Mystery Shopping: A Complete Guide

These next few pages will tell you everything you need to know about "getting paid to shop". How much can you get paid? It depends on a number of factors. Most important is how dedicated you are to it. If you do one a day, not much. If you live in a big city, probably more. It varies depending on how hard you're willing to work, and how many businesses are in your area. Mystery shopping is actually very easy to get into, and after reading my guide you will be able to start making spare cash in a few days by becoming a mystery shopper. But, before you dive right in there are a few things you need to know to be prepared for taking this on. Of course, before you start you have to decide if this is something that will suit you and your lifestyle. There are many pros and cons to being a professional shopper.

Pros

You can work when you want. You only schedule the jobs that you want to do and that you have time for. It's a great way to make a passive income. As well as earning some spare cash, there are a lot of shops that will give you free stuff. I've gotten free clothes, shoes, dinners and even concert tickets! You have flexibility of when you can perform the shops in most cases. Usually, three days. Although, there are others that are much more specific. Most shops don't take long at all - usually just 15 minutes or so, and you can schedule them around other activities.

Cons

Sometimes the work just isn't there. If you need a reliable source of extra income, this isn't for you. You don't get paid for gas mileage. You have to buy things out of your own pocket before getting reimbursed and sometimes the reports want so many details they make your head spin. I always thought it was more work looking for the shops and scheduling them than it was to actually do them and fill out the report. You also have to have a good grasp of the English language.

If this sounds like something you can do, then start gathering your supplies. You will need a computer, lots of paper, file folders and a scan/fax machine. There are some shops that require photos. So, if you don't already have a digital camera or a phone that will take high quality photos you will need one if you want to work on those shops. There are also some that will require a stopwatch. I'd also suggest a GPS, but of course you don't actually need one.

Now that you have your supplies, before you do anything else you need to get organized. Trust me, if you do not do this from day one just forget about it. You will be kicking and screaming at yourself for not listening to me in the first place.

With that said, get a new email address. You want one that you use only for mystery shopping as you'll get notified via email when new shops become available in your area. It's also good for if and when you decide to stop shopping, you don't have to filter them all out. You also need a PayPal account as this is how most companies are going to pay you.

You will also need a way to organize your scheduled shops. You can do this on an Excel spreadsheet. Although, that's not how I did it. I used a notebook. Each page was for a different day. And in pencil, I'd write in the shops I wanted to do each day. Now, the reason I used pencil was because some shops give you a window of days you can complete them in. So, if I wanted to change the day I could just erase it. You must. I repeat, MUST, keep this very organized or you *will* miss a shop. You also need another spreadsheet for shops you have completed. You have to keep track of what you're doing not only so you can track how much you're making, but so you can see what company owes you money and for tax purposes. I also used a notebook. I honestly don't know why I leaned towards notebooks when I know full well how to use Excel. But, my notebook said where I went, what company the shop was for, how much they were paying me, how much they were reimbursing me and when they paid me, I'd highlight the line.

I highly advise opening up a new bank account dedicated to shopping. I used to "pay myself" at the end of every month. I took the money I had in the account and put it into my regular account. The reason I say get a separate bank account is because you will be purchasing things for your shops. If you ever need to refer back to something, its much easier to filter through that then your regular account. You'll need about $50 to get started. You do have to use your own money to buy things, but most of the time you'll get reimbursed for what you spend. It's also a great way to keep track of how much you're spending at your shops. I found that sometimes if I was required to make at least a $5.00 purchase, sometimes I'd see something I wanted for $10.00 and buy it. I'd only get reimbursed for the $5.00 though. So, watch that. Sometimes its hard to remember that you're there to work and make money, not do personal shopping.

