My husband heard something about mystery shopping with a business called MSP. I am a VERY untrusting person, and I can't see how someone could actually make money at something like this...especially when you have to pay THEM $38 to get started in it. Is this legit? Has anyone here tried it? He works at a golf course and is waiting for his wrist to heal (had surgery four weeks ago and is in therapy), but wanted to do this in his spare time for extra money. Please let me know if you know anything about it. I've been knocking it and saying its stupid and a scam. Am I right? Thanks--Marilou

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IMHO, absolutely NOT. I have always held to the belief that you don't have to PAY anyone anything upfront for any business (talent agents, modeling, mystery shopping, etc.)

I have been a mystery shopper with many different companies. I did it for about a year. I NEVER had to pay anything to any company. I did however have to pay for my dinner, or fast food, or postage upfront (depending upon whatever I was mystery shopping: restaurants, post offices, banks, shoe stores, etc.) Then I would send the receipts, fill out a form (many times online) and they would reimburse me my cost and a small fee.

I ended up not liking it. First you have to come up with a cover story (I want to buy this for my husband, my son, etc.) and sometimes the stories had to be quite elaborate. Then most often you could not take notes in their presence. So you have to have a good memory (did they wear a tie, did they stand up when they greeted you, etc.). And then sometimes the form to be filled out were long essay questions that ended up taking me quite a bit of time. Maybe I was over thorough....I guess that's how I am. So I found that with the gas, time, elaborate lying with fake names and addresses, long form filling out, and then finally the delay in the time in which they pay you (can be from one week to over a month), I didn't like it.

I needed the money when my husband was ill and out of work and I could not with the small kids and him being sick, commit to working full-time. So it was useful. We did eat out at some nice restaurants. But then the companies seemed to be getting cheap and one time they wanted me to eat at Friendly's and order specific items and then would not even cover the cost.

You have to see if it is worthwhile, nearby, and cost effective. Some need you to have a stop watch and some a digital camera.

But never did I have to pay them a finder's fee.

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I did mystery shopping for over 5 yrs and just stopped a yr ago. No, you should not have to pay for anything to get started as a shopper. You do, however, need to pay for your meal or item you are shopping for and then wait for your reimbursement.

I did a lot of stores and restaurants. It can be stressful. You do need a very good memory, which I don't have. I just got really creative at how to take notes in the store/restaurant. What I really didn't like about it is that sometimes we were at a restaurant where the service really really sucked. Any other time I would have asked for the manager or just walked out. But when you are doing this you still have to sit there and give them an hour of your time and your money, and then relive the entire thing when you write the report. It's not worth it. One company I shopped for sent back critiques of the report you submitted, like if you identified someone as overweight that was not allowed. Some of the companies had online training you had to complete for each place you wanted to be assigned to. When I sat down and really thought about how much time I was putting into it -vs- what I was getting out of it, it just was not worth it.

I do mystery shopping occasionally. I normally do them for sit down restaurants. I look at it as a meal out for us as a family and we get a nice big discount. It doesn't usually cover dinner for the 4 or 5 of us, but it's a nice treat!

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I have mystery shopped for many years, you do not have to pay anyone a fee! Those places that charge membership fees to join, are scammers who will sell you a 'membership' of a list of websites that you could find yourself for free.

Go to volition.com and read the mystery shop board, and they have a list of legitimate companies there that you can sign up with. I don't shop as much as I used to, many shop fees have drastically lowered and are not worth it anymore. But there are still some good companies and shops out there. Good luck

No, you do not have to pay! These are (like mentioned above) scammers. Don't fall into their trap and lose even moe money.

I've been shopping for probably 5-6 years and just this past Sat and Monday we spent in Chicago doing shops for a company. We drove in both days and did a ton of them all together. They were very long days (Sat 8 hours and Monday 12 hrs) but we made $642, so was well worth our time.
Gas was covered, so that was not even an issue, though the cost between the two days was $75 in gas and the tolls we had to cover (about $15)

These types of jobs are few and far between, but when they come up (usually around holidays) I SNAG them in a heartbeat. The rest of the time I usually don't do them, it just isn't worth the money.

I like to check at the end of the month at the companies websites I am signed up with, to see what they are offering for incentives to get the jobs done. That is usually where I do really good.

Most companies reimburse the month after you do the shop, so be prepared to put out some money up front. But once you do it, and keep doing it monthly, it all works out.

Good luck!!!

No, you do not have to pay! If you live very far from where you have to shop at remember how high the price of gas is!

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Brenda

GO #24 JEFF GORDON

I would suggest doing Consumer Research panels over Mystery Shopping (I have done both). Research panels generally pay $75 per hour in cash. The last one I participated in was a mock trial for a wrongful death automobile accident. The law firm was researching opinions to decide if their case was strong enough to bear the costs of going to trial. We were there for 4 hours on a Sat. morning and were each paid $300 in cash.

Yeah, that was my experience as well.

I did it for a few months, but didn't enjoy it at all -- it was way too much hassle for very small pay.

The only mystery shop I didn't mind was for Valvoline Oil since I got a couple of free oil changes

Do not pay, I have been mystery shopping off and on for around 20 yrs. I am doing way less lately with the price of gas. There are a lot of reputable companies to do. Once I did sign up for a mystery company and paid - it was NOT WAY NOT worth it. It was a ripoff.

Good luck.

I've mystery shopped for years and never ever pay to become a mystery shopper!!

If there's a company out there that wants you to pay them, then run far, far away! There's plenty of legitimate companies out there who will pay you to mystery shop for them and even reimburse you for dinner for two if it's a restaurant.

Good Lord yall, why didn't anyone clue me into this before?? I shop enough, I could definantly get paid for it!!