Do You Mystery Shop?

[HaleyB]

I do a little and would like to more, so I am looking for leads to good companies.

I get a lot of offers Informa Research, which is free to sign up with.

https://www.informamysteryshop.com/fieldrep/profile/profile.cfm

I like to do bank shops, at $20 each I can make $100 in one day if I can get them to give me that many and there is no up front spending. So far I have been in two big bank shops. They don't come up that often. I did The Melting Pot in January, that was fun.

I am only looking for sites that are free to join for now, but others might like to know about good pay to join sites. Please just let us know which type it is in your post.

 

[Mouse Skywalker]

So what is mystery shopping? Does it take a lot of time?

 

[sbdorfner]

I'd love to learn more about this (I'm just starting to research the possisbility). How did others get into mystery shopping? How do you find valid companies? If you're willing to share tips and tricks, etc, that would be great, too!

 

[mannasn]

I used to do it, but I live in a rural area and most of the companies have lowered their reimbursement to about $5 a shop. When you have to drive between 15-30 miles to get to the shop, it just isn't worth it anymore for that pay!

 

[3DisneyBuggs]

I have yet to do one. They send me ones, miles away where after paying a bridge toll would pay $1.00.

 

[JoiseyMom]

I do a little and would like to more, so I am looking for leads to good companies.

I get a lot of offers Informa Research, which is free to sign up with.

https://www.informamysteryshop.com/fieldrep/profile/profile.cfm

I like to do bank shops, at $20 each I can make $100 in one day if I can get them to give me that many and there is no up front spending. So far I have been in two big bank shops. They don't come up that often. I did The Melting Pot in January, that was fun.

I am only looking for sites that are free to join for now, but others might like to know about good pay to join sites. Please just let us know which type it is in your post.

Go to www.volition.com and you will find hundreds of mystery shopping companies to regsiter with. They are all free. You should never pay a fee for mystery shopping. There are also forums there that give you information on which companies are better to work for, and who pays quicker. You can also go to www.mysteryshop.org. Happy shopping.

 

[MickeyP]

Can you walk me through what exactly it is? Are you checking up on employees? Or, am I way off?

 

[zenshome]

If you do the research you can find out where the companies are, but most companies make you sign agreements not to release ANY information about them or who they are (So you probably will not see to many people willing to tell you). I have done this and I enjoy doing it, but many companies do not pay enough to cover the cost of gas to get back and forth. You really will need to plan it into your day, so you don't wind up losing money at it. I have done the following types of shops: Fast Food, Sit down Rest., Amusement Parks, Jewelry Stores, Bowling Alleys, Grocery and Department Stores, Gas Stations, Oil Changes, Movie Theatres (Counts and Conditions) and General employee responses (You are looking for a certain response if you say something to the employee).

An important note is that you should NEVER need to pay a fee to get this information, it is available you just need to look.

 

[JoiseyMom]

Can you walk me through what exactly it is? Are you checking up on employees? Or, am I way off?

You are evaluating customer service, cleanliness of the inside and outside of the store, timings, and usually bathrooms. You need to keep track names and make detail observations of your entire "shop". You either have to answer some mulitple choice type questions, and/or give detailed narrative of your "shopping" experience.

 

[LakeAriel]

I do a little and would like to more, so I am looking for leads to good companies.

I get a lot of offers Informa Research, which is free to sign up with.

https://www.informamysteryshop.com/fieldrep/profile/profile.cfm

I like to do bank shops, at $20 each I can make $100 in one day if I can get them to give me that many and there is no up front spending. So far I have been in two big bank shops. They don't come up that often. I did The Melting Pot in January, that was fun.

I am only looking for sites that are free to join for now, but others might like to know about good pay to join sites. Please just let us know which type it is in your post.

This one wanted a lot of info about your bank accounts and charge cards. It made me uneasy. You have used it with success?

 

[JoiseyMom]

This one wanted a lot of info about your bank accounts and charge cards. It made me uneasy. You have used it with success?

