Making Money with Mystery Shopping Sites
Getting Paid for Mystery Shopping
“Paid to Shop” or “Mystery Shopping”, as it is sometimes called, is another way to get paid for your opinion online. Like focus groups it requires that you physically go somewhere. After your shopping experience, you return to your computer and present your opinion of your experience online. Some of the better paid survey databases also list Paid to Shop companies as a bonus because it is a natural tie-in with online paid surveys.
Some shopping sites have started paying for your opinion regarding your online shopping experiences. That allows you to stay at home and makes it very much like online surveys.
Mystery shops come in all forms and for all types of businesses - restaurants, hotels, banks, gas stations, ice cream shops, pizza places, tire shops, doctors offices, etc. Their popularity has grown rapidly as many businesses have realized how effective mystery shopping is in evaluating the services and products their companies provide.
The more popular shops are with “paid to eat” and “paid to shop” situations. Restaurants will pay for your lunch or dinner in exchange for an evaluation of the server, the food, cleanliness, the hostess, the restrooms, etc. Walmart could request a secret shopper to evaluate a specific cashier, customer service, cleanliness, or layaway in exchange for pay and reimbursement for the item you purchased during the ’shop’ (up to a specified limit).
The pay range fluctuates with the type of assignment. You may receive an agreement for $8 in pay plus reimbursement of an item. Or you might receive a $20-$50 meal, cost of a tire, free gas, or hourly pay. Each site has a different pay schedule. Most pay within 2-4 weeks. Some have specific pay dates, such as the 10th for example.
A few of the mystery shopping sites may request a fee for joining. Those sites will usually provide training or certification, however most sites do not require a fee. You should receive plenty of assignments without training.
Locate the Paid to Shop section of your paid survey database and select a mystery shop to join. The application will be a little more involved than those for online surveys. Some of the questions may require a more extensive response, such as describing your last visit to a restaurant. They will evaluate your attention to detail, grammar, and ability to follow directions. If you are asked to respond in 300 words, do NOT go over that limit, no matter how great you think your answer is. They are checking to see if you can follow directions.
After submitting your application to a mystery shopping site, it may take several days to a couple of weeks for them to get back with you, since each application is reviewed manually. Each site has their own standards and qualifications, so you may not be selected by every site you apply to. That is okay, because there are many mystery shopping sites.
Even though a site may be located in one state, they may still provide assignments in many, if not all the states, and numerous other countries. You do need to have some type of transportation. If you live in a city, then the bus or on foot is fine. If you can find a site that pays for online shopping, that is even better.
Once you are accepted by a shopping site, you can receive assignments in a variety of ways. They may notify you of an available assignment by phone. Many also have their listings online so you can log on and choose those you wish to work. Sometimes you will be emailed by a coordinator for your general area with a listing of shops available. You are never obligated to accept an assignment.
As part of the assignment, you will receive the expectations, the questions you need to ask (usually there is a main focus), and a particular person, if any, to request. You are given a “due date” which is usually a week, but sometimes they call with a rush to see if you can do it or not. After your visit you submit your paperwork online.
When you receive an assignment it is very important to follow through and meet your deadline. You do not want to make a bad name for yourself. If you do, you go on a list that other mystery shopping sites review.
The great part is that if you have a good record of doing mystery shopping, you are able to advance. You may receive requests for 5-star hotels, resorts, cruise lines, etc. Yes! These have mystery shoppers as well!! Talk about a vacation!
Does mystery shopping sound like something you would be interested in? Here’s a more detailed description of a specific mystery shop for an apartment.
“I began working with mystery shopping sites through SurveyScout.com. They have over 180 sites on their bonus page just for this. Signing up for the shopping sites was pretty easy. I reviewed the sites, what they covered, what they were looking for, their FAQ sections, locations, terms, types of payments, etc. If it was something I was looking for and willing to work with, then I went on to their application page.
I received a call from one of the companies I signed up with to see whether I would take a listing to visit a local apartment complex. I accepted the assignment and they asked what date I thought I could have it done by. I asked for a week.
An email was sent to me with everything I needed to do, the purpose of the visit, the person to request, and the specific questions. In this case I was to evaluate a specific person, her knowledge, and how she presented their “no discrimination” policy.
They also wanted to see whether she made attempts to ‘close’ on signing a lease. If she were to ask, I was to just let her know that there were other apartments I wanted to look at as well.
I called and made an appointment to see an apartment. I asked numerous questions - about the security of the place, the other types of apartments, could we paint, etc. Then I asked what types of neighbors I would have. She answered, just as she was supposed to, and let me know that they had a “no discrimination” policy. She also tried to close on a lease.
The final step was to complete the paper work and submit it online. The questions were already formatted for me. Once you do the paperwork once or twice you get the process down and can do it quickly. It is very important to be accurate, use complete sentences, accurate punctuation, etc.
The first time or two takes longer as you try to make sure you have everything done correctly. With practice and experience it becomes much easier.
You can receive $20 for every apartment you view and appear interested in or $50 for model homes. If you live near a larger city and can plan several for an afternoon, it adds up nicely. Each visit takes 15-20 minutes (a bit longer if you are a talker). This site in particular indicated payment would be in 2 weeks and I received a check in less than 10 days.”
- Rhonda D.
Well now you know it has worked for someone else you may want to try it yourself.
Click here to check out our favorite Mystery Shopping Database.
Tags: get paid to shop, mystery shopping, internet paid surveys, paid online surveys,
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