Mystery Shopping

Ever fancied going out to dinner or shopping and getting paid for it? Then you might consider becoming a mystery shopper.

What is mystery shopping?

A vast amount of companies are interested in knowing what their customers/clients think of their services and/or products in order to right what may be wrong and help them to improve customer service and productivity. To obtain this crucial data from a non biased viewpoint they hire Mystery Shopping agencies, who are trained market researchers, to gather the information on their behalf. This is where you come in. As a Mystery Shopper you will pose as a regular customer but will actually be collecting essential data set by the client and briefed to you via a questionnaire. Mystery Shopping companies are always on the lookout for trustworthy and reliable people to carry out assignments for them. Assignments vary from restaurants to shops, banks to fitness centres, the list is endless.

Sounds like fun? It is but it's no joke, your reports are vital material, so you've got to be commited and be able to complete each job as specified on your worksheet by your agency.

What qualifications or skills do I need?

You don't need any particular qualifications to become a mystery shopper, basically anyone can do it, any age, any background. However, you must be reliable, observant, have a good memory and be able to give an accurate, unbiased view of your findings. The job also requires discretion as in effect you are akin to an undercover reporter, therefore at no time must you reveal that you are a mystery shopper during an assignment.

How much money can I earn?

Mystery shopping companies pay between £4.00 - £20.00 per job, averaging at around £7.00. Some jobs pay more, some a little less. Costs incurred during a visit, i.e. buying food, drink or shopping will be reimbursed and some companies pay traveling expenses too. You won't get rich from mystery shopping but you will earn some extra cash and a host of freebies in the process including food, cold drinks, hot drinks, sandwiches, groceries, magazines, petrol, hotel accommodation, fitness lessons, small electrical items, software,cd's, dvd's and much, much more! Payment is made either monthly or fortnightly via bank transfer.

What is involved in a mystery shopping job?

The first step is to register with some agencies. Once accepted you will be given an assessor number that you must quote in order to enter the shopper page on an agents website, or quote via e-mail or telephone if need be. All agencies have their own system of distributing assignments but most of them offer jobs via their website. Assignments are on an ad/hoc basis and although some agencies notify you by e-mail when jobs become available, it is strongly advisable to check in on a regular basis to ensure you don't miss out on all the best assignments. Once released jobs disappear quickly! You will be notified if you have been accepted to carry out an assignment and will receive a brief detailing what is required of you together with a questionnaire - everything is explained in detail including times, dates, job description and what you need to look out for. Jobs usually take about an hour to an hour and a half to complete including travelling. If for any reason you accept a job then find that you can not complete it then you must notify the agency as soon as possible in order to give them sufficient time to reallocate it to someone else. It is best not to accept an assignment if you are unsure about whether or not you will be able to complete it. Once you build a good rapport with an agency and prove that you are a reliable assessor you will be offered more evaluations.

What to do after an assignment is completed?

After completing an assignment you are usually required to fill out an online questionnaire within a set timeframe, this is usually between 8 - 24 hours of job completion. The best thing to do is to enter your results onto the system as soon as you can while the details are still fresh in your mind. Some questionnaires are longer than others but should take no longer than fifteen minutes to complete.

A Word Of Warning

You may come across some sites that ask you for money, either to join their agency or for a list of Mystery Shopping Companies. NEVER sign-up with a mystery shopping agency that asks you for money - becoming a shopper is always FREE. And please do not pay for a list of agencies, a comprehensive search on a major search engine will give you the same results. We will be adding new agencies on this site periodically. You can either join our Newsletter group or bookmark this site for updates.