So, now that you're ready its time to start signing up at companies. There is a list of companies available at www.volition.com/mystery. Click on the link that says "Companies List". It may be a good idea to sign up at the Mystery Shopper's forum there and see if there are any negative experiences before signing up. Keep in mind, not all of those companies will have things available in your area. Some are state specific. You will also need a way to keep track of all your login information. That way, when you go to log into the site you don't always have to have your username and password sent to you. Some companies will require you to review some material and take a test. It will take a bit to get started, so just be patient. Filling out tons of applications in one night is very tedious, but you'll only have to do it once.

Okay! So, we know we want to be a shopper. We're organized. We have a new bank account. We've applied to companies. Now what? You have to wait to be accepted to some companies, others will let you start picking up shops immediately. Sometimes, you have to wait to work for a specific company as they already have shoppers in your area. So, when you apply for a shop, they're going to be hesitant about giving it to a newbie. Again, be patient. Something will open up. Remember, if you apply for a shop and you are given it, you have to do it. If you don't, you risk being deactivated from that company and you'll never be able to work for them again.

You'll find yourself working for many, many companies. You may be working for five different companies on a given day. You'll spend a lot of time looking for and scheduling shops. You'll also figure out which companies put up their jobs and when. There are some companies where I'd go to the site often, but there was never anything available. Once I hit it on the right time, I quickly learned that's when they put up there shops. So, you'll know that "company A" puts their shops up on Wednesday's at 9:00am. Or, on Friday night at 8:00pm - that's when you need to be on the site. It can get complicated. But, usually most of the good shops will be scooped up relatively quickly - especially the gas ones! The more experience you get, the more familiar you will become with each company. You'll even start to develop small friendships and trust with some of the schedulers. Eventually, you will have your own routine on how you work your business.

Once you are awarded your first shop, you'll need to print out the shop instructions. This is typically a few pages that remind you what you have to do at each shop. It also comes in handy after you do a shop to jot down information. Staple this together and put it in the folder that corresponds to the day. Remember the folders I told you you'd need earlier? Each one should have a number on the tab. You need 31 folders. One for each day of the month that you just recycle. Put them in order from what shop you're going to do first, to which one you're going to do last. Now on to the fun stuff.

It's time to shop! Bring the folder for the right day with you, but keep it in your car. You need to do this because after you've completed a shop, by the time you get home, its easily forgotten about. Jot down times, names, or anything else you're asked. But, after you're done of course. Don't do it in the store. Don't even bring it in with you. You don't want to be discovered. But, when you're done and get in your car just jot down all the information. Having a little notebook will help remember details especially if you're in a mall doing more than one shop there. Just know what you need to look for and write it down before going to the next one once you're out of view. You also need a small notebook to keep in your car to keep track of the mileage. This is tax deductible, so you want to make sure you're keeping a good log as you won't get reimbursed for gas mileage.

Once you get home from an exhausting day of shopping, you'll need to input your results. This is almost always done on the computer. You're basically transcribing all your jottings down onto the computer screen. There are a few companies who require you to fax that stuff. But, I think that's a pain. Usually, they call or email you the next day asking what things said because the fax didn't come through clear enough. I don't like that. Anyhow, when you're entering your data make sure you use complete sentences that are grammatically correct.

Writing a report is simple. Most times you'll need to write a summary of what happened. These companies want facts, not opinions. So, instead of saying, "Susie greeted me when I walked in the store. She was really nice", you should say, "Susie greeted me within five seconds of entering the store. She smiled as she said, "Hi, welcome to ________. Everything today is 25% off. Let me know if you need any help". That's a fact. There are other questions that simply require a "yes" or "no" answer.

If you have a question about a shop, don't ever hesitate to contact the scheduler. The scheduler is the person who puts the shops out there. They are generally awesome people who would rather you ask a question than guess and complete the shop wrong. Most emails are responded to immediately.

Lastly, I strongly urge you to join and browse the forums on Volition.com. There is a wealth of information on there as well as many other shoppers who are happy to help answer your questions and share funny stories. You'll find that most shoppers are doing this either as a hobby, or for spare cash. There are hardly any "Career Mystery Shoppers" out there. It simply doesn't pay enough.