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I had heard about mystery shop jobs paying hundreds of dollars, but I had never seen one. Not until last week.
I got into mystery shopping as a way to put a little extra breathing room into our budget while my wife and I fought our way through a debt management program paying off $109,000 of credit card debt. The average shop I pick up pays around $15. Nothing spectacular, but if I do three or four of them a month, the extra money is always appreciated. However, the low pay per job is one thing that prevents people from doing mystery shopping as it doesn’t seem worth their time. There is the occasional visit to a bank to get my credit score that pays $40, or the one time a trip to my local wing place that paid $55 (including a bonus for picking up a shop that had to be done quickly), but those are exceptions.
So when I saw the email that advertised a value of nearly $300 my eyes just about popped out of my head.
The shop was for an optical retailer, and the shopper that performed the job would receive $35 payment plus up to $250 reimbursement for ordering glasses. No optical exam was required, only a optical prescription that was less than a year old. I shook my head at the freak coincidence of the timing of the shop. My optical insurance pays for either contacts or glasses each calendar year. I had used our 2014 insurance coverage for contacts, and was just thinking how nice it would be to give the eyes a rest and wear glasses sometimes when staring at the computer screen.
I quickly applied for the shop, and received confirmation of assignment the next day.
Once assigned the shop, I could see additional details. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was to play the part of a budget conscious shopper in order to prompt the retail representative to give me options as to how to get the best glasses possible for the least amount of money.
The shop was perfect for me.
I had not ever been to this particular optical retailer before, but it seemed a little more upscale than where my family usually goes to take care of our optical needs. I spent a little over half an hour in the care of one of the retail assistants trying on frames and discussing options. When it was all said and done, I went a little over the total $285 shop payment. That will come out of my pocket, but I’m getting a pair of glasses of exceptional quality for close to nothing.
I spent thirty minutes preparing for the shop by reading the instructions carefully several times. I spent another 35 minutes in the store, and 30 minutes entering my report online. In total, that’s just over an hour and a half of my time for $285 of total value.
It was by far the largest value mystery shop I’ve ever done.
Most mystery shops don’t pay much. But sometimes a shop comes along that not only pays more, but also fulfils a need in your life. Maybe it’s a meal at our favorite pizza place, getting my credit report for free, or a visit to an optical retailer. It’s those kinds of shops that make me keep checking those emails, and proudly telling my kids that I’ll be back later as I walk out the door.
Dad’s got a mystery shop to do.
Do you do mystery shopping? What’s your most memorable, or most valuable shop?
I have never mystery shopped before, but I think that it awesome! It sounds like you were at the perfect place at the perfect time.
I love it when a plan comes together, Holly…LOL. The timing WAS awesome. Had I not needed glasses, there was a second shop that we merely the shopping for frames/lenses without ordering anything that paid $35. That wouldn’t have been bad either!
Thanks for stopping by!
Nice! I have never done a mystery shop, but think it you could fit them in with your regular shopping or errand running even at a low pay side would be worth it.
That’s what I do, Brian. I signup for mystery shops that are either very close by, or on my way home from work, or nearby places I’m going anyway. Sometimes I can even stack several shops on the same day in the same general area of town too!
Very nice Travis! I did a little bit of mystery shopping back when I was in debt as a way to make a little extra cash, but it has been years since I’ve done it. Nice way to get some awesome value and take care of a need!
It was nice to take care of a need for sure, John – especially something that is that expensive, AND that I wouldn’t have been able to do under my insurance for several more months!
I have never done it myself, but I have looked into it and have been interested. I might look into it some more and maybe give it a shot. Good job on making extra money, even if it’s not that great.
I’ve been doing it for about 3 years now, and haven’t had any issues…..once you get the hang of it the prep and filling out the reports really don’t take very long. Give it a try and let me know what you think!
After doing a mystery shop once, I gave up, totally wasn’t worth the time. But obviously you cashed in on the exception. Very nice 🙂
In order to make it worth it, you have to be selective about what shops you take. I like to wait for bonuses to be offered which really jacks up the value of shops. Great to hear from you, Stefanie!
I haven’t done it yet but when I explored it it didn’t seem worth the time. That one you did sounds awesome though and sometimes I think it does work out in your favor!
I would agree that a single shop that is out of your way wouldn’t be worth it. But if you can stack shops in the same area, and you’re going to be in the same vicinity anyway, it makes it very worthwhile. Efficiency is the key!
Travis, that’s amazing!!! Can you share which company you mystery shop for? One thing that’s kept me from applying is that I’ve heard some companies are good, some are not so good.
I certainly can share, Laurie…I’m actually registered with five different outfits – all which I’ve used, without incident. There’s no fee to signup with any of them, and one of them is actually based right here in MN (Shakopee). Here’s the links:
https://www.sassieshop.com/2gfk/shoppers/LoginShopper.norm.php
http://www.beyondhello-theoffice.com/Dev/HomeDown.html
http://www.bareinternational.com/evaluators/
http://www.a-closer-look.com/
https://www.secretshopper.com/
When you’re registered with several different companies, you have a better selection of shops! If you try it out, let me know how you like it!
