Make Extra Money: Become a Mystery Shopper

Sep 8
05:55

2008

Ed Opperman

Ed Opperman

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What do stay at home moms, college students, retirees and private investigator trainees all have in common? They can all benefit from mystery shopping.

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Copyright (c) 2008 Ed Opperman

In today's tough economy we all find yourself looking to make extra money to make ends meet. Wouldn't it be great if we could make extra money in our spare time while running errands,Make Extra Money: Become a Mystery Shopper Articles shopping, watching a movie or dining out? Sounds like a dream job. Make your own schedule and extra money at the same time. Perfect job for a stay at home mom, student or retiree. There's an old saying and old sayings become old sayings because there's a lot of truth in them. "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is." There's a lot of truth in that saying when it come to Mystery Shopping companies.

With Mystery Shopping, also known as Secret Shoppers or Integrity Investigations an individual, often a private investigator trainee, walks into a retail, grocery or convenience store, a restaurant, or a gas station to measure specific behaviors and make certain observations. Among them: associate greetings, the length of time to be served, the availability of merchandise, the knowledge of the sales team, and so on.

Many companies request "shops" of their own locations as well as those of their competitors. It enables them to understand how their services stack up against the competition  both generally and in specific areas.One hypothetical example: Mystery shopper assignments might measure the wait in line at Kmart versus Walmart. A hypothetical assignment might also measure how much information a Best Buy sales associate in electronics knows about a specific DVD player , compared with the sales associate at Sears. sometimes it's just the 10 foot rule. Did a sales associate say hello to you once you were within 10 feet of there location.

The problem is that since this is such an attractive part time job there are unscrupulous companies that will offer jobs as a mystery shopper only to lure you in and charge you an up front fee to get assignments. Never pay a fee of any kind to a mystery shopping company.. That is a sure sign of a scam.

In fact you should be required to fill out a lengthy application and pass some online training tests before they offer you assignments. Once you pass the screening and training you can look up assignments in your area and sign up. You can sign up for jobs that are on your route to dropping the kids off at school or soccer practice.

The pay per assignment can be small but as you get experienced ans work the jobs into your daily routine the checks can really add up. also many companies will offer bonuses and incentives. Especially to their loyal and productive shoppers. So you want to be sure you complete all your paperwork promptly and without errors.

Also mystery shopping companies are often affiliated with private investigation agencies. An investigator trainee can use his hours working as an integrity investigator toward obtaining his private investigators license.

It's fun work, easy, great experience and pays well. Just beware of the scams and you're all set.