Mystery Shopping

If you are really interested in Mystery Shopping, don't sign up for anything that comes to you through your email, especially your spam folder for crying out loud! Sit back, take a couple of breaths, and calm down.

Now, visit the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) website and read all the way through the Consumer Alert before doing anything else. If you've done that much, I hardly need to say anything more, but I'll give a couple of pointers just in case you missed something.

1. Don't ever sign up for an offer you get in your email unless you've researched it ten times over and know it's legitimate. Even then, be extremely cautious. Scammers are definitely out to catch your attention and they're getting better at luring people in every day.
2. Make sure and check things out with the FTC. If you have problems with a company, file a complaint. They'll take care of it.
3. Like they said, visit www.mysteryshop.org to find legitimate companies to register with. Never pay money to register for a company unless you've got ten sources from people you already know saying they got their money back and made a profit. Don't waste your resources making bad investments.
4. Once you get to the MSPA website, you can relax and start a job search in your area.
5. Only take jobs that you can handle and that you can make decent money from (at least $10/hr - preferable $15 or more).
6. Pay attention to job details, including distance and deadlines. Remember that you'll be collecting information, so allow time for writing things down and calculate about how much you'll make per hour.
7. Always make sure to meet deadlines! This is the most important part of mystery shopping. It is best to get done with the job early. Don't take on more than you can handle. It's not likely you'll be able to unless you live in a big city anyway. Mystery Shopping is usually only supplementary income and you probably won't be making "big bucks" so don't get your hopes up yet.
8. Always be cautious. I can't say it enough. There are a lot of rude people out there. They will scam you if they can.
9. What did I just say?
10. Be cautious.