As with most types of jobs, mystery shopping is one of those jobs where you either love it or hate it. For some people who need flexibility in their work schedule, want to work out of their house or need to be able to take their kids or another family member with them while they work, this is the perfect solution. Other jobs simply do not offer such benefits. However, for some people, these benefits are not advantageous to them. For example, if you are single and have plenty of free time, the benefits of mystery shopping may not be highly beneficial at all. When this is the case, the downsides associated with mystery shopping become harder to deal with.
The Downsides Associated with Mystery Shopping
Much is written and said about the positive aspects of mystery shopping, but few people talk about the downsides. After all, if you can make money shopping at your favorite stores, dining at restaurants and more all while getting free merchandise and meals, what’s not to love? There are indeed downsides to the job, though. For example, the compensation is rather low, and the income is not steady. While this is not a skilled job and will never offer the same level of compensation as a skilled job does, there are other unskilled labor jobs that may pay better and may offer more stable income. Consider, for example, that many fast food restaurants and grocery stores now pay more than $10 or $12 per hour. While mystery shopping may win out when you compare the hourly rate of the two jobs, the hourly jobs may win out when you consider that you may work a steady four, six or eight hour shift. It can be difficult to earn $80 or $100 a day on a regular basis working as a mystery shopper. There are also hassles associated with rude providers, the loneliness associated with working from home and not having co-workers and more.
Have You Had Enough?
There is no job that is perfect for everyone. While mystery shopping is right for many people, there may be a chance that you are not one of those people. You may thrive having the regular interaction of co-workers, and you may enjoy the routine and stability of a regular job with regular hours. If you believe that you may have had enough of mystery shopping, consider taking a break from mystery shopping. Try to find a better job elsewhere, and give that job an honest try for a few weeks.
The Grass May Be Greener
You may believe that the grass is greener with a different job, and you may be right. However, you won’t know until you try. With mystery shopping, you can simply take a break for a few weeks, and none of your providers will be any wiser regarding why. You can simply stop taking on new assignments for a while and try out another job. If you decide that the grass is greener in the mystery shopping world, you can simply visit the job boards and start working as a mystery shopper again. There is no need to cancel your work status with your providers or to sign back up to work for them if you want to come back!
I don’t like the fact that you are calling mystery shopping an unskilled job. The fact that you can train yourself online to do this (i.e. no particular degree or certification is required) does not make the job unskilled.
Over the years many people have asked me how to get into mystery shopping. I have given them websites they can check to learn more about it. Most of them quit before they even start, and I think that it is often because they realize this job takes much more skill then just being able to shop. A mystery shopper must be a good observer, have strong skills in reading comprehension, have reasonably good writing skills and I can’t imagine trying to do this job without keyboarding skills (I sure am glad my mom made me take typing in summer school when I was twelve!). Sure, there might be a few shops that don’t require writing skills because the form is just a multiple choice check sheet, but how much money would you make if you limited yourself to those?
When you think about it, mystery shopping requires a multitude of skills and cannot be called an unskilled job.
While I understand that the job requires skills, if you look up the definition of unskilled labor mystery shopping definitely meets all of those criteria. Unskilled labor is just a way to define a certain segment of the workforce. To be considered unskilled labor the following have to be in place
A — Low wages
B— No specific education required (generally a tech school, apprenticeship or college degree)
C— No specific experiences required
MSing is absolutely an unskilled job when considering those criteria.