- Find Real Jobs. Visit sites run by the Mystery Shopping Providers Association (http://www.mysteryshop.org/)  or Secret Web Shopper (http://www.secretwebshopper.com/)  where mystery shoppers go to find work, ask questions and chat.

- Get Certified. Another good source is Smiley University, an online school for mystery shoppers at http://www.aboutfacecorp.com/.  

- Do a Background Check. Before accepting assignments, check the company’s reputation at the Better Business Bureau in that company’s local area as well as Volition’s forum.

Legitimate mystery shopping assignments usually pay around $US10 to $US25 or can be twice the amount if the assignment requires special expertise. Phone-in jobs can pay as little as 50 cents. Keep in mind that secret shoppers are independent contractors with no job security or benefits.

Their goal is to shop without being so conspicuous that they are observed observing the store employees or store itself. They have a set criteria that must be followed, whether it be checking out the merchandise, observing the store clerks, tasting the quality of the food, or experiencing the dreaded "return of an item."

Mystery Shoppers are often on a deadline. Their job is to enter a store, restaurant, of other facility, follow their list of criteria and be out of the store without anyone becoming suspicious of their purpose. Sometimes they have to arrive at exactly 4 p.m. Other times, they have a window frame of 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. And other times, they are given a week in which to complete their assignment.

Mystery Shoppers must fill out questionnaires such as:

"How long did it take you to get seated?"

"How long did you wait for your food?"

"Was your food hot when it arrived?"

"When you walked into the store, how were you greeted?"

"Did you find everything easily and if not, when you asked for help, how were you helped?"

"Give a detailed account of what followed when you asked for the out of stock item."

"How many customers were in the stores and how were they being helped?"

"What did the bathrooms look like? Were they properly stocked and clean?"

"After handing the money to the clerk, what did he or she do with the money?"

"Were the advertised specials displayed according to the following standards?"

With so many questions, it can often be difficult to remember everything. Some Mystery Shoppers have come up with a little system to help them along the way… Make extra copies of the questionnaires, so that after you have driven a few blocks away, you can fill in the information and not forget anything. Take a friend or spouse along, they can observe what the clerk looks like while you concentrate on the purchase and return policy. This is a great way to take a friend out to lunch, free. Bring a tape recorder with you, once you leave the store, hit the record button (hidden away in your purse) and commence talking… you can act like you are on the phone, or talking to your friend or child.

For the most part, nothing unusual happens when you do a mystery shop. It’s simply like any other shopping day, only this time you are being paid. However, there was one experience that took a shopper by surprise. She was asked to observe an employee doing taste tests. As the shopper approached the employee, a rat jumped out from under one of the racks, onto a sample cart and began eating all the samples!

One shopper gave some words of wisdom. She said, "Some shoppers are so excited to get a free meal that they can’t contain themselves and are easily overheard by waiters and waitresses. Others have wandering eyes that are unusual for a regular customer. If you don’t want to be made, act like you would any other time you eat out."

The pay you ask? It’s not a rags to riches job, but it can add money to that holiday savings account… it can even pay for those trips to the movie theatres with your kids. On average, the shops range from $5 to $20 per shop. Some shops pay for your time and reimburse for the meal you have eaten, while other shops simply reimburse for the meals you have eaten. I have even heard of stores paying customers a set $200 a month to shop their store once a week.

About the Author:

Alyice Edrich is the editor of The Dabbling Mum®, a free parenting publication, and the author of several
work from home e-books designed to help parents earn extra cash while spending more time with their children. To learn more, visit her at http://thedabblingmum.com/ebookstore

 More @ http://www.secretwebshopper.com/articles/advantages_of_secret_shopping.jsp
Mystery Shopping articles
XML feed

Those who are working in a job only have a few hours a day to devote to their online home business. Some may choose to rise early and put in an hour or two of work before joining the daily commute, others will start working on their online home business when they return from their day job, a few will go the extra mile and work both early morning and evening in an effort to start making money online.

Fin more info @ http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=24775

There’s been a heated rhetoric intended to subdue the marketing hype that certain companies or online marketing gurus create around mystery shopping. However, when taking the middle stance between the pro-campaigning and the outright denunciation of mystery shopping as a legitimate and effective market research practice, we realize that mystery shopping is not bad, after all, because it provides unique product and service insights that no other market research method can produce. For mystery shoppers, it’s not simply a great cash-earning opportunity, but also a way to make a difference in customer service and product marketing.

Certainly, mystery shopping has elbowed its way to proving as a legitimate and smart way of earning extra money. It has many critics claiming that mystery shopping is not profitable, and that quite on the contrary – pays too little for the workload that mystery shoppers take on. However, many of the allegedly experienced critics of mystery shopping were either lousy shoppers themselves, or are simply reproducing comments that they overheard from somewhere. Successful mystery shoppers certainly develop some skills to sift through the shopping opportunities they are offered, but these take some time and practice.

Mystery shopping jobs attracts many job seekers, because it requires no previous experience, while providing an exciting and challenging environment as mystery shoppers are actors, market researchers, and objective evaluators all rolled into one. There’s no monotonous work routine with mystery shopping, but it is far from requiring no effort and time. Successful mystery shoppers develop professional ethics and build good reputation with the companies they work for, and that ensures them regular assignments and higher-paid shops. Mystery shopping is definitely rewarding – not only do you get paid, receive free services and merchandise, but also you leave your shop location with the satisfaction that you have contributed to improving a product or service for all customers that will be using it.

Complete article here : http://www.secretwebshopper.com/articles/truth_about_mystery_shopping.jsp