anyone here a secret shopper?

[lynetteSC]

Hi guys! Saw an ad in our local paper for secret shoppers ... just wondering if anyone here has done this? I was just wondering if it was all it was cracked up to be. Getting paid to shop??? Hmmm ... sounds too good to be true!

Also, is this something I can do with a new baby? Or do you have to go alone? Thanks for any insight!!!

 

[bananiem]

I was one about 7-8 years ago. I had a baby and a 2 year old so I always had a stroller with me. I only shopped for one store so it was fairly easy. My only problem is that I had to think up things to ask the clerks and interact with them. When I shop I prefer to be left alone! LOL! I had 3-4 departments to rate and then filled out the paperwork and sent it in. It was really easy and I was given a window to do the shop so I could do it according to my schedule. The BEST part was it was a store affiliated with Target so I got a Target discount!!

 

[pjlla]

I currently do a phone shopping job that I have been doing for about 8 years. Very legit, but not a big national company.

A neighbor of mine shopped for a company that shopped McDonald's for a while. But since we live a minimum of 30 minutes from the nearest McD and she was required to go on certain days to certain restaurants and order certain things, it was just to time consuming for me to consider. Not sure if she still does it. They reimbursed her for her food and paid her a small fee per shop. ......................P

 

[tastelikecandy]

Hmmmm I wonder????

 

[aprilgail2]

I do secret shopping for second-to-none and sinclair.

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

I am a secret shopper for the local cineplex. It is not entirely free, I get 8 movie tickets and $40 in concession stand gift certificates for $50. They said that was to keep you in it for the year that they need to do the study. It's fine with me, though. I am getting about $100 worth of admissions/concessions for half that. I fill out a survey 4 times a year, and send it in. No big deal. I would be going to the movies anyway, I wish I could do it move often. I feel like a spy......

I would love to do this for a store chain or something like that. Just haven't seen the opportunity.

 

[Beth76]

What IS a secret shopper? I'm guessing it's someone who "pretends" to shop in order to give feedback about the employee etc. Is that right?

 

[tonyswife]

This is very interesting. For those of you who do this, how did you get into it?

 

[pjlla]

Without giving too much away, I shop hotels on the phone. Pose as someone trying to make a reservation.... sometimes it is a corporate stay, sometimes leisure, etc. I have even called some hotels in the Disney area! ..................P

 

[lynetteSC]

I called about the ad in the paper ... they said they have plenty of stores in my area ... I would have to pay a "start-up/training fee" plus maintain a website for a certain monthly fee. She said you can get paid up to $50 per outing as well as reimbursed for items you buys. I am not sure about the paying to get into the program deal, but I just started working p-t from home to be a SAHM , so this could help with out $$$ I guess ... Any feedback?

 

[kimber79]

I don't know...........usually that *send your money, and we will get you started* is pretty risky business. Why would you have to maintain a website?? I would maybe check with the Better Business Bureau to see if they are a ligit company, and go from there.

I have wanted to get into being a secret shopper, but haven't looked into it. I think that it would be fun!! We used to have secret shopper's come into our family entertainment center to check up on our employees!!

 

[marlasmom]

I do it but it works out to about .30 per minute of $1.80 per hour. DO NOT PAY. THAT IS NOT LEGITIMATE. Look up secret shopper organizations on the net and sign up - ONLY with the ones who don't ask for money. Maybe if you are in a big urban area, but in the "sticks" like me you won't make any $. For instance, they asked me to go to a video rental store 12 miles away, rent a video and then go return it a few days later. Way too much driving for $7 and a free video.

 

[petula]

My brother is one. He's gotten to eat some pretty nice meals but says the best gigs are for parking garages. I can't remember why! lol He's signed up with a bunch of firms (there are websites that list them, or you can sometimes find them on craigslist), and they e-mail when they have assignments open. He likes that he can say yes or no to any of them. Especially since there's not a whole lot of money to be made doing this, it's good to be able to choose only the products and services you're interested in. By the way, it's been said, but I'll say it again: nobody should be paying a fee to do this.

 

[LuvTigger]

I'm not a secret shopper, but one of my good friends used to be one. It was pretty cool because she worked for a company that had many clients from restaurants to stores, and management groups, even airlines. Most of them seemed to be restaurants though.

The cool thing for her company (I'm sorry, I don't know the name) was that she almost always had to bring a friend for accountability purposes, which is why I got to go with her a few times. I think her company paid her per report, and they gave her a sort of petty cash fund, or sometimes had to reimburse her.

Some of the companies were looking for very specific things, some just wanted a general overview of the service. Time frames varied. Sometimes she would just have to go between certain days of the week, but sometimes they wanted her to go between a certain time period of a particular day, which was a little more challenging.

She got into it through a friend who already worked there. Apparently that company really liked it if you had a buddy you could partner up with and who would look for the right things.

 

[AMClvsMKY]

Can anyone recommend any specific sites that you know are ligit?

I've wondered about doing something like this.


Thanks

 

[kilee]

If you have to pay a fee- it's most likely not legit. There are many companies that are on the up and up and they don't ask you for any money. Check the rewards board here too-- there is always legit companies to make extra money w/ floating around over there.

 

[tiggersmom2]

I'm a secret shopper for Longhorn Steakhouse. Actually someone on the DIS gave me all the info and signed me up. We have to go during a particular time frame and we must get an appetizer, entree, drink and dessert. After our trip we go on the emailed internet link and fill out a survey. I am reimbursed 40.00 for every trip.