By Melanie Jordan, author of
“The Perfect Work-At-Home Job: Mystery Shopping” and “How-To Finally Make
Money As A Mystery Shopper”
Is
mystery shopping for real?
Mystery
shopping is one of the few things out there in the sea of work-at-home junk that
is legitimate. I wouldn't waste my time with it if it was not something I
had a positive experience with and knew that others could too. However, it
can either be the road to overworked and underpaid, or if you do it right, it
can be quite lucrative for a work-at-home, legitimate, flexible job. I have
learned how to do it the second way of course!
How
do I know which companies are legitimate?
If
you look at the different shopper boards, you'll see the same companies listed
again and again. You will also see
shoppers put up notes if someone is not paying or there are other
problems—word gets around fast in this industry!
Another way is to see if the company is a member of the National Mystery
Shopping Providers Association (www.mysteryshop.org),
many of the larger ones are. A
final check can be with the Better Business Bureau (www.bbb.org)
to see if any complaints have been registered against the company before you do
work for them.
Most
companies, like The Secret Shopper Company are legitimate—however, if anyone
asks you for upfront money to register to do shops for them, you can pretty much
assume it’s a scam.
What
are some of the advantages of being a mystery shopper?
Flexibility—make
money when you want to on your terms, and don’t when you have other things to
do! The ability to be home-based
(except when you are out in the field actually doing your research) is another
great benefit.
Plus,
while you can earn nice money on a regular basis, you can also get lots of
things for free that you might otherwise have to pay for out of your own pocket.
By doing mystery shopping, you can actually make your household budget go
further, and possibly get to do things (like go out to a fancy restaurant), you
would not otherwise get to do as often, with someone else footing the bill.
Finally,
since mystery shoppers are typically independent contractors, this can have
substantial tax advantages over being a W-2 employee—check with your tax
advisor.
Who
does mystery shopping?
Mystery
shopping is for all kinds of people who want the freedom to be home-based
without set working hours so they can make money when they want to, and not
bother when they have other things to do—like living their life!
There are mystery shopping seniors, stay-at-home Moms and Dads, college
students, employment seekers and career changers, entrepreneurs looking for
another income stream while they get their business launched and creative people
(actors, writers, etc.).
What
kind of experience do I need? Does
previous work experience/education help me in any way?
You
don't need any specific experience to be a mystery shopper.
Since so much of it is on-line based, it is important to be good with
e-mail and working with attachments, and have basic word processing and
spreadsheet skills (data entry, not spreadsheet creation).
You should also have good communication skills—both writing (although
you don't have to be at the level of winning a Pulitzer), and the ability to
carry on a conversation with employees of businesses you will be interacting
with in doing your assignments. Personal
qualities like being observant, reliable and having a good imagination are also
very important to be a top mystery shopper.
That
said, an initial plus (until you get actual mystery shopping experience) would
be any prior work experience or education in retail, financial services or
apartment leasing (since many shops fall into these industries), customer
service or the field of market research. But
if you don't have any prior "credits" in these areas, don't worry.
It won't keep you from being a mystery shopper if you present yourself
the right way.
Can
I do mystery shopping if I have a baby or small children?
Here’s
a special note for stay-at-home Moms and Dads—this is actually a job where you
can often bring along well-behaved kids. While
you can't bring the kids on every assignment, enough companies will allow it and
for some shops like day care centers, gyms with babysitting or toy stores, it
could be required. Every assignment
always has specifics on what dates and times it can be completed, so you know
before you accept or apply for the job if it is something you can do.
So
what do mystery shoppers really do?
Basically,
depending upon the type of shop or research assignment, a mystery shopper,
secret shopper, researcher, or most commonly referred to as simply “shopper”
will pretend in a believable fashion, without giving away the fact they are
a shopper, to be an actual customer or potential customer of a business.
In the process, the shopper will gather information and make observations
that the client company wants to know about, and submit a report with their
objective findings later on.
You
may be asked to pretend you are looking for an apartment; interested in joining
a gym; looking for a new bank to open a checking account; or even buying a
piano. Your job may be to rent a
video; bring your car in for repair; go out to lunch; go grocery shopping; etc.
