What is Mystery Shopping?

[Soupermom]

I keep reading about mystery shopping...can someone please let this girl know what that is? Thanks!

 

[Blackunicorn]

Mystery shopping is when a company pays you to shop at their store and tell them about their customer service.

 

[Cellthing]

Mystery shopping is when you shop a store and take notes about the service functions of the persons that work there. For instance, stores like Target (example) will hire mystery shoppers, that will shop various areas of the store looking at cleanliness, stocking levels, as well as any employees that may help the shopper including the checkout person.
It allows a company to get a "outsiders" view of what happens inside a store. Anybody that has worked in a job knows how things change when the "big boss" comes around. Mystery shoppers takes the mystery out of the store for the "big boss".
I am not sure how to get hired to be one of these, other than writing the places that you shop and offering your services. I would suggest a short example report of what you would be looking for.

 

[mom2mira]

I have been mystery shopping for a few years now. It's a great way to make some extra money or get a free meal in some cases. I only do a few a month, but if you are near a big metropolitan area and sign up with a lot of companies, you will get a lot of offers for assignments. I do shops from restuarants to stores to banks to cash advance places. Most restaurant shops just pay a set fee for your meal(most times for 2) and nothing extra, but there are a few that do pay for the food and a little extra. If you are required to buy something in a retail shop, they will reimburse you to a certain amount and the same with any fees. For example, the cash advance shops I do, I get reimbursed the fee for the advance plus get paid $20. Basically, I do the shop and then fill out an on-line report within 24 hours. You have to be good at remembering details like names, descriptions, time in and out, etc.. 99% of the shops you will never reveal who you are. I have done a few in the past where I did reveal myself at the end so that I could give(or not give) a server in a restaurant an award for doing what they were supposed to, but those kinds are rare. You also need to be able to check your e-mails often in most cases too, because shops are normally scheduled on a first come, first served basis. Also, be prepared for most companies to not pay you until an average of 2 months after the time you did the shop.

Here is a great site for a list of reptable mystery shopping companies to sign up with.

http://www.volition.com/mysteryUSA1.html

 

[Soupermom]

Thanks for the info! Very interersting.......

 

[suzieqinga]

I am interested in more info about mystery shopping also. I did check out the posted links. Most sites seem to want your social security number up front, and that makes me a little nervous. I'm sure at some point, any company paying you would need it, but how do you know if they are legit companies or just a scam? Seems a little too easy...why aren't there more people doing it? Any answers are much appreciated!

Suzie

 

[Traveliz]

Well probably the answer to why aren't more people doing it would be its a job, it takes time, and its work. I have been a mystery shopper for over 5 years. I do quite a few shops; some months many many shops.

It takes a long time to develop working relationships with companies and even then they may lose an account that was a sizeable portion of my work. A prospective mystery shopper may fill out 20 different applications before a company calls on them with work in their area. Many regular mystery shoppers have applications on file with over a hundred different companies.

They ask for your SS number because it is real work. Sure some people do it once or twice and never again; but there are great deal of us that shop for many many companies. I am pretty sure most places you apply for jobs with require your SS number up front as well (such as the mall stores).

The statement "seems a little too easy" is far from the truth.

There are websites with lists and lists of mystery shopping companies...its up to you to do the research to determine the validity of the companies. There are several sites that will help a prospecitive shopper with the multitude of information they have available.

Liz

 

[kcarp]

I have done Mystery shopping for a few years now, and alot of people do this type of work. You don't go around telling everyone your a shopper. I'm sure there are some company out there that can scam you, but I would not worry about that to much. Remember the company that's hiring you wants to know if your legit too.

 

[floridagirrl2]

Originally posted by suzieqinga
Seems a little too easy...why aren't there more people doing it?
Suzie

I signed up with some companies to do mystery shopping, and quickly decided it wasn't worth my time--I'm guessing that's why more people don't do it!

The shopping companies send out a bunch of emails offering a particular opportunity (for instance, I have received several regarding mystery shopping at my local post offices), and whoever emails them back first, gets the job.

The mystery shop at the post office pays $12.00. The work is very intermittent. The income is reported to the IRS and you have to pay income tax on it, even though no taxes are taken out up front.

For the time and hassle of mystery shopping, I'd rather sell on Ebay--can do it out of my house, have more control over the amount of work I do, and can make more $$ (still have to pay income tax though ).

 

[Jaklackus]

I've done a few shops myself...for the time involved between travel, the actual shop(some are quite involved and some require you to return the merchandise after a specified waiting period too) and filling out the report..it wasn't worth the $10(usual payout) to me. Service Slueths is pushing some sort of silver and gold status for their mystery shoppers which you have to pay for the certification and since they implemented that I have stopped getting shops assigned to me..since the certified shoppers get first dibs over the rest of us...oh well.

 

[mom2mira]

I have been very happy with the shops I have had lately. My favorite are at my bank. I just make my normal deposit and get paid $15 to do it. The cash advance ones are really easy too, so the $20 is worth it. I also recently did some survey shops for a company and all I had to do was record the drive-thru prices of items at some fast food restaurants. Actually, one I just had to record the hours of operation. All were within 1/8 mile of each other, so even though I just made $19 between them, it was worth it. I try to do shops in areas where I will be shopping or running errands to anyway so I don't feel like I am going out of my way to do them. I don't do the ones that require returns, because they don't seem worth it. You can pick and choose what you sign up for, so it just depends on the kinds of offers you get. You do have to report all money earned(reimbursements won't be counted) on your taxes, but just make sure to keep track of your mileage and expenses. My shops really didn't effect my return this year.

 

[Traveliz]

I agree - mystery shopping has been well worth it to me - oh sure there are the $10.00 jobs but also in the last month I did a $60.00 job, one for $135 in eye wear, numerous gas station jobs giving me free gas, the groceries I do, all sort of jobs out there. So sure doing a couple of ten dollar jobs a month might not be worth it; but a thousand dollar month is a different story for some of us that shop steadily.

Liz

 

[floridagirrl2]

Originally posted by Traveliz
I agree - mystery shopping has been well worth it to me - oh sure there are the $10.00 jobs but also in the last month I did a $60.00 job, one for $135 in eye wear, numerous gas station jobs giving me free gas, the groceries I do, all sort of jobs out there. So sure doing a couple of ten dollar jobs a month might not be worth it; but a thousand dollar month is a different story for some of us that shop steadily.

Liz

Exactly--you have put in the time and effort to build up your mystery shopping business into a "real job"--it takes a lot of work to get to your level! It's definitely not "easy," it just looks that way (similar to selling on Ebay--easy to do on a now-and-then basis but not so easy to make into a $1000/month business).

 

[suzieqinga]

Wow! It seems there's a lot to learn about this business. I appreciate all of the responses. I'm not sure if this is something I would enjoy, but I would like to give it a try to find out. Best of luck to all of you shoppers, and thanks again for posting the info!

 

[kimberlyp02]

I signed up for a service like this a few years ago, but I assume since I'm in a smaller town that I haven't got any jobs?

 

[Traveliz]

Well really smaller town doesn't have much to do with it...its just there are hundreds of companies and signing up with the right companies that work the stores in your area is sometimes the trick. Many people also travel to work in nearby towns.

Liz