ALT-6 Mystery Shopping

From 3arf

What is mystery shopping? Is it a scam or can you actually create an income from it? Mystery shoppers, also known as secret shoppers or evaluators definitely do make an income from their efforts. The $1000 to $2000 a week touted by some ads is extremely unlikely, but an efficient, disciplined shopper could probably average $200. to $300. a week. That is of course if the shopper lives near a large metropolitan area. If you are planning a trip, whether by car or air, many opportunities will present itself for earning some extra money as well.

In order to improve the quality of their products and services, companies throughout the United States, and in fact around the world, need to evaluate the quality of their customers experience. To have as honest of an evaluation of that experience as possible they contract a scheduling company to arrange for anonymous shoppers to do business with the locations to be evaluated. Mystery shop schedulers do not hire shoppers but contract them to perform a particular secret shop or evaluation. All sorts of companies use this method of evaluating their goods and services. Some typical shops might be for Coca-Cola, AMF bowling, many grocery chains, movie theater chains, banks, fast food restaurants, auto repair companies, and department stores to name a few. There are even high end shops involving luxury hotels and restaurants.

Some typical shops would be as follows. A bowling shop would involve the shopper renting a lane and bowling a designated number of games. While there, food and drink may be required to be ordered and possible checking of status of vending machines. Customer service, wait service, restroom and building interior and exterior maintenance and even music and air-conditioning levels would be evaluated by the shopper. All of these observations must be remembered and written down when you leave so you do not reveal your secret shop. And what do you receive for this visit? The pay will vary from company to company but typically this type of shop would pay$10.00 to $20.00 with reimbursements for required food purchases, shoe rental, and bowling fees. So for about two hours "work", including writing your report and sending to your scheduler, you get free bowling, rental shoes, food and drink, and cash besides. Depending on the establishment that may be a total of $30 to $50.

Movie theater companies are looking for a few different things so they will have different types of shops. They use both secret shops and announced shops. If customer service and quality of snack bar products are being evaluated it would be a secret shop. However, there are quite detailed audience evaluation shops that the theater management is made aware of. During these shops the evaluator makes customer counts for a particular film, noting age and sex demographics. Responses to the film are then noted according to those demographics and a count is made of previews and commercials. If the evaluation includes concession stand sales you may get to award an employee some type of monetary award or gift certificate. I find those the most enjoyable.

Automobile shops are varied and numerous. The shopper may be required to have an oil change, repair work, or a free evaluation of one of the automobile's systems, all being reimbursed and a small additional shop payment added. Again, customer service is the main focus of these mystery shops.

Retail shops are somewhat different in their payment structure. Some companies require a purchase and reimburse for that item, they consider that item,however, enough payment for the shop. Other companies will require a purchase but you must return the item at a later date. In this type of shop there would be a shop fee. And there are those that will reimburse for the required purchase and also pay a small shop fee. The reason for these varying methods is that some of the required purchases can be quite expensive. Those types of shops would require the mystery shopper to have a credit card to make the purchase.

If you are hungry and want an easy secret shop the fast food shop is the one. Pizza delivery, burgers, breakfast sandwiches, you name it. Paid to eat and food paid for besides. In this type of shop customer service, product quality, and building cleanliness are usually evaluated. You may have to report on the appearance of the food, the temperature, and the taste. How quickly were you waited on and then served? How do you rate the friendliness and uniforms of the staff? Are the restrooms, dining room, and parking lot clean. Are the outdoor signs and drive-thru menu boards in good repair. What about the interior signage and menu boards?

These are just a few of the many types of shops and what the mystery shop entails. If you are thinking of trying your hand at this make sure and investigate this career choice thoroughly. I highly recommend reading thisMystery Shop Guideto get some good background on how to get started. There are several links to mystery shop companies as well as forums and association links. On a final note you need to be aware that payment can be slow in this occupation. The pay and reimbursements can come up to eight weeks after the shop, though six weeks is the norm. That means you need to allow for those purchases in your budget until you get a regular flow of payments. There are many shops that do not require purchases however, bank secret shops for example. They are one of my favorites. But once you start doing shops on a regular basis the time delay is less noticable since you will have regular payments coming in from other shops. Good luck and happy shopping!

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