Mystery Shopping

'Mystery shopping' (in other words, reviewing retail outlets anonymously for money) can certainly be a full-time occupation. All reputable companies which do this will insist on a 'probationary period'. It is absolutely essential to be totally reliable, timely and very explicit in your reviews. The people who do this sort of work full time are expected to work far more than a normal 9-5 job and to very strict constraints. They are professionals and are very much more than the 'average shopper' (though, of course, they must be seen as exactly that by the shops that they are assigned to review). In other words, they are consummate actors with very special skills in observing, reporting and evaluating on specific criteria. They will usually have quite a lot of experience both as shoppers and as staff - and possibly in retail management as well - and will understand completely the constraints and implications of their assignment and be able to give accurate and meaningful reports from the customer's point of view. Such people are the 'elite' in the 'anonymous assessment' world. You get there by hard graft, concrete evidence of ability and by delivering your reports on time, every time. It's NOT easy but, on the other hand, it is NOT out of reach of anyone who has a good command of English, can deliver on time and consistently and accurately report exactly what the customer (usually the retail outlet) needs to know. If you get onto the full-time staff of a good company, you will be paid exceedingly well and you can consider yourself a professional.

You have to be really careful with things like that. There are jobs out there but not all of them are legit. I would stick with one company that you know is legit and go from there. Maybe you can get some good mystery shops from them but would have to travel a little farther. Around here they are few and far between.

I see several people here talking about mystery shopping but I don't see anyone mentioning sites to sign up an do this. I get e-mails about mystery shopping but these are all scams. I would be interested in a real opportunity.

Mystery shopping can be fun and mysterious at the same time, isn't it? Well, I guess it's fun to do but those kind of job is not available in our country, I think. I bet you can easily have money on doing that. But if a fulltime job can still be the best option on earning money, I'd choose the fulltime job. If I can search for part time jobs which has fast and big earnings, why not choose it, right? Well, it still depends on you on what kind of job is it you are applying and gaining to do.

What a surprise! I checked your profile, and I was really amazed. You reminded me of my profile colors. I had the same profile color background with you. I always love the combination of blue and pink. I removed it few weeks ago because I was planning to add more color, but until now I don't have time yet. I was also interested to apply for a mystery shopper, but same with one of the comments here, I don't know if there are legit companies in our country. You're lucky that you have a lot in your country. I'll make a thorough research about this mystery shopper. Well, owlwings as always gave you a very comprehensive response. You can get a lot of information from his post.

I would love to do this..how do you get invovled?