Become A Mystery Shopper Get Paid To Go Mystery Shopping

Information About Mystery Shopping

Before approaching the various mystery shopping companies for work when you decide to become a mystery shopper, it is worth doing your homework. I'd advise preparing yourself as you would for any other job interview. Unlike the other sites described on borntoloaf, these mystery shopping companies may refuse to employ you. Therefore you really need to sell yourself. The mystery shopper companies will initially ask you to fill an on-line application form. This is your initial chance to sell yourself by outlining your strengths and qualities. Based on this form the mystery shoppping company may telephone interview you or ask you to undergo online training and then a test. Prepare yourself by reading their mystery shopping website and demonstrating an understanding of what the specific company is looking for in their employees.

Secret Shopping

By becoming a mystery shopper and going secret shopping you agree to confidentiality clauses, so as such I am unable to talk specifically about what assignments I have undertaken. Instead I'll list the companies who I have worked for and who have paid me. The mystery shopping work has been varied, interesting and fun. The mystery shopper payments have ranged from over £200 to under £10 and the time taken to undertake assignments has ranged from 1 hour to four days. I usually tie in a few mystery shopper jobs in the same area and never work for less than £20 each morning/afternoon. Some mystery shopping jobs can easily be done in a lunch hour. I've been able to do the work whilst my children are at school, and have also included them in the exciting world of my "undercover work" - but only when requested to by the mystery shopping company as you should not take children with you on visits unless specifically requested.

Product Tester Testing

The mystery shopping companies contact me by telephone or e-mail with assignments and you must have access to a printer and be prepared to store paperwork for up to six months. Mystery shopping reports are generally done on the internet. You must adhere to the contract as a product tester and mystery shopper and may need to wear smart clothing for some assignments, take your family on some visits, or go alone. Most of the companies ask you to be responsible for your own tax and National Insurance declarations. However certain expenses may be offset from this.

I can't list specific questions regarding specific companies, but most will ask you to note and report on the following:

The date and times of your visit.
The buildings/shops on the left and the right (to ensure you went to the correct branch - very important if there are several branches in the town).
Make comments on the décor and tidiness.
Number of counters, customers or staff members.
Staff members names, their descriptions and their job descriptions.
You may be asked to find specific products or seek specific information or assess that employees are giving out specific answers to the questions you have to ask.
You may be asked to look for specific posters, leaflets or wall signs.

The mystery shopping companies will also want this information and receipts as soon as possible, so you'll need to allow time to fill in the forms, usually within 24 hours. Some mystery shopper companies allow you to do this online, others sent you the forms to fill out by hand and post back.

And remember the mystery shopped companies will get a copy of your report and will know when you visited: so if they've CCTV you can be sure they'll be watching the tape after they've read your report! So, do the job as professionally, competently and as honestly as possible.

I find it useful to carry a notebook pre-filled with the information questions I need and fill this out as soon as the visit is finished. Just make sure you do this well away from the visit area in case you are being observed.

Secret Diner

Secret Diner is a term used for those mystery shoppers who go to assess restaurants and restaurant staff. An example of the work of a secret diner was shown on Channel 4 during the competition heats of Ramsey’s Best Restaurants with chef Gordon Ramsey. Each secret diner was fitted out with a hidden microphone and camera and asked to have a meal and drink at the restaurant. During this secret diner work each were asked to make a complaint and ask questions. This included complaining that the food was not warm enough or needed more flavouring or saying that wine tasted off. The reaction to the secret diners requests were used to judge each restaurant during Ramsey’s Best Restaurant.

Earn Money

On no account should you own up to being a mystery shopper, nor should you carry the questionnaires on you to the visit. I've never been identified yet as a mystery shopper and love the work, find it really varying, interesting and challenging and is a great way to earn money. I hope you do too and do let me know if there are any other questions I can answer on this page and I'll add it.

If this page has been helpful then tell a friend about this page.

Also see the borntoloaf guide to:

Getting paid to do surveys

Getting paid for your opinions

Getting paid to read e-mail

Mystery Shopping in Aberdeen.

There are other mystery shopping companies available such as Intelligent Marketing Solutions Limited, Lodge Service/React, Research International, NOP, Gap Buster, Retail Rapport, Emysteryshopper, Ukims, Macpherson Mystery shopping, Customer Perceptions, Grass Roots, Retail Eyes or Performance In People.

If you would like your website listed here for free then please add a link to borntoloaf.co.uk first then contact me with your website url and description.

