Mystery Shopper

My good friend, Kristen, is a mystery shopper!










Well, of course, I had to ask her all about it, because what woman doesn't like to shop and then... get paid for it - woah!

In her words, "I first heard about Mystery Shopping through friends, being paid to shop and eat out and rate the customer service. Then later on I was reading an article on MSN Money about a way to make extra money and Mystery Shopper was one of the options. It gave a few different websites: Best Mark, Mystery Guest, Mystery Shop and Experience Exchange. There are plenty of different types of assignments - some are retail, car sales, casinos, restaurants (dine and fast food). Earnings vary by assignment. I was not concerned about it being a scam since they were listed in a MSN Money article."

She told me about some of her experiences:

"I really enjoyed the one this past weekend. Lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings - this one was just reimbursement up to $ 20 but I had to reveal myself at the end of the assignment and let the manager know I was a mystery shopper and awarded the server paperwork for a $ 50 gift card she is going to get from her company because she offered a certain special on the menu. So that was pretty cool."

In other words, Kristen ate for free and made someone's day by being able to give a 50 dollar gift card!

Kristen also said:

"Now - It doesn't make a lot of money - good for a little side money. And yes - I have been paid. I can not access my survey once I turn it in but they give good sample surveys so you can see what they are actually looking for. You pick out from a list of different shops to request then they send you a confirmation. My first check was $ 17 - my next was $ 31.49 and then the trip to Harrah's casino will be $ 165 but $ 90 in reimbursements so I made only $ 75 from that job really."


(The Harrah's Casino included a reimbursement of 90.00 for a meal at one of the restaurants ~ again, free meal.)


My friend is registered with http://www.bestmark.com/. She said that the "questions depend on which shop you do. But for each one, you have to get the physical traits of the person you are rating. For Best Buy, you have to go to 3 different departments and tell the associate you are interested in that particular item or the difference between 2 items in the same department. And then - you have to write a whole summary of the conversation that transpired. I had to visit the Ipod shop, digital camera and gaming shop. And the survey asks if the associate hit certain points during the conversation. I found Harrah's casino easier because you just needed to ask 1 question of the employee you are rating and how they responded, not a whole paragraph summarizing the conversation. Some jobs make more than others but I look at it as a little extra money in my pocket."

Shoot.... wish I had the Best Buy job, because Greg and I have been there countless times with plenty of questions regarding their products!

I asked if there was a timeframe once the shop is assigned to you:

"You request a shop for a certain day and then they send you a confirmation that you have an open shop. You must do that shop on the day you selected within the time frame they set (which you know before you request that particular shop). They do state that if you mess up your survey and do not fill out the information correctly, they will deduct from the amount you make, but that has not happened to me."

Greg is a natural with talking to people and asking questions and remember details... hmmmmm.... wonder if he'd consider being a Mystery Shopper?