Who Wants to be a Mystery Shopper?

Mystery shopping can be a rewarding and fun source of extra income. Not only are you increasing your monthly revenue at home, but you’re acting as a “private detective” in many respects to many companies who value your evaluation skills.

One of the first questions that people ask about mystery shopping is “How do I become a mystery shopper?” Many of you have probably gone to different search engines and searched “mystery shopping” only to find that you are bombarded with websites that promise you shopping assignments for a small fee.

The truth is that you can start supplementing your income today with mystery shops. The only things that you really need to become a shopper are a keen eye, good memorization skills, and good writing skills. Most of the time after you perform a shop you have to write up a report about what happened on the shop, so good writing skills are a must in the mystery shopping world as you are acting as the eyes and ears of the company.

Most of the information, specifics, and details about mystery shopping can be found through www.mysteryshop.org , the Mystery Shoppers Providers Association. On this site you can become certified, and it’s a legitimate certification. Though it is not necessary to become certified to be a mystery shopper, you will receive a lot more jobs this way.

The big question about mystery shopping is “Where do I get jobs?” You can apply to most mystery shopping companies online through their online application. Some companies that allow you to apply online are:

• www.bestmark.com
• www.marketforce.com
• Informa Research
• www.conferoinc.com

Those are just a few companies that are out there waiting for you to sign up with them.

The last thing that you should remember when becoming a mystery shopper is that you will more than likely not be an employee of the company that you shop for, meaning that you will be an independent contractor-so there are no taxes taken out. You must keep up with your own records and receipts and report your earnings to the IRS on your tax return.

So are you ready to begin shopping? Check out www.mysteryshop.org then start applying to mystery shopping companies! It’s that easy!