How to Make the Most Money Being a Mystery Shopper

Mystery shopping has been a popular way to net some extra cash and perks for decades. The only real qualification is the ability to go shopping and evaluate how good (or bad) the experience goes.

Now that providers connect with shoppers online, there’s an even lower bar to entry for mystery shopping opportunities. Unfortunately, this also makes it easy for scam artists to rip off would-be mystery shoppers. But with a little vigilance, any detail-oriented person can pick up a steady side gig evaluating everything from drive-thru to day spas.

Let’s weigh the pros: a cool part time job, a decent salary (about Rs. 300-2000 per job, on an average), free food and clothes, an opportunity to meet new people and try new things. It really isn’t surprising that a huge majority of these professionals are young, broke students looking to make a quick buck. The job is exceedingly popular in the US where several mystery shoppers are people who want to supplement family incomes and have a lot of free time on their hands.

“This is meant to be supplemental income,” says Mike Mershimer, president of MSPA Americas (formerly the Mystery Shopping Providers Association of North America). People just starting out in the business might make as little as $5, so depending on how long the project costs it could be tantamount to less than minimum wage. But the work is generally very easy, and along with the money you earn, in many cases you’re rewarded with freebies ranging from restaurant meals to oil changes.

It’s big business, according to Mershimer. “There are millions of people around the country that do various types of mystery shopping,” he says. Retail and restaurant chains, service providers, and even cruise lines and airlines are among the many kinds of enterprises that pay mystery shoppers to give their services and products a try and evaluate how good they are.

Most mystery shopping involves going into a store or a restaurant to make a purchase. But there are many opportunities for people who don’t want to travel far from home, and mystery shopping can be a good supplemental income source for people who don’t have a car or are disabled. Mershimer says some companies use mystery shoppers to check up on the quality of their customer service call centers; others use shoppers with disabilities to see if their stores, restaurants, hotels or other facilities are meeting ADA compliance.