What is a Mystery Shopper?
We are ordinary people who visit businesses to evaluate them. We do all the things everyone else does, go to the movies, out to dinner, get our car fixed, see a doctor or look for an apartment, but we get paid for it. In return we write one or more reports – usually for a middle-man – that tells how well the business did.
How Much Does it Pay?
The actual pay varies and may be partly “in kind.” That is to say, if you go out to dinner, the dinner may be your pay or you might get a small amount of money for doing the paperwork, as well. When you evaluate an oil-change company or an eyeglass retailer, it is probably that your payment will be “in kind”. On the other hand, you may get paid $15 or $20 for going to the bank and applying for a loan or and account, or for counting a whole rack of products in a drugstore. Our average cash payment is between $7 and $10 per job.
Can you really make money at it?
Some people are full-time mystery shoppers. In most cases that means working for multiple companies. With careful planning you can make money, but you should expect to put in full-time hours. Being organized is essential. After a time you will find out what jobs work for you. For instance, there are 5 chain drugstores in my town. If I go to all of them in 2 hours and I make $7 per store, that is $35.00, or $17.50 per hour. If I have to fill out a one page form for each one and that process takes another hour, the pay drops to $11.66 per hour. If I also have lunch at a restaurant then I need to factor that in and if I also get my oil changed then my pay will be much higher because I can now add in the price of those things (the lunch and the oil change) to my pay.
A mojor problem, too, is that many companies pay slowly (6 or 8 weeks later). If you spent money for a meal, you will not get it back until they pay you, so make sure that you can wait and then keep accurate records of what you expect to receive. You will need the records later for your taxes too.
How Do You Get Started?
There are websites that list many “marketing companies” who are the ones actually hired to do the work. In turn, those companies contract with shoppers all over the country. Essentially, you are working for yourself as an independent contractor, contracted with by the marketing firm to do a specific job. Apply to several mystery shopping companies (or many, if you wish). When you get a job offer, it will include directions. Do it exactly the way you are told. Don’t go on Tuesday if you agreed to be there on Saturday. Read the report over before you go, so you know what to look for. Some reports can be filed online and some are on paper. Write neatly and concisely. Stick to facts, but give enough details to draw a picture of what happened. Not “the salesman was rude” but “he ignored me for 10 minutes while he was talking to his girlfriend on the telephone.”
DO NOT SPEND MONEY ON BOOKS THAT SAY YOU CAN MAKE $30 PER HOUR. Such jobs are rare and random. You can find everything you need to know online or at the library. There are many many chat groups and bulletin boards available.
What will You be Doing?
Many assignments are in restaurants. They depend on customer service and it is important that customers be pleased so that they will come back again. Such jobs generally pay for one or two meals with little or no extra cash included. Retail stores and banks are equally dependent on good service and those jobs tend to pay more in cash, although the payments vary greatly. In addition, you may find jobs such as checking apartment rentals, oil changes, real estate agents and even doctors. As you gain experience, you will learn which types of jobs work for you and which companies you enjoy working for.
Above all, have fun! That is what most of us do it for . . . a little extra income and a lot of “dates” that we couldn’t have afforded otherwise. Gotta’ go now! We are having pizza tonight one restaurant and then ice cream at another. Then we will come home and watch the movie we rented this afternoon. Yes! All paid for by someone who wants to know if the service is good and the floors are clean. I can’t wait to find out!
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