Extra Income: Mystery Shopping

   Mystery shopping can be fun and adventurous, and can also give you a sense of pride knowing that you helped a company to learn where its strengths and weaknesses are in their customer service. Mystery shopping can also earn you free meals, clothing, groceries and more. It can also put money in your pocket. Many use mystery shopping as a way to take pressure off their budget because you can keep what you buy, be reimbursed, and be made for doing the assignment.

A mystery shopper is a person who goes to a shop and acts as a normal customer to analyze the customer service they receive. You do this by following a certain scenario. Afterwards you fill out your findings in an online report and then upload the report, a photo of the receipt and any other requested photos for the assignment. 

Some shopping companies require you to have a PayPal account to receive your shop pay, others pay by PayQuicker accounts, some by direct deposit to your bank account or your prepaid debit card account, and some pay by check.

The pay for shopping may take from one to two weeks, to 30 or 40 days, depending on the company. The ideal solution is to register with as many companies as possible so that you can have money coming in on a consistent basis. I saw a comment posted on a web site from a husband who says that he and his wife have registered with over 200 companies. It is a great feeling to have money coming in to your PayPal account, your bank account, and finding checks in the mail unexpectedly.

And, believe it or not, there are people who do mystery shopping full-time and make good money plus get a lot of stuff for free. There are many types of shopping assignments, such as parking garages, Coach stores, airports, high-end hotel stays, resorts, restaurants, fast food, car dealerships such as Mercedes and Porche, storage facilities, baseball games, amusement parks, casinos, funeral homes, travel centers, in-home carpet and flooring, carpet cleaning, cell phone shops, and the list goes on and on and on. Some shopping assignments require you to make a purchase that you will be reimbursed for and some require no purchase at all.

Here are two mystery shop companies to get you started in the fun and exciting world of mystery shopping:

1. ACE Mystery Shopping

2. Bestmark

I will be spotlighting more companies in future posts. If you are already a mystery shopper, be sure to post a comment about how much you enjoy the mystery shopping life. In a future article I will suggest tools that mystery shoppers can use to make their jobs easier. Until next time!