In my list of 20 ways to make more money, I suggested that you could earn some extra cash by becoming a mystery shopper. Then a couple weeks later, I ran into the Bargain Babe's interview with a real-life mystery shopper who told how to get started doing this:
All at one time sign up for 10 mystery shopping agencies because you never know which ones will have shops in your area. The more you sign up, the more shops are going to come your way. Start small, do a $10 or $15 assignment to start off with. If you don’t follow their directions they’re not going to pay you. So if you’re not a detail-oriented person or follow directions well, mystery shopping may not be for you.
So basically sign up with as many companies as you can, take the basic assignments, and work your way up the ladder. Sounds a lot like the process for earning money as a writer.
The money for mystery shopping can be pretty good too. The person interviewed said she easily made $300 a month for about 6 hours of work. $50 per hour isn't bad at all for a side/extra income, huh?
I was registered with 4-5 Mystery Shopping companies. Payments were typically in the $10-$20 range and most shops took about 20 minutes to complete. I've finally decided to quit mystery shopping as in the end, I feel I'm too busy to deal with the hassle.
Posted by: Jason | March 30, 2009 at 02:42 PM
I think a prerequisite to being a mystery shopper is that you've actually worked in retail at some point. Working the retail gig in high school, I can't believe the things we got slammed for by the mystery shopper. One time, we had a mystery shopper come in just as we were about to close. I was assisting a customer regarding a computer accessory. The mystery shopper waited no more than 30 seconds (I swear), made some grumbling noises and stormed out even though I acknowledged that I would help shortly.
Our store got a '0' for the month. Ugh...
Stupidly Yours,
Matt
Posted by: Matt @ StupidCents | March 30, 2009 at 03:17 PM
Your "the Bargain Babe's interview with a real-life mystery shopper" link is not working.
Posted by: Yash | March 30, 2009 at 08:39 PM
I wish I could apply more of the wisdom I read on FMF in my local context...
Posted by: yipeng | March 30, 2009 at 09:33 PM
I don't think it's worth the time and effort.
Posted by: Paul Morales | March 31, 2009 at 06:15 PM
I love mystery shopping! Sometimes, it's not just about the extra money, but also improving my quality of life for free. For example, I haven't paid for an oil change in almost three years, but I get oil changes regularly as mystery shop assignments. There are also times that I get to watch a movie or go out to eat for free.
What I'd really like to see is a good list of all of the *worthy* mystery shop agencies out there. I often see lists, but they contain lots of places that cost to join—BAD DEAL.
Posted by: the Ramen Noodle | April 09, 2009 at 02:42 PM
It takes at least 1-2 hours to receive the assignment, read the instructions and fill out and submit the review. While you're completing the assignment, your conversation with your significant other tends to be about nothing enjoyable -- timing of service, quality, atmosphere, etc.
All of this hassle for at most a $15-$20 discount?
It's definitely not worth the hassle, especially after you get burned once or twice for not doing things exactly according to the instructions.
Rather than becoming a jack of all trades, why not choose to do one thing really well -- and get paid really well to do it?! I'm all for hobbies, but not for spreading myself too thin . . .
Posted by: Dave | May 19, 2009 at 11:20 AM