by Tammy S.

I started mystery shopping about 4 years ago now and I enjoy it thoroughly! It has been a learning experience in having my own home business as well as being fun and useful.

I came about this useful work when I became disabled from 6 operations on my abdomen for a female condition I actually never had! I was caused two hernias, a hysterectomy and a foreign object left in me and by then it was too late, permanent nerve damage had left me disabled for life and not able to walk very far or do strenuous jobs.

So, I became bitter for a long time and one day I said to myself “Tammy, you have got to get off your pity party and find something you can do at home for work” and thus this began my search efforts to find work at home. I researched all these different opportunities and all of them wanted money up front to start a business or even just to get more information! At this time, I was flat broke and desperate for money and a job. I had used all of my government resources and I was drying up and blowing away in the wind if I didn’t do something fast!

Mystery shopping changed my life around completely! I actually paid a company only $5.00 and bought a book on Amazon for $15.00 to start mystery shopping. I was leery of all the scams mystery shopping I had heard about and so I wanted to take the mystery out of mystery shopping! The one company I had signed up for started sending me e-mails with job offers in my area and a lot of them I couldn’t see the full description because they wanted me to pay more for these jobs and I did not want to pay a company any money to do this type of work. So, what I did instead was take those e-mails and when the name of a company was revealed to me I went and signed up with that company as an Independent Contractor and in this manner, I found out about a lot of legitimate companies and you didn’t have to pay them to get the mystery shopping jobs!

Also, the book was invaluable to me as well. It showed me how to keep records of everything and how to sign up with even more companies. The first few months this is exactly what I did. I signed up with over 150 companies as an Independent Contractor and each has their own rules and regulations about mystery shopping, and this began my mystery shopping career.

When I told my husband about mystery shopping he scoffed and said it was a scam. I said no it wasn’t and set out to prove him wrong in the years to come. I have mentioned it to a few close friends and they were fascinated and wanted to know more about mystery shopping! I have not mentioned it to any one else because you are not supposed to reveal yourself as a mystery shopper because you don’t want to blow your cover. You can refer people and some companies like this and encourage it. And since there is a rotation on certain jobs, it doesn’t take away from any of the jobs you may get in the future.

I typically perform gas station and retail shops where I evaluate the employees and/or products. I like these types of shops because I would typically go to these establishes already to buy things for my home or family. I like the free gas at the stations and the free products at the retail stores. I also like the veterinary shops. They have become invaluable to me and my dog and cat. Veterinary expenses are atrocious these days and the bill being paid by doing a mystery shop is fantastic!

Another favorite type of mystery shopping I like to perform is the movie jobs where I evaluate if the correct signs and marketing material is in proper place. These are very easy to perform and I also get to watch a movie that I would normally pay a lot of money for to see but by being a mystery shopper I get to see the movie for free!