You could be asked to call a mail order house and evaluate its service,
or even to check out a company’s web site and see how easy you find it to use.
Almost
any type of business—big or small, well-known chain or not—can use mystery
shopping services. The types of
shops you do can be as varied as you like, or you may decide to specialize only
in certain kinds based upon your own personal preferences and the pay or work
involved.
How
much can I make for each assignment?
If
you do higher-paying service category shops (such as apartments, home builders,
car dealers, testing centers, gyms, oil changes, banks), you can typically make
between $20 and $30 per assignment, or a dinner restaurant shop can pay $35-$100
in free food/drinks. Retail assignments typically pay less ($7 to $15),
although a “purchase and return shop” can get you up to $25. Fast food
shops pay the least—often just free food and possibly a $5 report fee.
Shop fees earned vary depending upon where you live, market demand and
how urgent the job is.
An
assignment can take as little as a half hour of your time including filling out
a report, to two hours. The more you are asked to do, the more the
assignment pays. If you focus on
the highest-paying assignments, make the right connections and create a system
where you get the jobs coming to you, you’ll become a top-earning mystery
shopper.
How
much can I make a month?
Just
like any self-employed person, you should expect your income will fluctuate from
month-to-month. If there is a good
demand for mystery shoppers in your area, and you have plenty of time available
to you, it is entirely possible to make up to $1,000 in a month’s time in
actual cash and high-end freebies depending upon the types of assignments you
do. Many good mystery shoppers earn
$300 to $600 extra per month once they are experienced.
People who “dabble” in mystery shopping make $200 or less per month.
But you don’t want to be a dabbler, you want to be a top-earning
mystery shopper!
If
I live in a small town should I give up on the idea of being a mystery shopper?
Not
at all! While it is true that the opportunities in your small town may be
somewhat limited (although it depends by what you mean by small), if you live
near a sizable city, you should be able to get assignments.
Otherwise, you’ll still get jobs, but not as many.
Your
earnings as a mystery shopper are somewhat dictated by market demand for those
services. However, it can also be a
quality vs. quantity thing. I have
seen some requests for mystery shoppers in smaller areas with much higher than
normal pay or bonuses attached because there were assignments available and
companies were having trouble finding a shopper to do them.
So you might do very well even if you do less assignments than someone
like me in a pretty major market like Southern California.
How
do I get started in finding mystery shopping assignments in my city or state?
1.
Sign up with The Secret Shopper Company—they are one of the best!
They have assignments nationwide and will let you know by e-mail when
there is something available in your area and invite you to request the job.
2.
At my resource center, Mystery Shopping Coach’s Corner there is a link
at the bottom of that page to check out one of my favorite mystery shopping lead
resources called "Mystery Shoppers Resources". It can be found
at http://mysteryshopcoach.cjb.net.
The webmaster, Julie Moreau will even send you an e-mail alert when she
updates the page (email to jmoreau1@aol.com
and please mention I referred you).
3.
Delphi and Topica newsgroups have some state-specific lead boards.
You might try there at www.delphi.com
or www.topica.com.
There’s a lot more to
being a professional, top-earning mystery shopper than just this, but it’s a
way for you to dabble and get a feel for what is possible. The key to earning
top money as a mystery shopper is to work efficiently because time spent looking
for work is time spent not working (and earning money)!
You need to make the right connections and ultimately have jobs coming to
you.
Besides being a veteran
mystery shopper, Melanie is the author of two books on mystery shopping—“The
Perfect Work-At-Home Job: Mystery Shopping” and “How-To
Finally Make Money As A Mystery Shopper."
She also
provides personal coaching services to beginning and experienced shoppers by
phone and e-mail.
Her free monthly e-zine for
mystery shoppers is called “The Perfect Work-At-Home Job Update” (subscribe
by e-mail to mysteryshopcoach@aol.com).
Back issues of this e-zine are available exclusively at her web site
Mystery Shopping Coach’s Corner
http://www.mysteryshoppercoach.com.