by Saeed Darabi

Created on: March 22, 2010   Last Updated: March 23, 2010

Mystery shopping and getting paid for it sounds so good and desirable. I mean who wouldn't like to get paid to shop? It's a dream come true for many, specially those (ladies) who never get tired of shopping. But, is there really an industry out there that rewards you for shopping? Yes, there is, and it's called "Mystery Shopping". Most people have heard about mystery shopping or at least have seen an ad here and there for "secret shoppers" or "mystery shoppers", that promises as much as $50 an hour and free merchandise. So, just what exactly is mystery shopping? Is it a scam or is it a legitimate money making opportunity? And most of all how can you make money with mystery shopping?

"Mystery shopping", "integrity shopping" or "Mystery Consumer" started in the 1940's, as a tool to measure the integrity and honesty of an employee. It is a simple yet affective method for market research companies to gather information about the quality of a specific product or service. Mystery shopping is most commonly used for retail stores, car dealership, movie theaters, restaurants, fast food chains, banks, gas stations and etc. It's also used for collecting information about hospitals and other health care facilities. Mystery shopping and the result it produces is becoming a big part of success or failure of a business or even an employee or employees of a business. For example, customer/patient satisfaction is being incorporated more frequently into executive pay. One study by a U.S. firm found more than 55% of hospital chief executive officers surveyed in 2005 had "some compensation at risk," based on patient satisfaction, up from only 8% to 20% a dozen years ago. The mystery shopping industry had an estimated value of nearly $800 million in the United States in 2008.

So, how does mystery shopping work? Well, it's based on a simple yet result producing technique. A mystery shopper who is assigned for the specific store/business, poses as a real customer and does simple tasks like asking question, buying a product and maybe returning it later, all in order to gather information about the quality of service and product of that store/business. After the shopping is done, the shopper will report back his or her experience by filling out a questioner, by phone or even in person. In return for this service, of course the shopper receives a reward, which can be cash or gift certificate, plus the shopper gets to keep the product (service) which s(h)e just bought, for free. It could

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