[12paws42]

Hi all,

I am about a month away from being unemployed in Ohio and moving to a suburb of Tampa (Lakeland or Plant City area). In checking out the classifieds, I see alot of "mystery shopper" ads for employment. It seems too good to be true (and usually is when it sounds like it). Does anyone have any opinion or even experience with this? I'd really like to find employment that I can do out of my home.

[oceandreams94]

I dont know, but I have heard of some people doing that once in awhile. I dont think you could actually earn an income doing it though.
I work from home doing call center work and I also own my own home business as well.
I hope its o.k. to post these links here for the call centers.
liveops.com
westathomeagent.com

MODERATOR DELETED

Jen

[macguy]

Originally Posted by 12paws42

Hi all,

I am about a month away from being unemployed in Ohio and moving to a suburb of Tampa (Lakeland or Plant City area). In checking out the classifieds, I see alot of "mystery shopper" ads for employment. It seems too good to be true (and usually is when it sounds like it). Does anyone have any opinion or even experience with this? I'd really like to find employment that I can do out of my home.

Those are no good. Depending on how much money you need to make you can work from your home answering calls for various companies. The jobs are easy to get and you can make a few bucks. My nephews wife works for AAA auto and when you break down she is one of the people you get when you call. She also does something for Sears, taking complaints or something. I was actually surprised at how much she makes. It is routed right to her home and she takes the calls. It's a pretty good job for stay at home moms and you can make some money. They are doing this more and more but you want to work for a legitimate company.

[kort677]

Originally Posted by 12paws42

Hi all,

I am about a month away from being unemployed in Ohio and moving to a suburb of Tampa (Lakeland or Plant City area). In checking out the classifieds, I see alot of "mystery shopper" ads for employment. It seems too good to be true (and usually is when it sounds like it). Does anyone have any opinion or even experience with this? I'd really like to find employment that I can do out of my home.

99.9% of those ads you see are bogus, they either want you to pay them or they pay you what amounts to a few bucks an hour. Not worth it, they prey on people like you

[SkyeAnjel]

I am a mystery shopper LOL! I don't think its a way to make a living as you are paid very little and in the case of restaraunts sometimes not at all. I do it because I get reimbursed for pizza.fast food etc for filling out reports and its nice for my 3 kids. I do know some people get higher paying jobs but you have to be doing it for a long time. From what I have seen, you usually just get what amounts to free tickets, for instance, I was offered a mystery shopping job Space Center Houston that paid 50.00 which included the price of 2 tickets and parking. Ticket price is 18.95 each. It's a great way to do things for free or for alot less.

[johnrex62]

I have done mystery shopping for three companies over the years. I never made a significant income, seldom more that a few hundred a month. I did it to supplement my commision income in a dead real estate market and to get paid to eat lunch.

I ate a lot of fast food and did few retail shopping jobs. Never got more than $25 a shop, food shops were closer to $5 each and you can only do so many at a time. You cannot become a regular in the store as a shopper. The companies paying for the service also limit how many and which stores get shopped and there are a number of shoppers available to divide those shops among. I seldom got more than 10 shops out of a batch each month, so you have to be versatile at what you will eat and hope the agency lands some retail shopping contracts more than occasionally.

[afox]

I wanted to add my two cents to the conversation. I work for Corporate Research International. We are a mystery shopping company. I can not say the clients we have due to their privacy but we work for nationally known companies. I agree that it is very hard for someone to do this full time, but i do have some shoppers who do that. They usually work for several companies and they are very organized people but they do it. I personally have done sevral shops myself and at my old job used to get shopped so i can view this industry from all sides. if you follow instructions well and enjoy going to different and new locatons in your area then i think shopping can be fun. You do get paid very well for some shops but as one of the people on the forum stated alot of the restuarants only pay for your meal and maybe $5.
The way i see it is if i was going to go out to dinner anyways and someone stopped me and said "hey, let me pay for you meal and all you have to do is tell me how it was" I would say sure, i would not ask them for more money. lol.
I love what i do for a living and i can assure you that their are real and legit companies out their, you just have to do some research.

Beware of companies that ask you to pay something to view what shops they have or those that ask you to pay a membership fee.
This is where you can get scammed.
We do not ask for any money from our shoppers.
I hope this helps a bit.
Thanks,

[nicolepsy]

I wouldn't waste my time on something like that. Listen to your gut.

[afox]

Originally Posted by nicolepsy

I wouldn't waste my time on something like that. Listen to your gut.

Really??
Some companies do scam people but i assure you that there are legit companies out there. Right now i have one shop in MN that is paying almost $50 for 15 min. of work and there is not purchase required for this shop. You go to the location and ask them a few questions, come home and get online, fill our a form and your done. What about that is a waste of time. I don't even make that much money as the scheduler. lol
you can make extra money by doing this, but make up your mind for your self. Moderator deleted They don't hold back on what they think about the shopping companies.

[gypsychic]

Originally Posted by afox

Really??
Some companies do scam people but i assure you that there are legit companies out there. Right now i have one shop in MN that is paying almost $50 for 15 min. of work and there is not purchase required for this shop. You go to the location and ask them a few questions, come home and get online, fill our a form and your done. What about that is a waste of time. I don't even make that much money as the scheduler. lol
you can make extra money by doing this, but make up your mind for your self. Go to violition dot com and see what the other shoppers have to say. They don't hold back on what they think about the shopping companies.

That site looks pretty bogus. I do agree there are some legit "mystery shopping" gigs out there, but I don't think anyone could make a living on it. It's mostly something to do for a few extra $$$ here and there. JMO