Do you prefer the flexibility of “odd jobs” to maintain control over your schedule? Have you considered trying micro jobs? Below is an evaluation of the Observa micro jobs company, to help your assessment.
Micro jobs company
Observa
www.observanow.com
Observa was established in 2015 and has its headquarters in Seattle, Washington. Their focus is on real time insights into retail sales and marketing efforts – very similar to mystery shopping. They indicate opportunities are available throughout North America.
Mystery Shopping Professionals Association (MSPA)
Observa is not a member of the MSPA.
Better Business Bureau (BBB)
Observa has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau and has been listed since 2017. There are no customer reviews and there is only one complaint and that was filed in 2017.
Cost to you
Registration: free
Mobile app download: free
Pay range
Observa pays from $4.00 to $12.00 USD on average. The jobs are estimated to take you up to 30 minutes to complete.
Payment method
Observa micro jobs pays in USD currency only but offers two different options for payment: PayPal and Coinbase. Coinbase includes Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, and Litecoin. If paying with PayPal:
- When you register, ensure the email you use for registration is the same email you use for PayPal
- If you registered with a different email, then you need to add that email to your PayPal account
Payment frequency
Observa pays you right after each job – after your work has been validated. So depending upon your payment method you’ll receive your money quite quickly.
Report submission
Observa micro jobs does not require additional or separate reports outside of the app.
As you complete your tasks, you’ll enter information into the app in that moment. Once all the tasks have been completed, your job is completed and submitted for evaluation.
The jobs on Observa can vary but they will all have a deadline. Many of the jobs have a two to four hour deadline for completion. So be certain to read the instructions for each job carefully before you accept.
The jobs could be anything from taking photos of menu boards or checking stock, to interacting with a product demonstrator.
Mobile App usability
The Observa app is easy to use. Once downloaded and registered, you view the jobs available in your area on an interactive map or you can view a list instead.
You click on an interesting selection to read more details and then click “Accept” if you want to perform that job. Don’t forget to note the timeline for completion!
Social media
Observa is available on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
Job availability
Observa, in our evaluation, seems to have a fairly small selection of jobs available. But those jobs remain listed for a while in our area so there doesn’t seem to be a lot of competition for them. This can be very good if you’re looking to scoop up those opportunities.
As usual, you’ll probably have more luck in a larger urban area and you should refresh the app often to see what’s available.
Observers (that’s how they refer to their workers) support
Selecting the “Help” section in the app redirects you to the website where there is a decent FAQ section. Imbedded in that FAQ section is the support email contact and they are fairly responsive.
However, it’s doubtful they could respond quickly enough to resolve any issues you might have in the middle of a job. So, again, read those instructions carefully before you accept the job and then read the details of the tasks after accepting.
If you have any doubts this might give you time to contact support before the job expires.
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Recommendation
We do not have live experience with Observa just yet. Our first impression is that the jobs require a bit more effort than other micro jobs in the same pay range.
In fact, some of the jobs really do more closely resemble mystery shops than micro jobs and mystery shops generally pay more.
Our evaluation of Observa at this point:
- Job availability – the list of jobs available doesn’t fluctuate too much within one week and there aren’t a lot of jobs listed for our location
- Pay range – the pay is low and the effort required seems higher than other micro jobs we’ve encountered
- Payment – we don’t have personal experience here but we like that they reportedly pay immediately after the job has been validated
- Mobile app – the app is very easy to use
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