The webmaster of Borntoloaf (Christopher Buswell) is always happy to give interviews or help with articles for newspapers or magazines about mystery shopping. For example in October 2007 Chris Buswell helped Sunday Post reporter and journalist Mr Steven Bowron with a feature about being a mystery shopper for the DC Thomson publication. This involved initial contact by e-mail, a telephone interview and a photo shoot at a nearby shopping centre. Contact Chris Buswell by visiting the borntoloaf.co.uk website contact page.

Borntoloaf has helped many of our users to become a mystery shopper and learn how to get paid to go mystery shopping. Here is an e-mail we received from one of our site visitors:

I found borntoloaf completely by accident a few years ago. I think whilst searching for free stuff. Borntoloaf.co.uk has pointed me in the direction of cashback shopping through Greasypalm through which I have almost earned £1000 in cashback and prize draw winnings. I also started mystery shopping through the recommended sites on www.borntoloaf.co.uk to earn a bit of extra pocket money. I had never even heard of mystery shopping before, but now there's no stopping me!

Not only do I have loads of free money thanks to born to loaf, I've had numerous nights out for free from looking on the free cinema tickets section and loads of free samples eg food, pet stuff, perfume and things I can't even remember. Thanks for the tips over the years. Keep the offers and free stuff coming.
Dani Cohen

Nielsen Consumer Panel

Nielsen Consumer Panel are seeking people to use their free hand held scanner to scan the bar codes of their weekly shopping. This information is then transmitted to Nielsen Consumer Panel electronically so only takes a few minutes. In return Nielsen Consumer Panel will award you points which can be saved up and exchanged for free gifts from their gift catalogue which includes electronic equipment, household items and toys.

Another way to earn from shopping,in addition to when you become a mystery shopper, is to shop online via a cashback website. Each time you make a purchase go through their website and they will give you cashback from every purchase. Once your account reaches a limit of your own choosing they will send you a cheque, payment or direct to your bank account payment.

Should I Pay To Become A Mystery Shopper

Should I pay to become a mystery shopper? Is a common question asked of Borntoloaf. It appears that some people are charging internet users to read websites about mystery shopping or to read an e-book or book about mystery shopping. Other companies are charging to let their visitors become a mystery shopper. Born To Loaf have never worked for a company that make these advance payments and have always found information about becoming a mystery shopper free on the internet. When joining a reputable mystery shopper organisation we have never had to pay a joining fee; we have joined for free and been paid by the mystery shopping company for the mystery shopping work undertaken.

It has been sad to read that the e-mails we receive asking Should I pay to become a mystery shopper? often finish with the writer telling borntoloaf.co.uk that they sent off a payment and never received the information promised and could not find a contact telephone number or other e-mail and that their e-mails were going unanswered. The writers often end their question by asking if it had been a con or scam.

Secret Shopper

Mary Portas Secret Shopper was broadcast on Channel 4 in January and February 2011 and aimed to highlight customer service in the Uk through mystery shopping and the use of hidden cameras. Mary Portas, nicknamed the Queen of the British Aisles, brings her experience of working in the retail industry and from programmes such as Mary Portas Queen of Shops. In the first episode of Mary Portas Secret Shopper she turned her attention to the fashion chain Pilot and reported her secret shopper findings to the Managing Director.

The advert for the Secret Shopper TV program showed Mary Portas walking through a stock room full of nude mannequins. As Mary Portas passed each mannequin they exploded with heads falling off.

The pilot episode of Mary Portas: Secret Shopper was first shown on Channel4 at 9pm on Wednesday 19 January 2011. It described how Mary Portas usually produced TV programmes which aided small independent retailers and that now she wanted to improve customer services within large stores on the high street. This first episode of Mary Portas: Secret Shopper investigated the customer services of fast fashion shops which included H&M, New Look, Pilot, Primark and Zara.

Equipped with a secret camera Mary Portas went mystery shopping during the sales. She wore a disguise with make-up, sunglasses and a wig to hide her well known hair style and looks so that she could get natural responses from other shoppers and the shop staff during her undercover filming.

During her mystery shopper filming Mary Portas revealed messy displays, clothes strewn on the shop floor instead of on displays, large queues at the tills, staff chatting to each other rather than serving at the tills, messy changing rooms and fitting rooms with little space space to try on clothing. Scenes of staff being unhelpful or not caring about helping customers were filmed during the mystery shopping secret camera assignments to demonstrate that shops needed to improve staff support and training.

