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You may have seen ads on the internet about how to shop and get paid for it and thought to yourself, “Yeah, right.” I’m here to tell you that it’s absolutely true. You can get paid to shop and I’ve been doing it for over 10 years in my spare time.
HOW I BECAME A MYSTERY SHOPPER
One of the companies I worked for in my twenties (a while ago!) owned multiple cellular phone licenses in several states. We had a lot of retail stores spread out over those states. One time, my boss asked me to visit some of our stores, and kiosks that were located in malls, to “secret shop” them. I had no idea what he was talking about! I soon found out that secret shopping or mystery shopping involved acting as a customer of the store (or kiosk) to evaluate their customer service practices such as:
- Was I greeted as soon as I walked in
- Was I asked if I could be helped
- Did a genuine conversation take place
- Were open-ended questions asked
- Was the store clean
- Was the store associate friendly
After coming back from my “mystery shopping” excursion, I realized how much I enjoyed it. I was providing a valuable service to my employer, and helping to improve the customer service experience for our customers. The unfortunate part for me, was that I couldn’t do another secret shop for my employer because our employees in our markets soon learned that I was an employee too at Corporate.
FINDING MYSTERY SHOPPING COMPANIES
Soon after this, I began to investigate if I could do mystery shopping for other companies. I took my search to the internet and began researching the different mystery shopping companies that hired people to conduct mystery shops for their clients. I started signing up with those companies and begain receiving offers via email and phone. One of the best places to find mystery shopping companies to signup with is Volition.com. It’s 100% free to signup with these companies. Don’t be fooled by services that want you to pay for access to their mystery shopping company list.
WHAT YOU NEED TO DO TO SHOP AND GET PAID
All you have to do is follow the mystery shopping company’s guidelines and when you’re done, fill out a short evaluation form online including a description of your experience, and submit it. You get paid to do this. Your compensation varies with the types of shops you complete. It can be anywhere from $7 to $100 or more (I earned $150 for shopping 15 Philadelphia Airport vendors). Plus, you can eat and/or drink for free and get free merchandise on occasion. So can you shop and get paid for it? You bet!
MYSTERY SHOPPING IS A REAL WORK FROM HOME JOB
I just want to reiterate that mystery shopping is a “real” work from home job and not a scam. I’m a recognized Silver Certified Shopper with the MSPA (Mystery Shopping Providers Association) which means I’m a serious mystery shopper who has taken an exam to show that I understand what mystery shopping is and its’ importance to companies. There is also a Gold Certified Shopper status and for this you need to attend a one-day seminar, or purchase the review course online, and complete an exam. As a side note….you do NOT need to be a Silver or Gold certified shopper to get shopping jobs!
IN CONCLUSION
Mystery shopping is a serious occupation that’s tons of fun. You get to shop and eat and get paid for it. Also, as an added benefit, for most shops you can bring the kids (however, I could’nt bring my kids when I test drove an Audi for $100!) What can be better than that? However, there is work involved and the reports you fill out are very important to the client.
If you want to ask me questions about mystery shopping, please use the comments section below.
Want to read a book that teaches you EVERYTHING you need to know about becoming a mystery shopper? Check out The Mystery Shopping Training Program: All You Ever Wanted to Know About the Best Part-Time Job.
Happy Shopping!
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