What Is Mystery Shopping?

A company, retail chain or manufacturer employs you to shop in stores in your area. You fill out a questionaire which usually concerns availability/price of product, clerks personality/knowledge, overall shopping experience. Many employers also consider conception. Time of day, your dress, holiday seasons, etc. You would then turn over the questionaire with a copy of the reciept. You may then return the merchandise, and recieve a "paycheck", or keep mecandise and be given monetary percentage returned.

Mystery Shopping is when a company hires you to shop at a store and then rate the customer service you received. You are then reimbursed for the item you purchased (generally under $10-$15) and paid anywhere from $5 to $25. You fill out a questionnaire and submit your receipts and get paid about a week or so later. A lot of fast food restaurants use mystery shoppers to see how their staff is doing. So do cell phone stores. I looked into doing this at one point but you are not allowed to take children along with you for the most part. There are some companies that try to charge you to get into the business and they rip you off. There are a couple of companies that don't charge you to sign up and they send you a list of stores that need mystery shoppers. You fill out a form to see if you fit the demographics that they are looking for and then sign up for the ones that you want to do. It's pretty easy but it would be hard to make enough money to support yourself doing it. Especially if you didn't live in or close to an urban area.

The collection of information from retail outlets, showrooms etc, by people posing as ordinary members of the public.