Ask:
I saw an ad in our local newspaper for Mystery Shoppers. Has anyone done this? If so, what does it entail? It would be nice to make some extra cash, but I'd like to know what to expect before I call. Thanks!
Answer:
First of all, the legit companies will NEVER make you pay to become and be trained to be a mystery shopper. There are companies out there that simply make you pay for lists of who does mystery shopping. There are other companies that make you buy things long term - Vindale is a bad one. It's basically nothing but a spammer and marketing company, saying they want your feedback. You don't get reimbursed for what you buy in some cases.
A good company will reimburse whatever you pay plus the shop fee within a reasonable period of time. You will NOT make a lot of money on this. It's a lot of work to get started - lots of forms and online training to read. One company I work with pays twice a month, another pays at the end of the following month. They are very picky - you MUST do the shop exactly as stated, getting employee names and descriptions, spending the right amount of time in the store (some are 10 mins, some 30). You usually have to buy things using a debit/credit card to show that on your receipt.
Go ahead and call, but know that a lot who advertise are the scammers. Keep your radar on. Trendsource and National Shopping Service are legit. Kern seems legit - I just haven't taken them up on any of their shops yet.
Answer:
I signed up with a company I had read about online and ended up closing my account. In my area the selection was very limited and they only paid $5 per job and expected a lot of time/work for it. The only purchases that were ever mentioned were for $1 or less. I do know people that do them for restaurants and get some free meals.
I've never seen mystery shopping advertised in our newspaper. Are they a local company? You may want to check out their website to see if they can give you an idea of what's involved and also check them out with the Better Business Bureau.
Answer:
I have mystery shopped for awhile and now work from home as an Account Manager for a mystery shopping company. Desertmom had some good advice. You should never pay for information on mystery shopping companies. Most ads in the newspaper are for companies who want you to pay them for the chance to complete mystery shops but don't do it! Visit Volition.com for a HUGE list of mystery shopping companies. All those companies should be legit. Some companies, including the one I work for, so use the newspaper when they are really having trouble filling a shop but most are scams.
You won't get rich but you can get some cool stuff. I have done spa and restaurant shops that reimbursed over $100. I got my hair cut for free at a very nice Avada salon for two years. I've stayed at hotels for free. But the thing is, you have to do the hard work first. You don't get the cushy shops very often as a brand new shopper. And you have to do the hard work yourself. No one will tell you who does the nice shops in your area because, understandably, THEY want to do them. It even hard to figure out what companies have shops in your area so you have to apply with all of them (100's of companies). As you get more experienced and do a great job, more things come your way.
I never, ever thought I would be offered an Account Manager position but here I am and it was solely based on doing a outstanding job on a particular shop. The then Account Manager remember me and had since been promoted and needed to hire a new Account Manager.
Good luck!
Answer:
I looked into it a couple years ago and found the ads i read were all scams I was sooo bummed!
Last year I saw another ad... ignored it because I figured it was the same scam... the following SUnday I read an article that runs every week - it details new business's opening in town... guess what new business opened? A mystery shopping business that recently hired a bunch of new people to go do mystery shopping for the local food and merchandise stores!!!!
Ughhh!!! Just my luck!
Answer:
i work for a mystery shop company and love it, first off like others have said DO NOT pay for a kit etc those are scams, the company i work for lets me go through their website and pick what jobs i want, there is a list of days that are available, then i chose the job and go do it, i get reimbursed for money spent plus a shopping fee for doing it, usually between 7-25.00 depending on the shop. I like the company i work for because really i work for myself, i choose how much make and how much i work. Ive worked for other companies and not found much in the way of work in my area but this one company has been great.