You've seen
ads touting how you can make a part time or even a full time income doing “mystery or secret shopping.” Some say you can make between $10 – $60 an hour or more. That is technically true. But it’s stretching truth a bit. There's another side of story that most people neglect to mention. I believe everyone should know this side as well. According to Mystery Shopping Providers Association website: Mystery Shopping is practice of using trained shoppers to anonymously evaluate customer service, operations, employee integrity, merchandising, and product quality. You can mystery shop for practically any service or product you can think of.
First and foremost, there is NO need to pay for mystery shopping information. Mystery shopping information is available for FREE online. You just have to know where to find it.
Mystery shopping on any sort of regular basis is really for stay at home Moms, people who have plenty of spare time or someone with an extremely flexible schedule. Lots of notifications are for “emergency” or “urgent” shops which may need you to do it very next day.
You MUST have internet access. You also must be intelligent. You will need to write out your reports and you have to be able to articulate your observations well.
The hardest part about getting an assignment is to get that FIRST one. The trick to getting selected is to SELL YOURSELF in your reply.
With many shops you must pay out of your own pocket first then wait to be reimbursed. That's not always case, but it's quite common. Many companies pay you following month and it can take up to 45 days. So if you need money you’re spending to do a mystery shop to pay bills, DON’T do it.
