Office Discussions

I have been a mystery shopper for years, too.  It helps that writing comes easily to me.  But don't expect to make much money...but it is nice to get some free meals now and then.

every mystery shopper ad I have answered wants you to pay them for leads!

I'm also a mystery shopper.  Any company that wants you to pay them is a rip off.  You can go to Volition's website for a list of reputable companies.

I tried Mystery shopping once but having to spend money, get paid less then what I had to spend, my time and gas, just wasn't worth it to me.

How come all the Mystery Shopper "opportunities" that come up in my e-mail first try to sell me 200 different things and never do end up signing me up as a Mystery Shopper.  Until someone started this thread, I was beginning to think none of them were legit.

I'm really surprised this is paying off for someone.  Hats off to you!

I have join mystery shopper but not much stuff is assign or offered in my area that sucks. :( I wanna make me some money too.

I like mystery shopping.  I have been pad as high as $35 for one  shop.  Getting to eat someplace you haven't eaten before is cool also.

I did mystery shopping for a few years. Since I live in a rural area, most of the shops involved a pretty good drive. With gas prices higher, it got to be too costly. I did get free meals (although some were not so great) and some cash. It was an interesting experience overall, but I really don't have the time or energy to do the shops now. I did find that I blend in very well and was not pegged as the mystery shopper (hence some very interesting service). Perhaps I should apply to be a spy now.

Yep, I've been know to be a mystery shopper from time to time.  At first I took any little job I could get just for the experience but now I'm really choosy and only do the lucrative ones and the ones I reallllly like. 

I tried Mystery Shopping but I did not find it worth my time. You have to really work at it and most times until you get established as good mystery shopper you spend more then you make. With gas prices and travelling I found it was not worth it.

I would like to try it , but have not found one that's any good

I've been doing it for about a year for a half dozen companies. I usually just do shops I'd be going to anyway. You just get a few dollars extra, so I don't go out of my way to do them.

For all these times, I was thinking that mystery shopping is a scam, cos all of those offer that comes in my mailbox are asking for a fee so I know they are scam.  And now with all of these feed backs from you folks, I am convinced that mystery shopping is not for me either.

How did you get into this and did you have to pay? I have done some, one with a marketing company I worked for, it was a task assigned to me, another through a survey company I do. But like most people have said on here, it's not something you could make a living on.

You don't have to pay for legit firms. 

Now having said this, it is getting harder & harder to find good paying MS jobs. 

Are any of you certified & does this make a difference in the types of jobs you are offered?

It doesn't seem like it would be worth it unless I got assigned to do shopping for items I need or want. If it's something I have no intention on buying, then a mere few bucks for a not-so-cheap and unnecessary purchase seems pointless.

I searched online for mystery shopper and secret shopped and so on. Then, I filled out applications for various companies. And, no, I did not pay a fee to do so. Those kinds of deals are scams.

Example shops:

Go buy a meal. Report on meal. Get check for meal after sending in receipt. Tip not included.

Eat meal. Give reward for good report or "sorry" paper for bad service. Get meal covered and $8.

Get $10 gas and in store purchase of $2 or under and fill out report.

Stand outside store and survey people coming out. Takes about 2 hrs and then another hr for filling out reports. Get paid $30.

Buy small item and return item the next day. Fill out report. Get $10.

Buy pizza. Take photos at several angles. Get pizza covered and $5.

Sit in store. Survey anyone who signs up for cell phone plan. Takes 4 hours. Pay - $35.

Buy cookies. Eat a couple. Take package back to store and say stale. Get to keep new cookies. Get paid $7.

My sister was a secret shopper for a while, but she gave it up because you can't really make that much money from it.

I have tried it recently for my bank, they send you to different branches, but it really does not pay well.  Only about $18 per shop and you go and have them try to sell you on a service, you don't take it, but see how well they do with it and report back.  But it is really not worth the time and the gas if you have to drive too far.  I only do the ones that are on the way to my other errands and plans for the week.  I have not done too many. 

Cyndia please let me know what companies do all this.  I would love to sign up.Thanks

This is too funny not to share...

I was at a local chain restaurant for dinner doing a mystery shop. I was chatting with the waiter, and he mentioned another restaurant that he works at, plus some MYSTERY SHOPPING! He likes to do another chain restaurant. I asked him if he ever does THAT restaurant, but he said he never saw it listed. Little does he know...

I just tried several of the offers and got nothing but MORE offers.  What's the trick?  Why all the constant garbage.

How about a direct contact with a real shopper site.  Not these constant "try this" page after page.

When I started out, I joined every mystery shop company I could find. I soon realized that a lot of them were regional and had nothing in MY region. That's why it's so hard to recommend a particular company on a site like this. What works for me may not have any shops for you. So like others on this thread, I just say, do an online search and NEVER send any money.

Here's one I found in my email. I think it has a range of shops. Can't recall for sure. Been a while.

cybershoppersonline  - add www in front and dot com at end

I signed up direct with various companies like the one above.

Where I got some info on shops vs services that just want you to pay money was at Volition -  www volition dot com slash mystery slash html. It is a place to chat about different companies and get leads as I recall.

It's been a while, so I'm not real clear on the details. And, some things may have changed too.

OK. I can't post the full link. Trying without the www. Just add that in front of the two that look like links.

I did it mostly to get firsthand info on this type of quality control for classes I teach.

I got blocked when I tried to be more clear on the links. Hope you guys can figure those out. If not, try to google the main word with mystery shop, and you should find them.  

Hmmm... I've thought I would like to do this but after reading these posts it seems like it isn't worth it.