Part-time and work-at-home opportunities thrive on the internet these days. So many households need the flexibility of a self-employed schedule as well as the additional income such efforts can produce. Near the top of this long list of potentially viable employment options are mystery shopping jobs.
Not only do mystery shopping jobs allow flexible scheduling and supplemental income but many find mystery shopping jobs a perfect complement to their already existing passion for shopping and dining out.
Almost every individual would like to dine out or shop or travel and get paid for it. The right opportunity with a well-established mystery shopping company can provide the prospective shopper with several benefits in addition to the extra money.
The goods and services consumed or utilized by a mystery shopper are free. One need only provide the necessary feedback regarding the quality of the merchandise and an outline of the consumer's experience. So a competent mystery shopper working for a bona fide company can perhaps be said to have one the best part time jobs.
But, breaking into mystery shopping may not be as easy as one might suspect. The seductive aspects of this type of employment have driven demand for these opportunities through the roof. Typically, an individual looking for mystery shopping jobs needs to start by subscribing to some type of referral service. This, of course, invariably involves a non-refundable fee. This becomes a challenge for the prospective mystery shopper.
Many of these "services" are shaky and unreliable as they tend to misrepresent their potential for helping a new shopper find jobs. This can be quite frustrating and rookie mystery shoppers should be forewarned before they sign up with any randomly selected service. Therefore, it is a must to find out more about the company before committing to a fee. The legitimate companies have their terms and conditions clearly stated in their websites and neither do they charge any kind of membership fee. The only things they ask for is some basic and accurate details of an individual. Also, the genuine companies provide free training manuals and conduct free training sessions to brush the skills of the hired mystery shoppers. The scams on the other hand not only charge a huge sign up amount but also ask for money to provide training manuals as well as the training.
I am currently in between jobs and did some research on mystery shopping and am currently signed up for a couple of great companies! I don't get rich like some of the scams say, but I definitely make some extra cash (along with meal reimbursements, automotive service reimbursements, grocery store reimbursements, etc.).
ReplyDeleteI landed with a great company called BestMark; they have a lot of shops in my area with a lot of variety. I actually heard about them because I received one of those scam checks to wire money somewhere and looked further into MS companies. What I've learned: Be careful of the mystery shopping scams going on. NEVER, EVER cash a check you are sent to perform a mystery shop; this is a huge red flag. Legitimate Mystery Shopping Providers certainly pay you for your mystery shopping efforts, however this happens AFTER you have performed the shop. I found this article helpful in figuring out how to find legitimate companies: http://www.wikihow.com/Find-a-Legitimate-Mystery-Shopping-Company . We all know that there are tons of scams going on right now and it’s best to do your research before you sign up for anything!
I haven’t had any problems yet with BestMark; my state scheduler is awesome and the reports are easy and the pay is decent. I am also signed up with MarketForce but they don’t have many jobs around me. If you guys want to try a legit company I would definitely suggest visiting http://www.bestmark.com