Who can become a mystery shopper?

How do you become a Mystery Shopper?

• I am looking to become a secret/mystery shopper, but I am having a hard time finding a legit website that I can trust. does anyone know a good website or how to even go about becoming a mystery shopper?

• Answer:

  Almost all legitimate mystery shopping companies are members of the MSPA. They don't advertise on job boards or Craigslist or other sites - those are almost all scams that either charge you upfront fees or want to send you (fake) checks and have you wire (real) money back through Western Union. You have to contact individual companies directly or look on their website to see if they are accepting new shoppers. At any given time, most companies will not be accepting new shoppers as they usually have many more shoppers than assignments. But if they are accepting new shoppers it will be listed on their website http://www.mysteryshop.org/searchmspa/search.php - scroll down and under Locations/Region served by Company enter your country then state. This will show you every registered company that conducts mystery shops in your state, even if the company's head office is located in another state. You have to be very realistic about mystery shopping. It is not a way to make money and you won't get a lot of assignments. You are lucky to get 1 a month. Most shops pay $5-8 for about 3-4 hours of your time when you count in travel time, at least an hour to conduct the shop (longer if it's a meal), at least an hour to fill out the evaluation, then copying it, attaching your receipts and submitting it back to the agency within 24 hours of your shop. You also have to spend your own money on any shop and don't get reimbursed until 30 days later - and sometimes there are limits. There was a stop at Staples that only reimbursed a purchase up to $2 - and besides a pen what can you really buy for only $2, but you had to buy something. At one clothing store I was supposed to try on their new denim range then would be reimbursed up to $20. So either I could buy a pair of jeans for $49.99 and get $20 back or I could buy a t-shirt for $14.99. You might have to spend $300 out of pocket for a 5-star hotel stay or $150 for dinner at a nice restaurant and get reimbursed a month later. And things are really slow now. I have done some mystery shopping on and off since 1996 and am signed iwth GfK which is one of the biggest companies in the world, and haven't had a single assignment all summer. No matter how soon I go to their website when I get an email saying new assignments are available, they are always filled immediately by other shoppers