My thoughts on professional mystery shopping, with links
Mystery Shopping January 13th, 2008
When I first became a contract worker back in 2003, I had a lot of time to research and find jobs I could do in between my jobs. I spent a LOT of time in the myseterious world of mystery shopping.
My favorite site back then was Volition.com. It was so exciting to have a LONG list of mystery shopping companies in front of me. I methodically went down the list and applied to probably each and every one. I even spent the $15 to become a certified mystery shopper!!! I had a lot of free time during the week, I was driving a car that got over 30 mpg, and no one was talking about how expensive gas was. I routinely set my shopping radius at 50 miles.
Getting jobs assigned to me became as addictive as eBay. You had the find the job, sign up for it, wait to hear if you got accepted, then ACCEPT the job! Then you’d often have to go through some training for that particular assignment. It proved quite challenging to find the time to devote to this process, especially if you were out all day, say, MYSTERY SHOPPING!
But I kept at it as much as I could. I met people online who claimed it was their full-time gig and they paid the bills with it. Maybe they were insomniacs who had the time to search all night and shop all day…then don’t forget reporting your findings all evening. Doing the shop itsself is the EASY third of the entire process!
This isn’t to say that mystery shopping is completely draining or not worth the time. I once went a whole year getting free Oil Changes from my favorite oil change shop thanks to mystery shopping! I still get the offers to do these shops in my email and if I’m checking my email enough during the day I can still get accepted to do them before other shoppers in my town swipe them first.
One company that seems especially in need of shoppers, at least here in the Cleveland, Ohio area, is Corporate Research International. They have a lot of pizza evaluation shops right now, so if you like pizza, check them out!
If you couldn’t guess by the title of my blog, I don’t put all of my eggs in one basket. Mystery shopping can be fun, fruitful, challenging, and even satisfying! But I spend my time and energy evenly committing to various types of contract jobs. This avoids burn-out and setting myself up for disappointment. Approach it as a fun activity to do when you have the time. Don’t plan on getting rich on this one type of work - that’s really my running theme on all topics. Renaissance Lifers want work to be fun, not a chore. So find jobs that work with your life and schedule, not against it. I will help you!
My bookmarks are chock-full of mystery shopping companies. Here are some that I’ve had success with:
Plenty more links where those came from! More to come.
About
New mystery shoppers often get discouraged because the jobs they see are typically low-paying. With experience, though, there are better (and more interesting) assignments that become available to you.
You are absolutely right that you should apply to many companies. You never know where that great job will come from. There is a list of nearly 200 companies that do not charge a fee at http://www.MysteryShoppersManual.com/mystery-shopping-companies
Never pay a fee to sign up with a company. However, paying for the MSPA Certification (as you did) is a good idea. Certification is not required by any company, but it can help to open doors.
Most importantly, when you accept an assignment, do it. Too many people sign up to be mystery shoppers then do not follow through. These companies count on you to do what you have promised.
Although mystery shopping can be hard work, it is an enjoyable and flexible way to make extra money.
Good luck with it!
And of course, don’t forget to sign up with BARE International! The president of that company is the co-founder of the MSPA and has been in business for over 20 years. Go to http://www.bareinternational.com to read about the company and http://www.baidata.com to sign up. We even have VIDEO shops!!!
Thanks Secret Shopper for the link. Good point about sticking with it. Not all jobs sound as fun as other jobs, but being reliable means you will keep your options open with everyone when they have a job you really, really want!
Christie, you know what, I was (am) signed up with Bare. I guess I wasn’t too busy with them in my area (Ohio), but I will check out my profile today to make sure I’m still up to date.