by Mysteryshoppingteacher

Created on: October 24, 2008   Last Updated: April 16, 2012

During this economy, one of the best things an individual can do is to work for themselves. You can set your own hours and determine how much time you want to put into a business. One way to do this is mystery shopping. Mystery shopping is a career that almost any once can do. It has very low start up costs and there are many different avenues of mystery shopping. The start up costs are basic items that many people have in their homes already: a digital camera, computer with internet access, scanner, and a printer. There are mystery shoppers for retail, fast food, casual dining, and even hotels. The list of possibilities is really endless. Many types of businesses employ mystery shoppers of give them a realistic observation of the company from the eyes of the average customer. The best thing about being self employed as a mystery shopper is that you can get paid to do the things you would normally do anyway.

Many people may not have heard of mystery shopping. Here is a little insight into what mystery shopping is. Mystery shopping, or secret shopping, is when an individual is paid either a fee, or is reimbursed to try a good or service for a company while remaining anonymous. Sometimes shoppers receive a fee and reimbursement. Some mystery shops require that individuals remain anonymous the entire time. Other shops require the mystery shopper to do a reveal at the end where the shopper starts off incognito and reveals their mystery shopper identity at the end. Either way, the mystery shopper is providing a service for a company.

In order to start off mystery shopping, an individual will have to find a company that has listings in his/her area. While it sounds easy enough, often there are individuals who want to charge for this information. Those interested in finding out more about mystery shopping can find companies that are legitimate, but it takes considerable time. Many companies that sell mystery shopping lists have old information or they may be a scam.

Be careful for mystery shopping scams. One scam is when a shopper is sent a bad check and is asked to deposit it into his or her account. The next step is to wire a portion of the check through a wire transfer. In the end the shopper is tricked out of his or her hard-earned money.

To sum it all up, being self employed is definitely a good thing. Mystery shopping is one way that individuals can become self employed. Mystery shoppers can make good money providing their service to businesses. Shoppers can make anywhere from $20-$40 per hour if they have a plan. Of course this is on the lower side. You can make much more once you become familiar with the companies and know which shops you can perform for the highest pay while using the least amount of time. You can start your own home-based business as a mystery shopper if you know where to go for legitimate companies and if you stay organized. You control how much money you make as a mystery shopper working from home. You can determine how much time you want to spend, and therefore, how much income you have. Some people do mystery shopping as a full time job. 

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