Mystery Shopping - Make Money Shopping And Get Free Stuff

Now I'm sure all of you have seen those ads for mystery shopping. "For one small payment of $29.99 you could be doing real mystery shops tomorrow!" Ads like that have actually really hurt the industry because these are scams, and it really discourages people from finding the real places you can mystery shop. In fact, there are several corporations that do provide mystery shops to people and not a one will make you pay a penny to sign up! Before I share the links with you I would like to clear up a few things about mystery shopping.

• If you don't know what mystery shopping is, mystery shopping is when a company pays a shopper to show up at a business and act as a normal customer and report back to the company about your findings. This is how many large corporations find out how well their stores and businesses are dealing with their customers. It is a very important and legitimate service.

• You need money to start. The company will not give you the money before the shop, they will pay you after.
• You will not make a living mystery shopping. At most you will make a little extra cash and get some free goodies. There are some with some good pay but they will have higher requirements.
• Where you live matters. Bigger cities will have more shops. Though, I live in a rather small town and there have been several in my town as well. 
• There are a lot of scam sites offering mystery shops that aren't legit. If you aren't sure, google "Is ____ a scam?" and you will get all kinds of answers.

Now on to the fun part, finding sites for mystery shopping! A great resource for all mystery shoppers is the MSPA website. That is the Mystery Shopper Provider Association. Companies post their ads for mystery shops there. the MSPA also offers mystery shopper certification. For some shops, this does improve your chances of getting a shop, but there are tons that you can get without it so it is only for the serious mystery shopper. From that site you can read tons of resources on mystery shopping as well as apply for shops. Most will link you to independent sites that will have larger lists of shops available. I'm going to list the ones I have used and can say work amazingly well. I would suggest that anyone interested in trying mystery shopping signs up for these sites below. (There are only two I have actually tested so far.)

Best Mark - Link

My experience with Best Mark has been good. When you log onto their site there will be a list of shops that you can do based on location, history with the company, and preferences. They have an easy to use schedule where you pick the shop and time slot you wish to do it and then simply come back and fill out the report. You do need to be very exact when meeting their requirements because you will not get paid if you don't do everything listed.

After you complete your shop and report you will email them copies of your receipts. Most shops you simply get reimbursed. There are always tons that are offering up to $25 in food reimbursed at places like Applebees, up to $20 reimbursed at hair salons, and up to $40 at auto repair shops. Some shops will even pay extra on top of that. The auto repair ones usually pay fairly well. They also have shops at video game stores where you bring a 15-17 year old with you to see if the store will sell them an M rated game and you normally get around $11 for it. Great if you are already going to the mall.

Secret Shopper - Link

This site has a similar interface to Best Mark. The main difference is that if you want to do a shop that has already been filled you can ask to be put on a waiting list for when that shop becomes available again. They also tend to do a lot more flat payments and seem to have shops in more smaller towns. I got a really simple one from here where I had to go buy a few small groceries and report on how clean the store was, how many check stands were open, and get the name of one employee that was helping customers outside of on the check stand. I was reimbursed for $9 of groceries and paid $7. That is $16 extra dollars in my pocket and I just did my normal grocery shopping and took extra note of the store while I was there!


Mystery shopping can be a great way to make extra cash or freebies. Great for mothers, Great Clips hires mystery shoppers all the time and they allow you to get the haircut for either yourself or a child. And who doesn't like being able to go out to dinner knowing it isn't going to hurt your pocket book? Feel free to comment with any questions or if you find a useful site for mystery shopping!

If you want more information and tend to be the book reading type, here are some great books on mystery shopping!