anyone a mystery shopper.

dwilkinsonofthree · 09-20-2007, 10:47 AM

Need to find a job that works around my kids schedule. Was wondering if anyone is! and if you like it how it works. I read alot on line at some sites but really don't talk to a person about it. Thanks

GatorgalstuckinGA · 09-20-2007, 11:48 AM

i've always wondered about it too..my concern is that you don't really make money...would love to hear people who have done this and had success

alinnell · 09-20-2007, 12:28 PM

This always sounds a bit "iffy" to me. You see so many places advertising for mystery shoppers, but when you look into a lot of them, they want you to pay for lists of stores. Sounds like a scam to me.

phantastica · 09-20-2007, 12:32 PM

I have heard of LOTS of scams about this, but I also have one friend who regularly does it. She receives nothing other than reimbursement for the food or services she received, and it usually involves filling out a pretty big form that requires you to pay attention to every last detail of the experience (bathrooms, hostess, bartender, parking lot, etc.). In short, she decided it wasn't all that worth it for the work involved. I can ask her what the web site was and PM you with information, if you want.

StillTryin · 09-20-2007, 01:20 PM

there is a company fairly close to me that does it, you really dont get "paid" so to speak, you may get a free meal or some other MINOR compensation, but that is about it.....I signed up with them to check it out and out of all the jobs they had for my entire STATE the "top paying" assignment was $10, it would have cost me more in gas to get to the store.

I would say if you are wanting to earn some extra $$$ network with some other people and if there is something you are good at...say organizing, offer to help others (for a fee of course). Then over time you can really "build" your own little business doing that, if that interests you.

We have several women around here that do housekeeping for others, painting (interior and exterior), organizing, daycare, errands, you name it.

FrouFrou · 09-20-2007, 02:42 PM

I too was wondering about this as I see ads for it all the time. Would be a GREAT job for sure!

jtammy · 09-20-2007, 03:02 PM

I did a little last year for a company that only does mystery shopping for banks. At the most, I would do 2 -3 a month. Each report paid around $30.00, + mileage. The report that I would have to write afterwards was fairly lengthy. Overall, I don't think it was worth the trouble. I found out about it by coincidence. My bank had a blurb about it on their website and I followed their link and saw the notice that they were looking for people in my area to do mystery shopping.

Also my employer hired a mystery shopper to do a few shops over the summer. From a customer service standpoint, it provided excellent information on what we were doing right and what we weren't. The person we hired was someone that had experience doing it locally. We didn't go through any type of organization.

What I have heard in general is that many places want you to pay for the list and that you should never pay for a list

hotmama2three · 09-22-2007, 12:49 PM

I to did this a couple times. For me it wasn't worth my time or the trouble of childcare arrangements or being away from my family during 'free time'. I'd rather do something fun if I'm going to be away from my family.

I really think this is something best suited perhaps to college students with fewer obligations and time to kill between classes. Or just someone who has a lot of free time on their hands -- not too many of us. The reports are lengthy and detail oriented so if life has worn down your memory edge it will be a total pain if you forget something.