Has anyone here ever been a mystery shopper? Is this thing real? How do you know you are not getting into some

Question

sort of a trap where they sell your info and charge you money to become a mystery shopper.

Please advise

Answer 1

There are indeed a lot of scams in terms of mystery shopping jobs. But mystery shopping is a legitimate market research tool used by big companies to evaluate the quality of their services.

I suggest you go to the National Mystery Shopping Providers Association (MSPA) http://www.mysteryshop.org , an organization of mystery shopping companies. This is the organization that you can TRUST in this field

Check out their listing of shopping assignments by country and by state from member companies. Companies are accepted as members of the association only if they have been in existence for two years and they can submit proof of business existence. Make a list of these companies and check out their requirements to be a mystery shopper.

The MSPA North America has a job board listing available mystery shoppers position http://www.jobslinger.com/mspa/exec/sfs/jobboard

If in doubt, double-check the company with the local Better Business Bureau http://www.bbb.org , usually under the Service Intelligence category. Find out if any complaints have been lodged with the mystery shopping company, before agreeing to do work for them.

Answer 2

I have been a mystery shopper for several years. I usually only do casual dining restaurants but i have shopped everything from carpet stores to gas stations. The system is very legitimate, they do pay you, not much but you get to keep your merchandise or get free meals for your reports. There is a company called Maritz that does pay fairly well for your reports, but they have high expectations, so do your home work. There are several companies that i currently work for, just type mystery shopper in your search engine and there will be a huge number of hits. Then start experimenting. You won't get great shops starting out, but once you get a good score on your reports, more companies will begin contacting you. You can even get certified which will bring you much better and higher paying assignments. I hope I have helped.

Answer 3

There was a study on these...it was something like 98% (of online ones) were fake. If you mean like a mystery shopper at an actual store, those are real. Very lucky to get that sort of job.

Answer 4

I have never been a mystery shopper but i know it does exist and people are getting paid to do it because my job hires people all the time to shop the employees. They do it like once a month.

Answer 5

I have done this. Try Trendsource. They send you assignments through your email if they have any in your area. gas is too expensive right now though to drive around to all these places for me.

Try this:
Part-Time Data Entry Position
I am seeking people who want to work part-time doing data entry and answering emails.
You will need about 1-2 hours a day to do this.
Free training and bonuses for signing up.
Please email me at [e-mail] with Data Entry as subject

We help each other by doing this

Answer 6

My dad does it, and I've been a "victim" of it when I worked retail. As long as you sign up with a reputable company (be wary of those who want a fee from you to get the listing) it's legit.

Many large businesses use it to make sure things run right. Staples, Sunoco, OfficeMax - are three companies that I know of off the top of my head that use it.

Answer 7

It's a scam. You deposit the check and make out the Western Union to send off. 5 to 10 days later your bank calls to tell you the check bounced. You are responsible to pay back the bank. Western Union can be picked up anywhere in the world and you can't get your money back.

Answer 8

it's not usually a scam, trust me. i used to work at williams-sonoma and we used to have mystery shoppers all the time (well, at the time they were there shopping, i didn't know it but our boss gave us the results and all that.) you should sign up for it, it's really cool and lots of perks!

Answer 9

It's real. Places like Safeway and other grocery stores use them. Before signing up ask them what store they represent.

Answer 10

Its a lie