The Easy Way to Make More Money as a Mystery Shopper

There are a handful of mystery shoppers who get into this business purely to benefit society in general. After all, mystery shoppers do serve the valuable role of helping stores, restaurants, and other businesses to maintain a higher level customer service, to ensure their facilities are clean and organized, and more. However, while mystery shopping may give you a warm and fuzzy feeling with the satisfaction of knowing your efforts are making a difference, the fact is that most mystery shoppers get into this business for cold, hard cash. So it stands to reason that, as a mystery shopper, you want to find a way to make more money with each and every assignment you do. Here are some hot tips to help you accomplish that:

Maintain Your Standards. Mystery shoppers are generally pretty busy people. Mystery shoppers may be active in their communities, parents of young kids, full-time workers, college students, or more. The job is ideal for so many different people simply because it allows you to make money around a busy schedule in a completely flexible way. As a busy person, you know the value of your time. Every mystery shopper should set a minimum standard in terms of pay that they must meet for every assignment. If a job isn’t offered at your pay grade and other incentives such as expense reimbursements, bonus pay, or other similar financial incentives are not offered, don’t slink below your standards for a quick buck. You should keep your options open for higher paying assignments. Many times, you can pick up last minute assignments – with bonus pay, but you have to have your schedule open to do so. When you load your schedule up with low paying assignments, you don’t have this flexibility.

Find More Work. Sometimes mystery shoppers aren’t bringing home the level of mystery shopping cash they want because they can’t find enough higher-paying assignments in their area. You could certainly take on lower-paying assignments, but this isn’t really a route you should take unless you absolutely have to. Instead, branch out and explore new things as a mystery shopper. This may mean expanding your shopping territory or heading out of town for a fun weekend filled with mystery shopping in a new city. Or perhaps it means trying out a type of assignment you have never tried before. If you still can’t find enough work that pays the level you want, take some time to sign up to work with a few other mystery shopping providers so you have access to more assignments in your area.

Ask Around. You may not know any other mystery shoppers personally, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get insider information. The online forums are a great source of information about lucrative job opportunities for mystery shoppers. Make a point to read through the forum posts regularly to hear about the latest assignments that mystery shoppers are cashing in on. You can always start your own thread to set the topic, and then let other mystery shoppers provide you with just the information you are looking for. You can learn about unique assignment types, which providers pay the best, which are offering a lot of work in your area, and more.

Some mystery shoppers simply give up on mystery shopping because they get stuck in a rut working for the same old providers whose pay seems to be getting lower and lower each month. Before you throw in the towel and give up on mystery shopping, try some of these great ideas to make more money as a mystery shopper.