Shoppers were interviewed by the Mary Portas: Secret Shopper team and common answers were given. They included wanting to be said hello to as they entered a shop, not wanting to queue, getting assistance at the changing rooms, and finding the staff to be friendly and smiling in a clean, neat shop.

The same customers revealed what they did not like when they went shopping for clothes. This included not being greeted by staff, being ignored during shopping, finding the shop in a mess and feeling undervalued by staff.

The Managing Director of Pilot, Mr Chris George, consented for Mary Portas to openly film the staff at work at Freeport Braintree. Prior to this Chris George was shown secret filming that took place at the Chelmsford branch of Pilot which showed staff ignoring customers, staff chatting rather than working, long queues and untidy areas in the store. Mary Portas and Chris George hoped that open filming rather than being a mystery shopper would improve customer services at each Pilot Fashion branch in England.

This section of Mary Portas: Secret Shopper started with Mary Portas looking at the Pilot Fashion website (pilotfashion.com – which crashed after the show due to a high volume of traffic to the site) and then filming openly at the Pilot Fashion Freeport Braintree branch. Here she witnessed employees not helping customers and talking to each other instead. She went to the fitting rooms, staff facilities and toilets and the stock room. Her findings were discussed with the staff and Mr Chris George who came to the branch.

Mary Portas then suggested that fast fashion can learn from fast food shops like the London branches of Eat., Pret A Manger, Wagamama, Caffe Nero and Leon. So Chris George and the staff of Pilot Fashion Freeport Braintree branch spent a day working at Leon London where they were taught the three golden rules of the fast food experience which is smile, speak and serve. Mary Portas used smile, speak and serve as the slogan for Mary Portas; Secret Shopper.

The first episode of Mary Portas: Secret Shopper ended with the changing rooms at Pilot Fashion Freeport Braintree branch being refitted with a red carpet, dazzling lights and cubicles being named and themed after pop stars like Katy Perry, Cheryl Cole, Madonna, Lady Ga Ga, Kylie Minogue and Rhianna. Photography within the Pilot Fashion fitting rooms was banned so Mary Portas: Secret Shopper introduced a tweet mirror that customers could look at themselves wearing the latest Pilot Fashion clothing and send a photo to a friend. Mobile chip and pin card machines were suggested to help beat the queues, a bit similar to Apple stores in the UK. The mystery shopping demonstrated in Mary Portas; Secret Shopper helped to motivate and rejuvenate the staff of Pilot Fashion Freeport Braintree branch and it was hoped that these new ideas would go nationwide at Pilot Fashion after the trial.

The second episode of Mary Portas: Secret Shopper was first shown on television at 9pm on Channel 4 on Wednesday 26 January 2011. Mary Portas turned her attention to customer service within the furniture business and went mystery shopping to buy a sofa. Her undercover secret shopper assignment was to go to the furniture shop CSL Sofas in Rotherham. After secret shopper filming Mary Portas gave CSL Sofas feedback to help the company to try to improve their customer service.

Other episodes of Mary Portas Secret Shopper focused on the sofa industry with undercover filming at furniture superstores like SCS, CSL, Harveys and Furniture Village. Mystery Shopping assignments looked at fabric stain insurance, misleading sales promotion techniques, pressure selling, price match promises, misleading labels, not listening to customers’ needs, sales people salary and commission and to test customer service. Mary Portas then worked with CSL Rotherham to improve the customers shopping experience.

In the next episode of Mary Portas Secret Shopper she investigated the mobile phone industry and went undercover to film stores like Phones 4U, The Carphone Warehouse and Fonehouse looking at phone insurance, confusing tariffs and not having working phones to try. Mary worked closely with the Fonehouse franchise to try to improve the customers’ experience.

The final episode looked at the practices of Estate Agents with undercover filming at Sovereign House, Currell, Alan Harvey and Martyn Gerrard.

Throughout the UK there were free training sessions for store workers based on the Mary Portas Secret Shopper programme on Channel 4. These free Mary Portas retail training courses include towns like Peterhead and cities such as Aberdeen and the free workshops gave shop owners retail tips and advice on business to help improve customer satisfaction and maximise their profits.

Become A Mystery Shopper Get Paid To Go Mystery Shopping

Links And Websites To Mystery Shopping Companies

Information About Mystery Shopping

Secret Shopping

Product Tester Testing

Earn Money