Mystery Shopping.....
By mamacathie
@mamacathie (3928)
United States
August 16, 2010 5:36pm CST
Is this real? Isn't this hard? I tried to sign up for some one time and never got any offers to go mystery shopping. I think I had to take some tests online to learn how to conduct the mystery shopping.
How much time does it take? Do you have to have a notebook and write down all the notes so you don't forget it?
Is this really real and legit? I am very skeptical about anything like that since I never seemed to get the opportunity to mystery shop.
Then I see where you have to pay to pay to get a list of mystery shopper list and then contact each place. I cannot afford to pay to get anything like this. I feel if they want to find out about businesses then they need to foot the bill.
I have many many questions and don't even know what to ask. LOL Please answer and give me all the information you might have. I need help if there is any way I might could do this on my days off from babysitting my grand-children. Oh wait! I don't have any days off. LOL I'd have to take my kids with me. Is that possible?
Thanks for reading and God bless you!
2 people like this
8 responses
@aaronfyzeon (1920)
• Philippines
17 Aug 10
This topic reminded me of being a mystery shopper before. This is really fun and exciting. But you really must know the places of the shops that you are going to. you will just pretend that you are a prospective buyer of the product. Since in their establishment they are offering a few brands. And this brand that I am working with will determine if they are offering the brand that I am with. if they do then I will test them how the sales person is able to make me convince that I will buy that product. It is very easy because at 5 days of work that is paid, you can actually do it in one day. All we have to be is really be skeptic and we should not bring notepads with us and remember just what they have said.
@oldchem1 (8132)
•
17 Aug 10
Hi I don't know about the US but I am a mystery shopper here in the UK and it works really well.
You get between £5 - £10 plus expenses for each shop - so if you buy something for £5 and you are asked to spend £5 you are refunded that money.
I love doing it, it is very interresting and I have always been paid.
I work for Gapbuster and Retail Eyes, I would certainly recommend it.
1 person likes this
@sid556 (30960)
• United States
17 Aug 10
I have never tried to mystery shop but I do know that they exist. I work at a Sunoco Station and 3 times in the past 3 months I have had a mystery shopper come in on my shift. I never know who they are or when they'll show up. They just come in and make a small purchase and go through the line. Then they rate me on speed, appearance...neat,clean, friendliness and greeting the customer etc etc. I only know after the fact when they come in and give my boss a copy of the report. Once one came in during a very crazy, hectic time and I had a customer just ahead of her that was being really difficult and holding up the line. Once I realized who the mystery shopper was, I felt sure I'd get a low rating. I guess my irritation with the difficult customer didn't show through because she said I handled the situation well...makes me wonder if it wasn't a set-up to see how I'd handle it. If I were you, I'd go directly to local businesses and offer to be a mystery shopper for a certain price.
@coffeebreak (17798)
• United States
16 Aug 10
I tried that once... to do a mystery shop at Arbys fast food. I had to take a "test" and that "test" took me an hour and a half! Good grief! and all I would hvae gotten out of it was free food. So I stopped. I have heard some do okay at it, but it isn't a "full time" job. Check it out tho and see what you think!
@puccagirl (7294)
• Israel
17 Aug 10
You are right, it is not a full time job for most people, even if there are people who do it full time I guess. When I did it, I used to do like 2 assignments a month or something, because that was all I had time for. One thing I did every month was to go to McDonald's to evaluate their speed and service. I got paid for the meal and another $10, which is pretty okay, considering it just took me around 10 minutes usually.
@dont_pick_your_nose (2279)
• Australia
17 Aug 10
Yes Mystery shopping is a real job and yes u are right to be sceptical because there are just as many if not more people out there who just want to waste your time and money. First real with earning money on the internet is never pay any start up costs... making money does not cost money and alot of the true paid survey sites give you a bonus free when you join as you are registering to provide your services which they need to run there business. Mystery shopping jobs are best for people in metropolitan areas as to keep up with the flow and enjoy the benefits of free food, clothes money and dining experiences!! there are even hotel jobs and toy store jobs up for grabs... But the main thing is to research the business properly and just incase call them up and see what you think.
@dreamkeeper (455)
• United States
17 Aug 10
Well, i am not so sure about this mystery shopping but i hera this all the time in the net. Now i am so curious about this things.
@sergeantrom (5721)
• United States
17 Aug 10
Start here first to "learn" what you need to know. Then check out each company and see what their rules are and if they have training. These are free companies. You never have to pay. It all depends on where you live so you should sign up with many companies as you can handle until you find the one with the most jobs. I signed up with bare international and they have been emailing me with jobs for months. I guess its because I live in a big city like Dallas and lots of shopping malls where I live.
http://www.mysteryshop.org/shoppers
@puccagirl (7294)
• Israel
17 Aug 10
I used to do it, and it was kind of fun, and didn't take too much time to be honest, I would do it when I had time. I never paid for anything though, I am not sure that seems very legit to me.
What I did was that I saw an offer online, signed up, and they called me, and from then on, they would send me assignments that they thought I might be interested in, every once in a while through email. I could then choose if I wanted to do it or not. I didn't walk around with a notepad, I just tried to remember the stuff they asked about and then wrote down the stuff as soon as I left the place.
I would report back to the mystery shopping company through email as well.
I liked it, but now I live in a different country where I can't do it anymore. So I had to stop. But I can highly recommend it, and there is no problem taking the kids with you either!
