Jacob here. I want to let you know about some mystery shopping opportunities. But before I do that, let me tell you about myself.
I’ve been mystery shopping for years. IN that time I’ve also helped hundreds of people get their start with mystery shopping. ANd let me tell you, it can be downright frustrating to get started. There are a lot of scams and traps to navigate in this industry.
Let me clear those up. So that you can get started with real mystery shopping companies that will actually pay you for real work.
The first thing you want to watch out for is the Money-Gram scam. This is a big deal. What happens is the scammers send a large check to unsuspecting mystery shoppers, asking they deposit it and wire a portion of the money back. If you ever get a check in the mail for hundreds or thousands of dollars as part of a mystery shopping assignment…the check is fake! Do not cash it! And definitely do not wire any money as part of a mystery shopping assignment. Ever.
The second thing to watch out for is fake companies that pose as ‘paid survey companies’ or mystery shopping companies. These fake companies will ask you to buy products, and complete offers…and in exchange they’ll send you a gift card or a product, such as an i-pod, or a laptop. These companies are not paid survey companies. They just want you to buy things. While this is not a scam, it definitely is not mystery shopping.
The next thing to watch out for is companies that offer to sell you a product to get started with mystery shopping. This is never necessary. What they’ll do is sell you a list of companies, or an e-book on how to get started. You don’t need to pay them. There are plenty of free ways to get started. There are legitimate companies that will pay you to mystery shop.
What is mystery shopping?
Mystery shopping is all about giving feedback about a store’s customer service. This means going to the store, interacting with employees, and then filling out a report detailing your experiences. Mystery shopping is work. There are professional standards expected of mystery shoppers. Fortunately, they are usually explicitly laid out in the assignment instructions.
So, what you need to do to get started, is to sign up with real mystery shopping companies and then apply for assignments with those companies.