I feel so lazy when I consider everything you do in a day! Now mystery shopping too! I have never taken it on, and I think I probably shouldn’t. I maxed out of my reserves of energy long ago : ) But a very, very smart way to make some side-hustle income. I will share the idea with a colleague who is struggling financially. Enjoy your new glasses!
You have to know your limits for sure, Prudence…but the nice thing about mystery shopping is that you can pick and choose….there’s no “quota” of shops you have to do. So, if you don’t have time for 4 months, no problem. If a shop pops up for our favorite wing place and we wanted to go out for dinner anyway….well, it’s a perfect match! Links are listed in my response to Laurie if you wanted to check them out!
Never mystery shopped myself; however, a work colleague did years back and loved it. Yes, which company, as I am overwhelmed by the sheer number of companies available to do it thru. Glad to hear your experiences have been successful.
Hi Kathy, I shared the links above to the companies I have used (all successfully). There ARE a lot of companies out there that do it…..some are scams. never EVER pay money to register with a mystery shop company. There’s no reason to have to pay to do work for them!
Well, it wasn’t a mystery shop per se but I did sign up for Walmart Family Mobile through a “shop” (I think you do these shops sometimes too). Besides social fabric what do you use for shops? I really would like to do some more mystery shops which I’m assuming you just fill out a questionnaire about your experience?
Right, DC, you have to read over the instructions, do the shop, and then fill out a questionnaire – also usually uploading a scan of a receipt, a picture of the storefront or both. You learn pretty quick which shops have Loooong questionnaires in order to judge which ones are really worth it. Check out the links I listed above in my response to Laurie, one of them is even based in MN!
I would love to be a mystery shopper, but they don’t really have any opportunities where we live as far as I know. I would love to have a mystery shopper come into our office as well if we could see the write up and how we were perceived. I love the idea from both perspectives, and I’m really happy you can give your eyes a break!
The opportunities in smaller markets is less….but sometimes you just have to find the right company that is active in your area. Take a look at the links I put in my response to Laurie and see if any of those have shops running in your area. Thanks for reading, Kim!
That is a pretty awesome mystery shop! I usually wear my glasses around the house, and wear my contacts whenever I go outside. My optical coverage was the same as yours – either glasses or contacts, and I tend to choose the latter. It would be nice to have the opportunity to upgrade for free!
That’s exactly what I thought, Erin – now I have both, and can give my eyes a rest from having something in my eye all day – best mystery shop EVER!
One of the biggest reasons why I LOVE doing taste tests and focus groups…the extra cash! Just last week I received a prepaid visa for $230 just for logging into a website and answering some questions every day about having a summer get together…seriously? Earlier this summer I did one on pet food commercials paid out about $125 to talk about what we thought of a commercial…even better to see that commercial on air now…best way ever to make some extra cash for fun stuff!!
That’s awesome, kjv1971….I had no idea it was that lucrative. We should talk. 🙂
Not sure how yours is working. but when i got pick to do it. It turn out to be a scam. I took the check to chase which it was drawn on, and they said it was forgery. I;m not sure if mystery shopper is legit. This is just my experiences. so be careful
You do have to be careful which companies you use….I don’t get “picked” to do a shop, I pick which ones I do. if I sign up with a new company I like to do a single shop just to make sure everything goes smoothly…haven’t signed up with a new one for awhile though as I’m already registered with 5 and my inbox is flooded with shops each day. Being careful is always a great idea, but there are reputable mystery shop outfits out there – thanks for sharing your experience, Jeff!
I’m signed up with a couple of mystery shop companies, but I’ve never done one yet. I live in a rural area and there aren’t many shops available, plus the ones that are are all vehicle ones, which I either don’t need to get my car serivced when they come up, or its for “pretending to be interested in buying a car”. With only 2-3 auto dealers, I don’t want to do these because at some point i am going to want to buy a car and in this small town, people remember you and they will remember if I test drove and wasted a lot of their time and didn’t buy anything last time.
yeah, rural areas are tough. My city is about 100,000 and the shops are even a bit limited. There are many more shops in bigger market areas. Thanks for your comment!
That sounds pretty awesome! I’ve never considered mystery shopping, but that doesn’t sound too bad. New glasses would be much appreciated! I didn’t realize that going into a bank or something would also be part of the gig.
I was surprised with the bank one too. It was one of the easiest shops I’ve ever done – go into my bank to conduct business as usual, and ask about a program to get a free credit report. Take a flyer, follow the instructions. I got my credit report, AND $40!
My most memorable mystery shop was for a pool supply company. If the employee hit all the points they were supposed to hit, I got to hand her $50 cash on the spot! It was very exciting for both of us.
Wow, Jerri Lyn, that would be AWESOME! Not only do you get to do a mystery shop to put some extra money in your own pocket, but you also have the potential of making someone’s day…..I wish I could find a shop like that, I’d pick it up in a heartbeat – thanks for sharing!