Mystery Shopping Tips

In 2005 there were more than 10 million mystery shopping assignments completed, according to a study commissioned by the Mystery Shopping Providers association.

That same study estimated that the mystery shopping industry was worth around $600 million 2005, and growing at 15% a year.

But here’s what’s really interesting. Reading between the lines, if there were 10 million assignments in 2005, accounting for 600 million dollars, that would average out to $60 per assignment. That means, on average, there was $60 in revenue per assignment….

Which gives us an interesting way to gauge what to expect as fair pay per assignment.

Looking at it another way, that $60 needs to be split among a large group of people. First, the mystery shopping company takes a cut. Some of that money goes to the general overhead of the business, some of it to the scheduler, the report editor, the person working with the business being shopped, the marketer, the person designing the mystery shop, and so on. And of course, there is the owner of the mystery shopping company, who wants to create as much profit as possible for him/herself.

All of which provides very little room for the mystery shopper to get a fair cut.

Fortunately, there are good companies out there that value their mystery shoppers and DO give them a fair wage for their mystery shopping.

If you want to get the best pay with mystery shopping, you need to find those good mystery shopping companies. But here’s the thing. Once you find the good companies, you’ll no longer need to take assignments from the low paying companies. And that means the low paying companies will have one less mystery shopper to work with, which means they’ll be forced to raise their rates.

So – instead of taking a low paying assignment, I say you ought to spend that time applying to more companies.

If you want to make a nice solid income with mystery shopping, then you’ve got to find the good companies. Aim for a list of 20 companies that you work with on a regular basis. And maybe another list of 15 companies that you keep tabs on every once in a while.

For every mystery shopping assignment that pays well, it is easy to find one that pays practically nothing. Some assignments pay just five dollars for what amounts to an hours worth of work.

So how do we deal with these assignments?

Easy. Just say no. Or, ask for more money.  You might be surprised at how often they’re willing to give you more.

Or better yet, wait until the end of the month. Because if no one has taken the low paying assignment, the mystery shopping company will often put a ‘bonus’ on top of it that might make it worth your time. Its not uncommon for an assignment to get a ‘bonus’ of $10. I’ve even heard of some low paying assignments getting bonuses of $50, just because the company was desperate to get it filled.

The bottom line is that you don’t need to accept low paying assignments. Yes, accepting one or two might be good to get your feet wet, but in the long run you’re going to want to stick to the better paying assignments.

So how do you find those? First, apply to a lot of mystery shopping companies. Then find out which of these companies has assignments that you want, and that pay well.

Another way to deal with low paying assignments, as long as they’re not too low, is to group a bunch together for one quick run. Four or five $10 assignments in an afternoon just might be worth your while.

There will always be companies offering low paying assignments. And, I suspect there will always be some shoppers willing to take them.

The way to get ahead as a shopper is to apply to as many companies as you can. That way, all of them are competing for your time. The more companies you apply to, the better off you’ll be. Trust me.

Many people new to mystery shopping complain that the pay is too low, that there aren’t any good assignments available, and that its just not worth the effort.

Unfortunately, these are the same people who don’t follow my simple advice of applying to mystery shopping companies, actively looking for assignments, and following through.

A recent discussion on MysteryShopForum.com really opened my eyes on this. The question was asked: What was your favorite assignment in 2007? There were some really interesting answers, and some very high paying assignments. Including getting $305 for much needed plumbing, eating a delicious streak dinner(for free) at $100 a head, and earning an EASY $100 for just one simple fast food assignment.

But guess what — the people that had the great assignments are the ones who are serious about their mystery shopping…And they show it by following through. They have done the simple legwork of finding good mystery shopping companies to work with, and they have established routines of getting assignments from those companies.

Not surprisingly, these people are also some of the most active members of MysteryShopForum.com — showing that it PAYS to be involved in the community.

So YES, there are people out there who are getting fun high paying assignments with mystery shopping.

Want to be one of them? Here’s what I recommend

1. Apply to a few mystery shopping companies a day for 4 weeks. Then narrow that list down to companies that you want to work with, and that have assignments in your area.
2. Become an ACTIVE member of MysteryShopForum.com. Dive in headfirst. Ask questions, answer questions, and just plain get involved. It is bar-none the most powerful way to become an expert mystery shopper that knows exactly how to make the most money and get the best assignments. (Just look at members such as Flash, Bugspost, Nwazshopper, Rudymiker, and JoanG and you’ll know what I mean.)

So you’re ready to get your toes wet with mystery shopping? Then now is your chance to get started. In fact, its actually really easy to get started with mystery shopping.

The formula is very simply.

Apply to mystery shopping companies + check websites for jobs + apply for assignments = Get paid to shop.

But whats really cool is there are shortcuts for each of the pieces of the formula, so that you can spend less time getting started, and more time getting paid to shop.

The bottom line is this: You need to find companies in your area with assignments that you want.

The most effective way is to apply to every mystery shopping company that you can find, and then sort out which companies have assignments in your area, and which don’t. Most highly successful mystery shoppers have a working list of 10-20 companies that they work with on a regular basis, and then another 10-20 that they keep a loose eye on for assignments.

The trick is to find those companies. One way to do that is to apply to every company you can find. Spend a few hours a week on it, and in a few weeks you’ll have more assignments than you know what to do with.

But there are some shortcuts:

• Search job boards for old assignments in your area. Chances are, if the company had an assignment in your area last month, they’ll have one for you this month. Apply to those companies!
• Search the MSPA job board for assignments. This is a great way to find companies that have assignments in your area, because you can search by location.
• Read forums such as MysteryShopForum.com to learn about companies in your area from other shoppers, and to learn about which companies are highly rated, and which aren’t.
• Apply to scheduling companies such as Kern Scheduling or ShadowShopper. They’ll find companies in your area with assignments. Apply to the companies they refer you to.

The bottom line is that if you want to get started with mystery shopping, you need to apply to mystery shopping companies. Thats step one, and its really the only step that counts. If you do nothing else, I recommend applying to at least a couple of scheduling companies, and doing a search on the MSPA job board.

Once you build a good list of companies in your area, you should be able to establish a pretty solid mystery shopping business. But you’ve to apply!