Any mystery shopper who has completed more than a couple of assignments has probably thought the pay on one of their assignments was not worth the time and effort. Watching the clock (even down to the second in some cases) or checking every display in the store can be tedious to say the least. Mystery shops that require you to drive back to return an item are essentially like completing two assignments in one, except you generally are not paid for two assignments. And then there are restaurant shops where you have to order a full sit down meal and commit an hour of your time to eating and ordering specific menu items you may not care to eat.
The good news is that there are a handful of mystery shop assignments that generally pay well, where you are pretty sure to get paid decently for your time and effort.
Take A Joy Ride. If you can muster a few minutes speaking to a car salesman, you can make a decent buck test driving a new car. Most people generally enjoy test driving cars, and the entire on-site part of your assignment can typically be completed in about twenty to thirty minutes. The paperwork is relatively standard in length. The best part of a car dealership assignment is that the pay is generally higher than average and you often can get bonus pay as schedulers sometimes have trouble filling these jobs.
Catch A Flick. Movie theater checks are typically easier to complete than a standard mystery shop assignment. In most cases, you only need to catch the previews and report back on the audience’s reaction to the previews. With theater checks, you won’t have to report on employee interaction, condition of food or facilities, or quality of service. The pay is generally typical, but since the effort is usually minimal, these assignments are well worth your time. Just a word of warning – be sure to read the assignment requirements before you accept the job, as some assignments will have you check multiple theaters.
Home Is Where the Heart (And Money) Is. Many mystery shoppers are weary of attempting an assignment for an apartment complex or model home, as these assignments may seem like quite an undertaking from the outset. However, for shoppers who enjoy touring properties, this is an excellent way to make some great money. These assignments may require a little bit of extra prep work on your end, as you may need to research the typical customer and income range for the house or apartment you will be touring and may need to set up an appointment with a specific salesperson. However, your time at the apartment complex or model home may take as little as twenty minutes, and your compensation is typically two or three times, or more, what you would typically see on an average shop assignment.
You can make great money as a mystery shopper when you spend your time wisely. Choose the assignments that pay the most for your time and effort, and you will see your income rise.
I would love to do Theater checks I have not had the opportunity to do one. I check quite often with one company, and they send me notices, but they are always gone when I check the ones they send. I do not hesitate I get on that, as soon as I see it, but I have never been able to get one this gets to be very annoying especially when you go directly to that web site. This is a rural area but there is a movie theater close to where I live but nothing ever happens.
Thank you for the information on the Apartments and houses. houses
I just did my first dealership. It was alot of fun. I got to test drive a new vehicle and there was not alot of pressure to buy. I would do one of these again. I would also like to do theater checks. I haven’t been able to grab one yet either. Thanks for the info.
How do we get the test drives and the movie jobs?
Jean
I have done over 10 movie shops. Some are quick and easy; others require the whole afternoon and evening being tied up. I don’t do as many as I did. I am doing alot of merchandising for 2 companys. They are keeping me busy and the pay is good. I do MS when I can and if the pay is good. The companies I work for know I do very good work for them. Sometimes I get 3 or more phone calls a day! Jenny
I’ve never seen any shops come available for my area. Are there certain companies that have them for the Amarillo, TX area? I would love also to do Theater jobs.
Thanks for the info,
Cari
I love, love, love new home shops. They are fun and easy. I would love to know about the movie shops. Please list if you know of any please. Thanks in advance!
When I began MSing in April ’06, my first assignment was to 4 luxury car dealerships. I was able to test drive SUV’s made by Mercedes,Cadillac,Infiniti and Lexus. They pay for all combined was $140. I haven’t been able to get another like that, but would love to.
‘Theatre checks’ are great! You have the option of taking in the movie, so long as the assignment details are taken care of. So far as I can discern, they are performed for “new releases.” Of course there are more assignments available in metropolitan centres. ‘Trailer checks’ reports are even simpler. My experience with one company is that, rather than do a search on their site in the typical way, you can phone them and they will search out what is availble in your area, more likely resulting in a positive find. Reports are called in immediately, and mailed in the next day. I suggest that you invest in getting a small clip on book light, for doing paperwork in the dark.
One company also requires that an initial report be submitted online, the same day as well.
i am interested in becoming a mystery shopper…please let me know how to join….
I love theater checks!!!. If you like movies this is a great job. I make 150.00 a weekend and if there are two screens it’s about 225.00 for the weekend. A great perk is that you can see all the other movies that are playing. The managers don’t mind since you are there for three days. That’s the downside. You have to be there for all showings of the movie you are auditing. But you don’t have to stay there. You can go get dinner, watch other movies, take a walk, anything you can fit into two hours.
