You may have seen them on the Today show or read about it in USA today, but what does it take to be a mystery shopper?  Well I used to be a mystery shopper and here is some of what I learned along the way.  First of all mystery shopping is a wonderful way to earn extra money and pick up some free stuff along the way.  Companies use them all of the time to keep tabs on the level of customer service their employees are providing.  They are also used to check to see if employees are offering promotions, offering various up-sells or if they are doing things according to a certain company format.   I’ve personally done shops in restaurants, retail stores and even convenience stores.  When I was mystery shopping, sometimes if the employees did a good job I could go back in and give the employee an award for performing their job properly and they always loved the recognition.

As a mystery shopper your job really depends on your ability to keep your emotions out of the process and to keep your identity concealed.  If employees sense you are a mystery shopper they will immediately be on their A game and you won’t be able to get a fair picture of what’s really happening.  Your job is really to observe and take lots of mental notes.  It is important that you remember the things you observe because you won’t be able to write anything down while in the store but will have to wait until you have left.  What companies want from you isn’t ranting and raving but a full clear picture of everything that happened during your experience shopping, so the more details you give the better.  I found that companies want information that will help them improve their customer’s experience and it was my job to help management know what that experience is like.   

As far as pay goes, from my experience as a shopper, I found the shops paid anywhere from $7-$20, depending on what the shop was, but I did find some that paid more.  Generally these shops will last anywhere from 5 – 20 minutes, unless it was a sit down restaurant.  When I was doing your shops if I had  to purchase anything I always got reimbursed for it and I kept whatever I purchased.  It was nice picking up some new things and eating at nice restaurants without paying for it and getting paid to do it.  As a mystery shopper you will be an independent contractor so you can work with as many companies as you want and when and where you want. 

To find mystery shops you will sign up with a company that will provide you with a list of all of the mystery shops in your area and you can decide which ones you want to do.  The terms of the shop will be clearly spelled out as well as the payment for doing it.  If you like the terms go forward and if not you don’t have to do it.  When searching for companies you will find there are lots of companies out there that will charge you money to give you access to all the mystery shops.  You should never pay for any of these services because the legitimate companies don’t ask for any money upfront.  I have a couple of links below with companies I have worked with.

For me mystery shopping was fun and simple and I made some extra cash.  I have since gone on to do other things, but every now and then if I feel the need to get a free meal at a restaurant I may put on my mystery shop hat and go to work.

Here are some great links for mystery shopping:

Suite 101
Market Force Information
Intelli-Shop
Mystery Shopping Providers Association