A Wannabe Secret Shopper? Then Read This
I have a full-time job and make enough to get by, but I am not able to save up any money. Living expenses keep rising while my salary stays the same.
About a year ago, I decided to look into how to become a secret shopper. I wasn’t sure exactly what a secret shopper actually did and if it was even something that would be possible. It only took me about ten seconds to find a ton of sites on how exactly I could become a secret shopper.
Many of the sites offered advice but explained that the best way to become a secret shopper was to pay a small fee to register for a service who in turn, helps you find reputable companies that want people to secret shop for them.
Naturally, I hesitated. Why should I pay a fee just to learn about working opportunities for a mystery shopper? Every web site offered arguments why this was reasonable, but I wasn’t convinced.
Well, I investigated the reputation of some of these web sites to find which ones were reputable. Finally I payed the fee but I don’t quite recall how much – it must have been less than $30.
Now that I had paid the fee I was given a long list of company web sites where I could register as an applicant for secret shopper jobs. This process was a real nuisance, it took a whole day and felt like too much work compared to what I might earn.
I had read the promises of shopping in clothing stores and malls and being able to keep the merchandise. In my case, that wasn’t happening. My brilliant plan to become a secret shopper and have some fun wasn’t working out the way I’d imagined.
Sure, I do live in the countryside but there are several major department stores in the area. All I found was some opportunities to eat meals in a few restaurants and get the meal for free. Well, a free meal is always nice!
I remember I also did make a small amount of money on my secret shopping jobs. However, for the amount of time spent it was hardly worth it (in spite of the free meals) and I do not think I will do this again.
Filed under: Careers