Is there any real mysteryshopper job or they are all scam?

Question

Is there any real mysteryshopper job or they are all scam?

Answer 1

I presume that you are from the Toronto area? Regardless of what the others have posted I can tell you first hand facts from my personal experience. I also live in Canada and have been a Mystery Shopper consistently for the last 18 years.

There are many "real" mystery shopper jobs in your area that are with legitimate companies. While mystery shopping may not exactly pay your bills you can enjoy meals either dining out, fast good or delivered to your door. Other companies let you keep some of the smaller items you're required to purchase in the process of doing your "shops". including chocolates, postage stamps, etc.

The first place to look for a legitimate company is to go into your local grocery and department stores on the weekends and ask the people doing demos/sampling to give you the contact number for their area manager or head office because almost all of those companies also do mystery shopping. Anyone who is an experienced demonstrator will usually be pretty knowledgeable as to what companies in the area hire mystery shoppers as well. The companies whom they work for are also the companies to tend to pay the best.

The next best place to check is in your phone book's yellow pages under "promotions" though sometimes it will be listed under "demonstrating and sampling". Call them during the week and ask them if they are hiring shoppers and what their requirements are. You can also check a company's reputation with your locall BBB either online or by automated phone service - it's free.

If you're still looking for more companies then I suggest applying online at these reputable companies.

www.intouchsurvey.com

(used to be called Tenox - I've worked for them for the last 15 years) You need to know they will require an application and not everyone is approved.

www.GAPbuster.com

- an excellent company to work for - again they are rather choosy and you must pass a couple of tests. This company pays pretty decent but have have specific expectations ragarding paperwork and time lines.

Like I mentioned mystery shopping isn't always the big money maker people like to think it is because seriously it's not but it is fun and it will give you perks and some extra pocket money. If you go into it with realistic expections you can have fun doing something different everyday of the week. Anyone claiming otherwise - it's likely a scam.

There are many more REPUTABLE companies in Canada - I work for at least another 4 which are great. Not one of these companies expect you to Pay for registering (I've NEVER done so in all the years I've been doing it nor would I ever do so)

Expect to be paid anywhere from $5.00 plus a meal or movie to approx. $12.00 per shop - some more if they can't find anyone to do it in their time frame. All shops are done in a certain time frame whether it's between certain hours or days - failure to do so will forfeit your pay. Mystery shopping is like like any other job - you need to learn it to be good at it - you need to be able to "fit" into any of their scenarios, do the work on time, complete it on time and you must be able to read, write, speak and understand English fluently. If by any chance you are bi-lingual the opportunities are even greater. Is mystery shopping for everyone? Absolutely not!

I prefer to work with companies who do other work locally because it usually means they will have a local contact. It also gives you the opportunity to some of their promos (which pay quite well and can be fun) or do some demos/sampling in your local grocery or department stores. The TO area has so many well known companies with head offices there - if you are serious about this type of work you should have no problem finding work.

I hope this has given you some insight as to what a mystery shopper's job consists of, where to find a reputable company within your area and what to realistically expect. As I said I don't necessarily agree with everything the other posters have said - I can only go by my own experience as long time, well seasoned mystery shopper who works in a major  Canadian city.

Good Luck.

Answer 2

Sure, there are plenty of "Mystery Shopper" jobs out there.  Unfortunately, "Mystery Shopping" is usually made out to sound to be better / more fun than it actually is.  If you wish, you might take the time to sign up with several "Mystery Shopping" organizations (a huge list of which can be found here: http://www.volition.com/mysteryint.html)... then, wait & hope that they pick you for an assignment.  It will take you a looong time to sign up with the various companies, there are alot of forms to fill out, information to give, and questions to answer; not to mention the fact that many companies also want a "sample" of some of your creative writing to test your writing skills, before they'll add you to their candidate pool for possible jobs.  With the large number of people wanting "Mystery Shopping" jobs, there are many, many people for each company to choose from, so there is plenty of competition out there and no guarantee you'll ever actually land an assignment.  I've found that typically, once you are selected for a "Mystery Shopping" task, the company sending you wants you to do ALOT of running around, analysis, reasearch, testing, etc etc etc; for which they typically will pay only a pittance.  For example:  I was offered a "Mystery Shop" at a Honda dealership by one company which would have entailed my going to the dealership at a specific time between x and y date, getting an oil change, observing this, that, etc; then filling out a report about it, etc etc etc... very convoluted, and I believe the compensation being offered was something like $8 or $10.  Not worth it to me.  I have never been offered a "Mystery Shop" I considered worthy of spending my time upon.  Sign up with a few companies to satisfy your curiosity, but I think in the end, you'll discover that in spite of being made out to seem like an easy, fun way to make money, "Mystery Shopping" is not really worth it.

Answer 3

Theatres have mystery shoppers for sure.  They do exist, but watch out for scams.

Answer 4

People are chosen to be real mystery shoppers, but there are also lots of scams out there.  If anyone is asking you for money or a fee, that's almost certainly a fraud.  Learn more at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission web site or at the Mystery Shopper Provider Association in the links below.