. I scheduled them consecutively which leads me to Lesson Number 2. Do not make the same mistake that I did. Do not schedule visits the day after the other most specially if there were a lot of stores assigned to you. Allow a rest day in between for you to be able to complete your report and also to recuperate from the long travel.

So on Day 2, I woke up late. I had to finish my 3 other reports which I did and we still had to go to the bank to get some funds before we could go to the stores. We were able to get moving around lunch.

Our destination? Nueva Ecija.

Nueva Ecija is the largest province and the biggest rice producer of Central Luzon and the Philippines, thus, often referred to as the “Rice Bowl of the Philippines.”

Courtesy: http://lakbaynuevaecija.blogspot.com/p/tourist-spots.html

We still had to go to Cubao to board a bus going to Nueva Ecija. It took us almost 5 hours to go to one of the stores which is in Cabanatuan.

Gen Luna Statue and Marker (Cabanatuan City)

A statue of Philippine hero General Antonio Luna astride a horse stands at the plaza in front of the cathedral on the exact spot where the brave general was assassinated in 1899 in the city that adopted him subsequently.

Courtesy: http://lakbaynuevaecija.blogspot.com/p/tourist-spots.html

We arrived there around 5pm and we got confused because the place where we alighted was still under construction. As it turned out, it was actually SM Cabanatuan, not the Megacenter where we're supposed to be headed. So we still had to get on a tricycle to go there which meant additional expense which lead me to Lesson Number 3. Stick with the address on the assigned store. Tell the bus driver or conductor where exactly you are heading so that they can guide you.

And we still had 3 stores left to do.

After visiting the one in Cabanatuan, we headed to Talavera, Nueva Ecija.

Municipal hall of Talavera, Nueva Ecija

courtesy: youronevoicecanmakeadifference.wordpress.com

It took us almost an hour to arrive to our next destination. It was already dark. We were supposed to be headed to San Jose but noticing how high the fare was, we figured that it would take us a couple of hours to go there so we decided to just go the nearest store in Talavera and just spend the night there. Yes. We had to find a lodge in a place we haven't been to without any shirts or toiletries. So we still had to buy them before finding an inn where we could spend the night. Haaay.

Lesson number 4. Expect the unexpected. Always bring with you an extra shirt, an extra underwear and some toiletries if you're going to some place you haven't been to. Always bring extra cash too.

So we're like, Lugi na. We spent more than what we could earn from this trip and we still had two more stores to visit. I was thankful though because I had my boyfriend with me and realized that if I wasn't with him, I would have gotten in trouble. I was really upset with how things turned out but I didn't have anyone else to blame but myself because I didn't learn from Lesson Number 1.

Our dilemma during that night was how to find an inn that would suit our budget. I was wary to ask the people there because they might lead us to some other place where we would get in trouble so we had to walk and find a person trustworthy enough. We were able to ask a couple who recommended an inn that was actually kind of far from where we were so we still had to board a jeep then alight where we were instructed to do so.

The street where we alighted didn't have any signs so we just walked into a very dark street and saw a lodge. We tried to knocked and called out people but only dogs were responding. I was really losing hope and thought about going home to Manila but my boyfriend saw a person standing near the lodge and asked him the supposed inn where we were heading. The lodge was actually for Masons but there was a nearby inn and that we just had to keep walking until we see it. We finally saw that inn and got checked in. 

Another dilemma was the food. The food there was pricey and I didn't think it would suffice for the both of us. We could have bought food earlier but we didn't do that because we're more concerned on where we're going to spend the night. Since we didn't have any other choice, we ordered their food. The food was, well, it's not impressive but we're hungry so talo-talo na. We could have gotten a more decent food with the same price outside but there were no food stalls nearby.

After eating, we just drank liquor while watching TV even if the TV had a really bad connection. Yes, we were able to buy liquor but not food. Talk about bad decision making which was what made this adventure a misadventure after all. Haaay.

A lot of if onlys. But no one can ever turn back time so we could only learn from these misadventures. Anyway, they were still adventures if you just look on the brighter side of things. We were able to see Nueva Ecija from different sides. We were able to handle each dilemma without quarreling which was a good sign for me since I was able to successfully handle my emotions. We were able to realize that planning is everything and that when you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

The same with life. I kind of concentrated to mystery shopping these past few days for me to have an excuse to travel and to ponder on things that trouble my mind. I realized that I had to apply these lessons to a bigger scheme of things which is life. I have to plan ahead but still be able to expect and embrace the spontaneity of the unexpected. I have to be able to face whatever life throws at me.

So Day 2, for me, was still successful.

Mixing business with pleasure (How to become a successful Mystery Shopper)

Like other jobs and professions, being a Mystery Shopper has its ups and downs. It's not always going to be fun and exciting. It may not deal with more serious business like saving lives or finances but it is still tiring at some point.

Recently, I was assigned to 10 stores (Yes, 10 stores. Wheeew!) from all  over Luzon. I applied to them because I thought the expenses would still be lesser than the amount of payment in total. Or so I thought.

Day 1- Successful day

So my ever supportive boyfriend accompanied me to Valenzuela then Rizal then Manila for the first day. I was able to do 4 stores (Yeeey!) with expenses that would cover the payment for only 2 stores so I still had an income of 2 stores plus we were able to go to places we've never been before.

I know this is quite confusing so I will take the initiative to compute.

Every store I visit- 8 Euros x 4 stores = 32 Euros
Expenses= almost 16 Euros
32 Euros - 16 Euros= 16 Euros (Gain)

I'm sorry if my computation confused you more. I'm not really into Math ever since.

So this day was a successful day. We were able to visit the stores and at the same time, have a date in the Art Capital of the Philippines which is Angono, Rizal.

Courtesy: rclaw.wordpress.com

 We saw a lot of wood carvings and sculptures around the area. We even saw some giant paper mache or the so called "Higante" which actually have a festival every 23rd of November.

Courtesy: www.angono.gov.ph

“Higante” is an endemic cultural icon in Angono first used as symbol of agrarian protest. It was appropriated during fiesta to add fun in the celebration. Today, the local government considers it as a symbol of success and greatness which an Angono individual should strive for.

There were a lot of shrines too which pay tribute to the Katipuneros who fought hard for our freedom. Apparently, Rizal had lots of them which made them earn a sun ray on our flag. That's what actually some history remaining in my ever tumultuous brain.

After some sightseeing, we ate some street foods and boarded an FX bound for Megamall.

Although we were able to still gain some money out of this trip, it could have been better if we were more prepared by having our own lunch because earlier in the trip while we were in Valenzuela, we spent 300 pesos for our lunch. I could have gotten more from this trip if we didn't spend that much just for lunch. So that's Lesson Number 1. Being prepared by planning ahead.

And did we learn from lesson number 1? No.

And that earns a spot on my next post.