Mystery shopping
By dolphin2406
@dolphin2406 (1224)
Poland
July 16, 2009 4:25am CST
I was wondering if there are people here who work as mystery shoppers. I know there is a user, but was wondering if there are others.
I have joined some sites but unfortunately there were only two sites that have clients in my country. I did 3 assignments for one company that involved buying clothes and then getting a percentage of the bill and a fee. Then I had another two where I had just go and check some products and assess th customer care.
The other company I work for is the best, I have been with them for two years now and get assignments every month, they pay punctually and have earned some good money with them. They have only one client here but has many outlets so I go to different ones. This involves eating a meal and assessing food quality, cleanliness and service. They reimburse all money for the meal and an additional fee.
What assignments do you get to do? have you found yourself in some weird situation? and do you enjoy doing this work?
It's a pity there are not much shops here, it would be great for me to do these assignments in other shops.
There was another site that offers clothes shopping here but they are a bit expensive and they said you can return the product for full reimbursement or keep it and get a small fee. But I know I will not return product and too expensive to keep.
Thanks for sharing your stories! Have a nice day. 
1 person likes this
7 responses
@frankiecesca (2489)
•
17 Jul 09
I am signed up to a couple of companies but, unfortunately the assignments are all done on a first come, first served basis and I have only ever had one assignment which was to go into a bar and order an ale! It was easy enough and I got a small fee for it plus my money back so I wouldn't mind doing some more if I can get them! x
@dolphin2406 (1224)
• Poland
17 Jul 09
Well in these cases you have to check out the site frequently to be able to get some assignments and earn some extra money. Have a nice day!
@dolphin2406 (1224)
• Poland
17 Jul 09
Congratulations for your baby! now you have to be careful what to eat so you get back in shape. Have a nice day!
@dolphin2406 (1224)
• Poland
16 Jul 09
I'm not quite sure but I have check the site for which I work and Australia is listed in the countries they have. If you want I can send you the link through private message. you can add me as fried if you like and I can send it. Have a nice day.
@p1kef1sh (45681)
•
16 Jul 09
I have worked on and off as a mystery shopper and have found it generally amusing work but not that financially rewarding. I get paid about £5 ($8US) per job and reimbursement of anything that I have had to buy. I get to keep the goods though. There's only so much rat poison I can use though!! That was one shop. LOL. I think that the hardest thing is being "normal" in a store and remembering your brief. But once you've done it for a while it's quite OK. Not something that will ever make you rich.
1 person likes this
@dolphin2406 (1224)
• Poland
17 Jul 09
No it will not make you rich but a very good way to earn some extra money considering it only takes about 30mins to do the assignment and then some more to make the report back home.
@gcorp09 (940)
• Singapore
16 Jul 09
Well, I have yet to work before as a mystery shopper even though I had learn about it since my school days. (Note: I'm studying marketing, and market research is one of the subjects, of which they did talk about this topic...) I did tried to look for one before, but could not find such jobs. However, my husband had have an experience before with mystery shoppers, as one of his previous jobs was in the retail sales line (jewelery), and the company hired mystery shoppers to check on the company staff performance. I heard that the mystery shoppers are allowed to buy the jewelery if they think the sales staff is good as long as it's within the certain budget given by the company.
1 person likes this
@dolphin2406 (1224)
• Poland
16 Jul 09
Buying jewelry would be great! I had an assignment to visit a shop which had jewelry and other artefacts but only for a consultation and sales persons assessment. No buying was involved. Thanks!
@akuler (3531)
• Malaysia
16 Jul 09
Hi dolphin12406,
I have done this with gapbuster.com since April. I love this because not only you get your free meal/product and little fee but because everything is done on internet except the shopping and you can do it on your leisure time.
The only problem is you can only do the job once at the same shop. It is okey if you stay at the big city with a lot of participant shop but if you are from a small city, it is gone once you have done it.
I always looking for a free to join site. I didn't trust the company who ask for payment when they want you to work for them. I look it as a scam company.
Happy mylotting and have a nice day.
1 person likes this
@dolphin2406 (1224)
• Poland
16 Jul 09
Yes that's true but here there are some 7 outlets and our island is small so to go from one city to another is only 30 minutes drive maximum so I can do all and have enough for each month. I used to do another outlet in another island next to ours (20 minutes ferry) and they used to give me bonus but after some time they said that I was recognized as a mystery shoppers so now I cannot go there anymore. It is a bit rare here to see people eating on their own especially in the evening so I feel a bit weird, I prefer doing the lunch ones as you might go during break or after shopping and it will not seem that weird. The worst is the weekend when many families go with children and I'm the only one eating alone! 
@dolphin2406 (1224)
• Poland
21 Jul 09
Companies assign you to visit a shop and check their customer service, food quality, general cleanliness and some things to be sure that the customers are treated well. It is called mystery shopping because you have to act as a normal customer so the sales person will not know that you are checking on them.
