Become a Mystery Shopper

Become a Mystery Shopper

I have been meaning to do this post for a while now. I have some Mystery Shopping companies posted on the Mystery Shopping tab. Also check Volition for a huge list of legitimate companies. Obviously, this is not a work-from-home job as the rest of the jobs I post about on here but I like to let people know about it because it is something that you can do in your free time usually, after your husband gets home from work or even take the kids out with you. After all, many of these mystery shops are errands like the grocery store or bank that you would be going to anyways. Most of the assignments do have deadlines that they have to be done by and some of the more specific ones like baseball games, etc have to be done on a specific day but for the most part it is pretty flexible. Many people don’t believe this is a real job but it is. I did it for about two years a few years back and it was a lot of fun. Here is more info on what to expect.

Mystery Shopping is probably something you have all heard of but probably not many of you have tried it. It is basically “shopping” a location as a consumer and critiquing what kind of service you get there. You have to be able to pay attention to details, be organized and usually have a decent memory. You could be shopping grocery stores, banks, fast food restaurants, find dining establishments, amusement parks, baseball games, hotels, apartments, new homes or retail stores. You work as an independent contractor and can work for as many companies as you would like. I got into it more out of curiosity than anything. Although this is not “working from home”, you do it in your free time, whenever is convenient for you. The one thing you have to realize if you are going to get into this is you have to apply with TONS of companies. Don’t just fill out a couple of applications and think the jobs will start rolling in, if you want enough work to keep you busy then you will have to put in a lot of time on the computer at first filling out all the applications. You have to realize most of the companies work all over the US and therefore may not have shops in your area on a regular basis. To help out with this you can download Roboform to input your basic information on the applications each time.
There are usually two different ways to get assignments. Some companies are self-assign which is the best way when you are just getting started. They post the available jobs on their website once a month and you go in and choose which ones you want to do. This way you are not being picked based on experience. Make sure you complete your assignments on time or in cases of emergency let someone know you will be unable to complete it. This way you will get future work from the company again. The other type of assignments is when the company decides who will do each job. Usually you go in and select which jobs you are interested in and “apply” for them then the company chooses which agent they will use for each assignment. These are harder to get until you have experience.
Beware of any jobs advertising mystery shopping and asking for money.

Alaina Forbes

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