Get paid to shop. It sounds like a gimmick; but it's how a lot of people are legitimately earning extra income. We're talking about mystery shopping. From the mechanic to the mall... to the salon, Cathy Stucker says companies use mystery shoppers because they give them feedback about how their businesses are doing.
"We're like reporters," said Stucker, a master mystery shopper and author of The Mystery Shopper's Manual. "When we go into a business, we're not going to say 'This is what I liked and this is what I didn't like.' We're saying 'Here's how long it took to be greeted. This is what they said. They did or they did not tell me about the extended warranty option.'"
In exchange for the information, businesses will pay you money. Stucker has personally vetted more than 200 mystery shopping companies; and she has links to all of them on her website, Mystery Shoppers Manual (hyperlink to: http://www.mysteryshoppersmanual.com/mystery-shopping-companies).
"You don't have to apply to all 200 companies, but you should apply to several," Stucker said. "Apply to 5 or 10 or 20."
Davis applied to Best Mark and she started receiving mystery shopping opportunities in her inbox. For $11-dollars, you could take your teenager to a specific video game shop to see if they would sell them a mature rated game. Another job is to shop a car dealership by taking you car in for an oil change and tire rotation. For answering some questions about the service, Best Mark will reimburse the cost of the service and pay you $25.
"As you do more shops, you'll start to see more opportunities," said Stucker.
She says the best paying shops are reserved for shoppers who have proven themselves by doing the starter entry-level opportunities.
"I've been reimbursed $150 to $200 for dinner, which is a very nice dinner." she told Davis.
Before you jump in, Stucker has 3 rules to keep you from getting scammed.
- Never pay to apply or sign up for mystery shopping opportunities.
- Don't sign up for trials or offers, especially where you have to give your credit card number.
- And never cash a check and wire money or send prepaid cards to anyone. That's got scam written all over it.
Some legitimate mystery shopping companies do ask for your social security number when you sign up. That is because the company is required to send you a 1099 if you earn $600 or more in one year. You can avoid that by getting an employer identification number (EIN).
