Anyone do Mystery Shopping?

[Brooke]

Anyone do mystery shopping to make a little extra money. It sounds like fun but I don't know anyone who actually does it.

[Girlo]

I've thought about it. :) My bank branch gets shopped a couple times a year, and it's interesting to find out who the shopper was after the fact. I've heard in my area though, there's not a lot of opportunity, so they'll mostly give you jobs in Tacoma, which is an hour's drive from here. :( You'll use the money you make in your gas tank!

It sounds really great though.....

[Lette]

Brooke,
I think Deborah has done it. She was a Secret Shopper. :)

[AmyP]

I haven't, but a friend of mine has. It was a great way to make extra cash after she was fired at one job and then on medical leave at her current job (she is fine now and has since returned to work). If you want, I can ask her for some links on where she got her jobs.

[lizziebeth]

I do it. It's great you get the free stuff but the companies usually make you do in-depth report forms so you do work for it. So far I've got:

a) free cinema trips with money to spend on drinks/food
b) free meals for two at nice restaurants worth around $80
c) around $100 per month free grocery online shopping

If you have time to do it, I recommend it. Sometimes it gets a bit much when your full-time job is busy.

[Jayne]

I looked into this a while back and there just wasn't anything in my area at all. I would have had to drive 30-45 minutes for everything and at that point it wasn't worth it.

Jayne

[TtownAnne]

I signed up with one company, but you had to take an online "test" after reading a thing about the company you were going to shop (anyone want to know about the restroom cleaning frequency at Arby's restaurant? I can tell you!) and it just got to be too much of an ordeal for too little reward.

[Brooke]

Which company did you guys try?
The one I was looking at has a one-time fee to join ($30). My aunt has looked at another company and they want her to pay $5-10 just to get the information about each job.

Since I have a bunch of free time right now, I thought it might be a good way to make a little money.

[Karri]

I looked into it here and found out that sometimes, you don't get paid. Like if you have to go to a restauraunt, they may just give you the free food. And then if you have your kids with you, you're going to have to fork over cash to feed them.

[redhairedgirl]

There was a woman that did this in NY and she has somehow made a living off of it. But she said that yes, there usually is some initial investment.
I would think around your area Brooke, there would be a lot of opportunity.

Anne - I think I'll pass on knowing and just let that be a secret you can keep on your own. ;)

[lizziebeth]

Brooke, I've never been asked to pay anything to join an agency and get work. I live in the UK and maybe it's different in the states but paying up front sounds a bit suspect to me.

Normally the agencies should pay YOU a nominal fee for doing each job, usually $10-20. And then you also get the freebie stuff of whatever you're testing. Good luck with it, if you go for it.

[Brooke]

I've heard of 2 now that you have to pay. Maybe it is different here. The one that I looked at says you earn back the fee within 60 days or you get the money back. And it pays you by the hour or the job, I think. They say "$10-40 per hour".

[~Deborah~]

Brooke,
I think Deborah has done it. She was a Secret Shopper. :)


:nod: I have been secret shopping since 2001 when I was pregnant with Joshua. You can make some good money doing it. I used to do the Mcdonalds jobs all the time but I became hard with having to do a drive thru AND the walk in after one another with the two boys.

I haven't had to pay to join any of the ones I am with. The only out of pocket money is when I have to buy the food then wait for reimbursement or if I buy the product and decide not to return it.

I do websurveys too and have made some good cash and recieved some good gift cards as well.

[Cami]

There's an enormous list of mystery shopping companies here:
http://www.volition.com/mystery.html

I found the problem is the upfront time required to register with different companies. I had to search through the list and find some in my area. Once I did that, I receive emails whenever they have an assignment or I can log in to their job boards. In my area, there just aren't a lot of assignments. I think in NYC and bigger cities, there's lots of work available.

I have done a few assignments (pizza, jewelry, mattress store, mexican food, etc). Normally either I get reimbursed for a meal or receive $10-$25 for "shopping" in the store (not buying anything). If I get reimbursed, it's the month following the shop, through paypal.

I think when they ask you to pay up front, it's a scam. Except there is some certification program that you can go through that does have a charge. It's not affiliated with a particular mystery shopping company, but I guess they all might be more likely to assign shops to you if you have this certification.

[Hannabanana]

I've done four "shops" and have had no problems getting paid: bank, sunglasses, pharmacy & clothing.
I didn't like the ones where you have to buy a certain amount of product .. I ended up spending more & you only get reinbursed for what the original requirement was; and having to buy & return items just makes me uncomfortable. All in all, the bank "shop" was the most $$ I've received & it was very easy.
As others have said on here, I've never paid and those sites where they tell you that their is a fee to join is basically like a pyramid scheme.
I felt uncomfortable

[JustJen]

I just got my first assignment. One quesiton though, am I allowed to take my kids?? I did the online certification and have read their guidelines, but no where can I find the answer to this.

It is a kid friendly place. A preschool.

[lizziebeth]

Jen, it sounds like taking your kids would be ok if the assignment is in a school but I would still check with the person who gave you the job. What is the actual assignment?

[Clare]

I just got my first assignment. One quesiton though, am I allowed to take my kids?? I did the online certification and have read their guidelines, but no where can I find the answer to this.

It is a kid friendly place. A preschool.

I'm signed up with several companies but have yet to take a job. Main reason is that most of them state that you can't take kids with you. Definitely check Jen, b/c if you do it with the kids when you weren't supposed to, they might not pay you. I didn't have to pay to join any of them.

[JustJen]

I didn't have to pay to join the site. I had to take their test to see if I could do the paperwork properly. I didn't end up doing that one, before I could get a response about if I could bring my kids, someone else snatched it up.

I just got another one for a movie theater, but it's very specific times and you have to take pictures while there.