<p>I’d love to hear from anyone who has any real info about how the whole “secret shopper” thing works, and whether it’s a real thing, or a rip-off. Thanks!</p>
<p>The grocery chain where I used to moonlight used them to evaluate us. They’d also hire employees from one store in the chain to be the ss at another store.</p>
<p>If you are thinking about the online registration sites, I’ve heard that a lot of them are scams. You pay for the “training” but don’t get assignments.</p>
<p>I have done some ‘mystery’ shopping over the past several years. There are some very legit companies out there. It is not a way to make a living, but it does offer the opportunity to occasionally get paid for purchasing something you might already be doing.</p>
<p>I have heard that many of these companies are scams. </p>
<p>Years ago, I did work with a woman who was a ss. The company did pay her (min wage or close to that), and she usually got btn. $5-7 to purchase something and was able to keep the item/s. She had spend a lot of time writing up every little detail, but did not mind (ie: did the cashier have a name tag on, was the item she was looking for well stocked, and on and on for many pages). She was paid through paypal and I think that the company preset the pay by estimating the total time it should take. She was offered several different opportunities at a time, and could accept the ones that she wanted to get involved doing.</p>
<p>crizello, how does one seperate the good companies from the scams?</p>
<p>I’ve done them before. Can’t remember which company I used. One thing to watch out for is companies that require you to pay for a list or pay to sign up.</p>
<p>For the restaurant ones I usually had to go in at a certain time, purchase something in a certain price range, and write an evaluation. When I sent in the receipt, they would reimburse me for the meal/tip and maybe a little extra, but don’t remember it being much. The survey took a bit of getting used to and you had to remember peoples names and such. I read the survey before I went and filled it out as soon as I got home. You can’t do it while you’re there or take notes because you’ll look out of place.</p>
<p>I originally signed up so I could get a free meal but it was such a pain, I stopped. And you can only do so many at the same place and I found it difficult because I live in a small town.</p>
<p>Also tried to do one at Staples, but you had to ask for a specific service and remember so many details it was not at all fun or enjoyable.</p>
<p>So those were my experiences. You might sign up, put out NO money, try doing one where you would want to do business anyways or where you can return an item, and see if you like it.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>Thanks for replies so far. The company I’m looking at has two plans, one plan that is free, and one where you pay $4.95/month. There is no way I’m going to pay $4.95/month. I was, however, thinking of doing the free one. I just don’t want to do all the work and then never get paid, so I want to make sure this is legit. Am I allowed to post the name of the company here to see if anyone has specific experience with them?</p>
<p>You can also check the Better Business Bureau.</p>
<p>There is no reason to pay to get a job.</p>
<p>Try Bestmark.com, they’re legitimate. I’ve only done one shop for them so far, the jobs they list are usually too far from me to make it worth it.</p>
<p>I’m a mystery shopper. You really can’t make much money doing it. They basically reimburse you for costs or give you a small amount of money. An typical example is driving 20 minutes, spending 10 minutes doing the shop, and then spending 30 minutes writing the report. You might make $15 for that hour. I usually only do the high end restaurant shops for two free meals and the oil change shops, where I’m just reimbursed and need an oil change. I primarily work for a company called Intellishop. If you want lists of legitimate companies, check out [Mystery</a> Shopping Providers Association](<a href=“http://www.mysteryshop.org%5DMystery”>http://www.mysteryshop.org) or a website called volition dot com (For some reason I’m not able to link the intelliShop or Volition web pages). Any company that even mentions an upfront fee would be off-limits with me.</p>
<p>I signed up for the free service last year, just to see what it was. (I’m pretty sure it is the same one OP mentioned) Every once in awhile I get email messages saying they are “desperate for shoppers” and offer the higher level of membership for a free week. So wait for the free offer, try it out (I never did)–but make sure you cancel after a week. While on the “basic” membership, I did get called by one company (National Shopping Service) that does pizza chains, and I have done multiple shops for them–even signed up my adult son when he was home in the summer so we could get free pizzas (plus $5-$15 bonus) more frequently. (You have to wait a certain number of days between shops at the same restaurant. It took some time to get used to uploading the photos & report and it seemed like a lot of work for a pizza+little $, but after I got used to it, it went faster.) You have to pay for the item up front and they reimburse you. I’ve always gotten reimbursed, but it takes awhile. It isn’t a scam. I got a few other calls for another restaurant and department store that I turned down because they weren’t convenient for me. I definitely could get a lot more jobs since I live in an area with tons of stores and every restaurant chain imaginable. If you have extra time/are bored, you could make a little bit of $ doing this and get some free food or services. But even a very low paying part-time job would make you more $. My kids/H make fun of me for doing this, but they all eat the free pizza!</p>
<p>I have done some and my kids have as well (good freebies and a little pocket money for a college kid). They take the oil changes, free gas, movies, some restaurants, as those are things they would otherwise spend money on anyway. I only do those with a fairly high fee ($50+) or those where I can do multiple sites in the same general area because printing and reading/collecting/reporting on the various data points is a waste of time for smaller fees. I fit them in around my other work/shopping/errands so that I’m not making extra trips. Bank shops tend to be quick, easy, and pay more, as do car dealership and good restaurant (not fast food) shops. Fees do increase if you wait to self-assign, but another shopper may take it in the interim. If they start emailing and calling on the phone, they’re getting desparate and you can negotiate a better rate. I would advise setting up a separate email account to use.</p>
<p>Do not pay for mystery shops…ever. Avoid those with extensive lists of questions unless you have a great memory! All of the companies can ask you to clarify any details if your report isn’t up to par and they usually reserve the right to reject shops based on that.</p>
<p>I did some mystery shopping several years ago. It was fun and you did get reimbursed a bit for your purchases. At first, the restaurant shops are great…but if you are like me…you realize you are eating too much and really don’t need another Arby’s Beef and Cheddar sandwich. </p>
<p>My sister still does mystery shopping and has for years. Just find some work-from-home message boards (such as wahm.com) and get involved in the discussions on mystery shopping. The folks there will steer you in the right direction.</p>
<p>Have fun!</p>