They aren't asking for account numbers, they want to know that info to be able to offer you jobs. For example, if you put down you bank with bank xyz, and they have shops for bank123, they will send you job offers for bank123 if the jobs are new accounts. They will send you to bank xyz if they want you to get teller information. I have had offers of shopping for Amex. They want to know your cars and make, becuase they aren't going to send you to shop at a fine dining restaurant if you drive a 1984 chevy, but they will if you drive a 2005 volvo. They need this information for demographics, because certain stores want to be shopped by a certain type of clientele, and they need to know if you are in that group. I hope that makes sense.

 

[princessjv]

This one wanted a lot of info about your bank accounts and charge cards. It made me uneasy. You have used it with success?

I too was a bit uneasy, so I started to research their website a bit more. I have not signed up b/c most of the data on the site dated 2003... Shouldn't it be more updated? Has anyone used this company for a while? What is your experience?

I do shop for another company, but the shops are few and far between and you have to reply to the email immediately, or they are gone! I would love to get on a few more lists!

 

[sandy6879]

I would also go to www.mom-mom.com - they offer a listing of hundreds of sites and I have done this for over 8 years.

 

[Longsx3]

I do a little and would like to more, so I am looking for leads to good companies.

I get a lot of offers Informa Research, which is free to sign up with.

https://www.informamysteryshop.com/fieldrep/profile/profile.cfm

I like to do bank shops, at $20 each I can make $100 in one day if I can get them to give me that many and there is no up front spending. So far I have been in two big bank shops. They don't come up that often. I did The Melting Pot in January, that was fun.

I am only looking for sites that are free to join for now, but others might like to know about good pay to join sites. Please just let us know which type it is in your post.

I just signed you to do mystery shopping for USAA, I will do my first one this week.

When we are back in the states I would love to do one where they have you eat out, can you tell me how that works ( I love the Melting Pot), do they pay for your meal, is there a limit?

 

[teresajoy]

Restaurant shops are all different, but it seems that the more upscale restaurants only reimburse for the food. At least, that has been my experience. Sometimes the reimbursement covers the whole meal, and often times we have to pay some out of our pockets. It seems that the pay overal has been steadily declining over the past 7 years. It is by no means anyway to make a living (although I am sure that there are shoppers that are an exception to that rule) But, if you are allready going in the direction where your shops are, or if you can get a bunch lined up for the same area on the same day (sometimes trickier than it seems!) you can make a little extra money. The shops that actually pay you to shop and then pay you to make a purchase are quite rare anymore. (I'm thinking of all those silly ads I see for mystery shopping on the internet, "Get paid to shop, and keep what you buy!")

 

[lynetteSC]

Haley- Hi! I just sent in my 1st few shops with informa ... how long have you been shopping with them? Do you get your $$$ in decent timing? Thanks!

 

[HaleyB]

Haley- Hi! I just sent in my 1st few shops with informa ... how long have you been shopping with them? Do you get your $$$ in decent timing? Thanks!

I have been with Informa for about a year. They are not the quickest to pay, and sometimes they are really slow. I think about 90 days has been the average. I have not done a ton with them, or with anyone.

Palm pays faster. More like 30 days. They do a lot of fast food shops that pay about $5 plus food.

 

[MrsNick]

subscribing

 

[Cindi0511]

I've been a mystery shopper for about a year. My sister got into it, too, and she does way more than I can. Many times you can't take kids with you, and since I have a 4 and 1 year old, that limits a lot. But, some people do a ton of it. It's easier if you have a digital voice recorder, PDA, cell phone camera, etc. I have done fast food, casual dining, retail, apartments, amusement parks, shipping company shops and more. Someday I'll probably do more, but for now it's not worth the time and payment. It is fun, though, and my sister does pretty good since she has people to watch her little boy. She's done fine dining shops and really enjoys them with her husband.

The Melting Pot shops come out and say they only cover about 50% of the cost. You just have to pay attention to the detailed instruction.

Volition and the MSPA are great.

 

[njcarita]

do you have a link for Informa