Do you mystery shop?
By momincharge
@momincharge (94)
United States
September 26, 2007 10:28am CST
I've done mystery shopping and store audits on and off for about fifteen years. Sometimes I love it and sometimes I hate it. I love being able to give management a true picture of how customers view their stores. I like getting paid to do that and I like the flexibility of the shops. I hate that it usually takes a month to get paid. I also hate that many require a purchase and while it is reimbursed I do have to wait a month to get my money back. Do you do mystery shopping? If so, what do you like and dislike about it?
1 response
@ravinskye (8237)
• United States
26 Sep 07
I've never done mystery shopping. I've thought about it, but I wasn't sure exactly how it worked. I'm too afraid to get scammed. Plus I'm really shy so I hate making phone calls if thats involved. I don't know that my area would be in demand for mystery shoppers either. The town is kind of falling apart.
@momincharge (94)
• United States
26 Sep 07
The area where you live does have an impact on what is available. With that said, I do see several of my mystery shopping sites that often have shops way out in the rural areas and few people available to do the shops. I live in a busy suburb but although there are lots of shops there of tons of mystery shoppers so the competition is fierce to get the jobs.
You should never pay a company to mystery shop or pay someone to give you information about companies that hire. You can find the information online youself just by googling. Any site that wants you to pay is going to be a scam. You do have to pay for purchases upfront and there is a certification process that costs money if you want to be certified but those are the only fees you should incur.
You cannot be too shy when you mystery shop because you will have specific questions that must be answered, you will have to evaluate everything so you have to be nosy and you need to interact with the employees. Not all require phone calls but those are the easy part.
If you have any questions about getting started just post them and I'll try to help.
