Learn to be a mystery shopper
Let me tell you that mystery shopping is legit and can make a decent amount of money and can be a lot of fun. It is very easy to start too. There are a couple of different methods you can go with.
Several years ago, when I started mystery shopping, I did it the first way. I did a Google search for “mystery shopping companies”. It took me days to go through the links to find some legitimate mystery shopping companies. I started with 15, only to find that some had no stores in my area or were limited in the type of stores they offered. I wish I had known about guides at the time because it would have saved me a lot of time and I could have started making money shopping a lot sooner than I did.
But regardless, I was on my way. When you go to a company’s website to sign up, they usually ask all the usual questions, name, address, phone, email, etc. Most companies will want a paragraph or two about their best or worst customer service experience. This is to give them an idea of whether or not you can write a decent report. It’s a good idea to have them pre-written and saved in a Word document. Makes it much easier to copy and paste. This saves a great deal of time.
When you sign up with these companies, I suggest you sign up with a lot, maybe 150-200. You could set a goal of signing up with 10-20 a day. There are programs available that will automatically fill in some of the basic answers for you. This will also save a lot of time.
Well, now you have your name and email on the contact list of numerous companies. When I started, I had a bell in my email that alerted me when I had a new email. This made it nice to grab the stores as soon as they were released. This is important because there could be quite a few buyers in your area who want that same visit. You should receive emails shortly after entering the companies contact list.
After landing a mystery shopping job, read the guidelines for the job and print out the materials needed to make the report. Most companies ask you to report online, but there are some that use an IVR system on the phone. Either way, take your time and write a good report that is complete and presents a picture for the employer of what happened in your store.
Some mystery shops will require a purchase. Some purchases are refunded to you or you can return them after 24 hours. It’s a good idea to have a small account with some money to make purchases in advance because it will be a few weeks before your purchases are reimbursed.
I think it’s a great way to earn extra money and what’s better than getting paid to shop? Now I guess you are wondering if you can make money doing mystery shopping. Yes, I think there is. I don’t think you will become a millionaire, but you will be able to earn some money with it. I have been able to earn between $1,000 and $1,200 in a month. Which is not bad because I can usually shop when I want to have other things on my schedule. For example, some days I start early in the morning and work all day, but I don’t leave the next day if I have something more urgent to do at home with my children. It’s been great for me and I know it will be for you too. I hope these tips have been useful to you.