Has anyone ever been a secret shopper? Does it work? Do you make money?

Question

Has anyone ever been a secret shopper? Does it work? Do you make money?

Answer 1

I was a secret shopper for two companies. It is not worth it. You spend 30 minutes to an hour shopping or eating. They only cover very little on food so if you take someone to eat with you can actually lose money. The normal pay for shopping is to spend a dollar. You have to cover your gas, your time, then you go home and spend 30 to 60 minutes completing forms. Then you have to fax and/or mail everything in along with receipts (you pay postage). Most of the shops have a test you take prior to the shopping/eating another 15 to 30 minutes. Then you get a whopping $5.or $10 for your work. I'm sure these companies pay them well, but they don't recriprocate that back to us who is doing all the work. I did two (one frome each place) and never did another. They don't charge anything to join-so you can give it a try, just don't expect much at all in return. One store I did required a $1 purchase-they had nothing in there for less than $2.99. I bought that and the company would only reimburse me for the dollar I was suppose to spend!~~

Answer 2

Secret shopping companies do not send out random emails or ask for fees.  

Secret shopping is not really all that common, some companies just review security tapes or have employees comment on store visits.

Summary, most are scams.

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