Lauren Cobello » Make Extra Money » side hustles » What is Mystery Shopping? And Is it Legit?
Paying off debt can be a bit of a drag, especially if you are reducing your spending on the fun stuff — eating out, shopping, or entertainment — to become debt-free. Mystery shopping is a great way to add back the fun stuff in your life without any impact on your budget or debt pay-off plan. Side hustles are also a great way to add extra money to your budget to help you reach your financial goals faster.
Many companies — restaurants, gas stations, big-box stores, and more — want to know what their customers see when they do business with them. So they hire third-party companies to contract with mystery shoppers; they pose as normal customers but report back on their experiences. In exchange, the company reimburses the mystery shopper for the purchases they made as part of the shop and sometimes adds a little extra money for their time.
While you won’t make a mint as a mystery shopper, it can be a fun way to eat out, go shopping, pump your gas, or get an oil change for free. If you choose shops that pay well, you can even come out ahead and make a little extra cash to put toward your debt payoff.
And yes, mystery shopping is totally legit. You’ll need to fill out a 1099 tax form and supply your social security number, address, and PayPal account to each company you want to work for.
There are literally dozens of mystery shopping companies out there. Which ones you sign up for depends on your location and what kind of shops you want to do. Each company has a presence in different geographic areas and contracts with a different grab bag of companies.
The most effective way to hone in on which companies have shops in your area is to use job boards like Jobslinger and Gigspot, search for the zip code you want to shop in, then sign up with the companies offering the shops you want.
Registering is the most onerous part of the mystery shopping process, as you have to sign up with multiple companies to get a reliable number of shops. However, you only have to register with each mystery shopping company once; then you can do any number of shops with them.
Here are some of the best companies to perform mystery shops for. This list isn’t comprehensive, but these are some of the high performers in the industry that offer many shops in multiple areas.
Doing your first mystery shop can be a little nerve-wracking if you’ve never done it before, so we’ve compiled a few tips to make sure you start off on the right foot.
1.) Don’t pay for a list of mystery shopping opportunities.
Legit mystery shopping companies are paying you to collect information for them, so there is no need for you to pay to get mystery shops. If a company asks you to pay money for their “exclusive” list, run the other way. Free resources like Jobslinger and GigSpot will provide you with enough shops to keep you busy.
2.) Read ALL the shop instructions beforehand.
Every mystery shop hones in on different aspects of customer service. Some will ask you how long it took your server to deliver the check after your meal. Others want you to make an alteration to a menu item. Still, others ask if the cashier was smiling and thanked you for your business.
If you forget a specific item the survey asked for, you may have your pay docked or your shop disqualified, so be sure you don’t miss anything and read the instructions before you shop.
3.) Take lots of notes.
This can get tricky since you have to jot down things to jog your memory without being detected by the staff. One easy way to do this is to text yourself. It will timestamp when things happen for you (which is often a requirement in mystery shops) and anyone watching you will think you’re just texting a friend.
4.) Keep your receipts.
This is how the company verifies that you actually showed up and did the shop. If you’re worried that you’ll lose the receipt before you get a chance to fill out your report, snap a quick picture as soon as you leave your shop.
If you’re already out running errands, getting gas, or out for dinner, you might as well make money on the trip!
Mystery shopping will reimburse you for your purchases (plus maybe a little more), but it’s not a heavy money-maker. Think of it as getting compensated for things you want to buy anyway rather than a full-fledged side hustle.
But if you want to have a fun time out on the town without adding to your credit card balance, mystery shopping is a great way to do it.
COMMENTS
im interested on making cash on Mystery shop.
I have been doing Mystery Shops for years and LOVE doing them!
That’s awesome – do you have any favorite companies or websites?