Imagine shopping in various dress shops and eating in restaurants to earn some cash, isn’t it dreamy? You get a lot of free stuff and other perks on the side as well as some pocket money for doing the things that you love. This is one peachy deal if you ask me and I know you’ll agree. This is the life of a mystery shopper.

What the Mystery Shopper Does: Investigate

Business owners and managers know the value of sterling customer service in their business’ growth and development. Thus, big bosses often schedule store visits so they can assess their company’s services and check if their employees comply with their established operations systems.

However, business managers are not easily pacified by store visits. For all they know, the performance they saw may very well be staged for their benefit. Contrived performances do not help business managers improve their services and increase the company’s competitiveness.

This is where the mystery shopper comes in. A mystery shopper is hired by a company to visit local retail and dining establishments for the main purpose of evaluating how these branches actually and truly serve their customers. What a mystery shopper does is pose as a customer of an establishment and deliberately interact with the personnel. Afterwards, the mystery shopper reports back to the company to describe how he was treated and to relate his impressions about the store’s services.

What the Mystery Shopper Gets: Free Gift Certificates or Cash

Mystery shopping cannot be a full-time job unless you are the only mystery shopper in your area, and this is highly unlikely. You can also expect to have only one or two assignments every month. No one should expect to get rich through mystery shopping.

However, mystery shopping has a lot of perks. You will get to shop and dine while the company foots the bill. All you have to do is be what you are, a customer, who is more observant than usual. Some assignments can fetch you as much as $50, but most mystery shopping assignments will pay you only free dinners and free gift certificates. This is not too bad a deal, however, for through mystery shopping you can indulge your family out to a free dinner more frequently.

How to Become a Mystery Shopper: Apply

You can become a mystery shopper and begin earning free stuff by signing up with mystery shopping agencies. This is easier than applying directly to the companies. To get more mystery shopping assignments and more freebies, it’s better to become affiliated with at least two such agencies.