We all get those spam mails from time to time offering money or allowing you to keep what you purchase. Anyone ever looked into this or actually done it. Are they nothing more than a big scam?
2007-03-28 13:29:00 · 4 answers · asked by Eldude 3 in Business & Finance ➔ Careers & Employment
The ones I looked into when I was working from home were very suspicious to me. They wanted a great deal of detail upfront from me (SSN for one, which I don't give out until I'm hired, thank you!) as well as speaking of vague 'costs'.
What you purchase comes out of your own pocket. Of course you get to keep it, they don't re-imburse you. So heavens help you if you're assigned to shop a very upscale store and haven't the cash flow!
I know that the concept is legitimate, as large retail stores use them all the time -- my large bookstore got audited by mystery shoppers about 6 times a year. However, finding a legitimate company isn't easy.
2007-03-28 13:38:05 · answer #1 · answered by Jarien 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have looked into working as a mystery shopper and also into opening my own mystery shopper service. The ones that send spam emails are a scam. There are real companies out there that do this for a living, but most of the legitimate ones will hire employees as any other company would. The job is not just to shop, but to write a report that will be read by someone at the offices of the company you shopped at. You don't get to pick where you shop, you go to stores that hire the mystery shoppers. So beware of any company that wants an upfront fee and makes promises that sound too good to be true.
2007-03-28 20:39:21 · answer #2 · answered by Brian G 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i have not gotten spam mails to be a mystery shopper but have looked into it myself. after checking out some sights and blogs, some people say that some of the sights are not real they just take your money. and some say you shouldn't have to pay to be a mystery shopper, as most sights ask you to pay 9.99$ to be a gold member or silver member. this gets you able to view shops that are available. but after doin some shops you get it back. shops pay different amounts. check out sum sights such as secret shopper.com, mystery shopper.com, read articles on it. companys go to these sights to find shoppers then contact you. if you sign up you can find the company and just contact them directly. hope this helped i haven't shopped yet but looked into it out of interest.
2007-03-28 20:46:40 · answer #3 · answered by greenhunny 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yeah, it not what you think. first of all you have to spend your own money at the stores. then they reimburse you after you give a review. you might get a little extra , but not enough to try it.and the one's that pay are very few and very little money. you do not really make any money. so unless you have the money to pay for shopping at every store go for it.
2007-03-28 20:39:40 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