Thery’re fun. Try one in your area and see if you like it.
As usual, this is very good information, and many of the comments were helpful as well. I have noticed a reticence in naming names, i.e., companies (LOL). As if we’re going to steal your action!! A good company for movies, and merchandising, is Certified Field Associates, which recently became part of the Market Force group, which handles fast food outlets (does the letter “M” have significance??) CFA was loaded with merchandising jobs, along with many theater checks, when I was last associated with them. Before my transportation woes, I was doing mostly merchandising, with very minimal mystery shops. When my vehicle died, I had more than 40 contracts in my backlog. Needless to say, the schedulers were none too happy, having to re~schedule those jobs. And I’m not happy that they’ve seemingly banned me for life!!
Any of you interested in movies, and/or merchandising, can’t go wrong checking out CFA, or Certified Field Associates. Oh, did I mention they pay every 2~weeks?!! To the others, it’s okay to share company names; there’s more than enough work for all of us, even those of us who’re kept out! Thanks for the 411(^_^(
Please tell me how to access previous forums. I posted a comment and want to find if anyone answered my question. Thanks to all of you that help make it easier to shop.
I will never do another theater check. I completed 2 theater checks for the same company and never got paid for either. On the first one I did not get paid because I supposedly missed their deadline to download the results. I never saw that there was a deadline, I thought that I needed to do it by the next day, not immediately after. On the second one, I was required to watch the same movie each time that it was shown (which turned out to be 7 times.) They actually called me as a backup person at the 9th hour, so to speak, and I did not have the proper time to prep for the assignment. The instructions were 9 pages long. They called me at 10:30 a.m. the movies started at 12 noon. Anyway, after I reported the results on line, I got a nasty called from someone there stating that the show times that I reported could not be plausiable. I stated to her that I copied the showtimes off the showtimes menu board at the theater and verified them with the manager. She continued to dispute what I told her in a somewhat unprofessional tone. Nevertheless, I never received the pay and I spend from 12:00 noon until 10:30 pm at the theater and was never compensated. NEVER AGAIN!!!!
I would like to know what companies offer the movie set
mystery shopping jobs?
The Mystery Shop Maven:
Would like to do the shops that you are
offering,whether auto dealer, restaurant,
gravesite, or apartment houses,etc.
Am able to do either one or all that you have to offer.
Am looking forward hearing from you,
contact me at sml.cartier@comcast.net.
or 215 244 1795
Samuel R. Cartier
I am surpirsed at the positive comments about Certified. I’ve never recieved a check from them in less than 5 weeks. I have often wait 5 or 6 months and have been cheated by them. I no long work for them.
From all the difference of opinion I have heard about certified I wonder if there is not two companies out their with similar names. I haven’t had any trouble getting my pay from them. In fact they seem to pay faster and more often than other companies that I’ve worked for longer.
I had the same thing happen to me with Certified I was doing merchandising and had 12 assignments in my log but I had 2 setups that the manager’s had asked me to wait a week because they wanted to set it up first for one store and the other one did not know where they wanted it cut into ,but to make this story shorted my boyfriend was driving and he almost got heat exhaustion after waiting out in the car after a hour of my waiting for someone to “Not” make up their mind where to “Not” put up the display.We went the 50+ miles back home logged in to the site and was informed I was no longer a field associate, Because of not completing my assignments on time .I was putting in 20-40 hours a week and putting up to 2,000+ miles on my car a month for them .I always let them know if I could not get a assignment done when I said I would .I had stores I had audidts to do every month at. Because of all the assignments I had done in only 6 months last year and my being new to having to pay my own taxes I had to pay $550 dollars in owed taxes to Uncle Sam.I was very dissapointed when I got the message that I couldn’t get anymore assignments from them after I cooled down from the initial message.But I was kept very busy doing candy resets for 3 months allover Wa.state .with Convergence till they had a restructuring of managment Now I’m trying to get paid for the 7.000 miles of travel pay they owe me.Since my 3 area managers are no longer employed by them.Up until june Convergence was a good paying employer. They even sent my boyfriend and I out to Southern Texas for 2 weeks to set up the Hannah Montana clothing line in the Wal Marts All expenses paid.
Dear Maven, Would it be asking to much for some of the shoppers here to list some of the good paying companies on the East Coast. I am currently working w/ Athpowers and so far so good but there pay is not timely enough for me. I certainly believe that there is power in information and if we pool together our info then I am sure that a lot of poor paying companies won’t be able to snag good workers. Let’s try it Guys!