Mystery Shopping in a nutshell
1. NEVER pay a fee to join a mystery shopping company SCAM and NEVER take a check or money order and deposit it into your account to pay it to another account SCAM
2. Reputable companies are listed here
3. offers certifications that you pay a fee for. This certification supposedly can get you more shops, but I have no certifications and have plenty of shop offers.
4. There is no guarantee shops will be available in your area. Mystery shopping is more of supplemental sporadic income. All shops have rules you follow, usually no kids, certain dress code, time of day to go, etc.
5. You must apply and provide Social Security # and personal references, job history, etc. Most companies also collect a writing sample.
6. You are an independent contractor, you will receive a form 1099 if you make more than $600 in a year
7. Some shops require digital camera, stop watch or other electronic devices
8. Shops are mostly self assign online and have to be diligently completed and reported.
9. Some shops require money out of your pocket. You will be reimbursed after submitting proper documents or sometimes out of pocket is paid to you in the shopping fee.
10. Some shops will require you to watch demos and answer questions about how to perform the shop. You must pass these “quizzes” to get the shop. You can take the “quizzes” many times.
11. Most companies allow you to search for shops within a certain distance from a zip code. So if you will be going to a new town or traveling for vacation, may be able to earn some extra money.
12. Some of the typical places shops are available (this in my area, varies by location) – fast food, banks, movie theaters, office stores, dollar stores, wal-mart, optical, clothing, retail stores, hardware stores, I guess just about anywhere.
The more shops you do the more you will learn. I can say from experience the fast food shops are VERY detailed and they don’t pay alot (you have to shop drive thru first, wait few mins than go inside and spend at least 15 mins inside and timing has to be exact) . I usually ignore those. When it gets closer to the end of the month and shops aren’t completed some companies call you and offer to pay more. I just got a call today, for a Dollar General Video Inventory. Original pay was $8 for 45 mins of work. Today the caller offered me $12 and I accepted, because I go there on Weds. for a merchandising assignment with another company.
The company I use the most is Market Force, http://www.marketforce.com/the-shopper-force/additional-info/ on this link you can get more company info, and find all their social sites.
Explore the website and let me know what you think. Also, if you have any questions don’t hesitate to email me back.
CentsLessDeals says
This is so informative!! Thanks for taking the time to write this up 🙂
~JB
Froggie says
I got your email, but haven't had time to go look over the site yet. I did, however, read this and found it very helpful. I will take more time to look into this later and let you know how things go =) Thank you!