Have you ever visited a store and had some really poor experiences with their sales rep or the store looking
dirty? Well stuff like that drives most companies crazy. So they hire people like you and I to report on that. But chances are you already knew this. You have probably gone through some Secret Shopper reviews, but you're still unsure about the company.
Well, we have everything you would want to know about this mystery shopping company, including what they don't want you to know. So, without further ado, let's get right into it, shall we?
What is Secret Shopper?
Secret Shopper located at SecretShopper.com is a mystery shopping company headquartered in Golden Valley, Minnesota. The company is a subsidiary of Sight on Service Inc., and is currently under the management of Paul Ryan, the President. The company was started in mid January, 1990 and has been in the market research business ever since.
How Does Secret Shopper Work?
Whenever companies want some sort of information from its customers regarding their products, stores or services, they assign companies like Secret Shopper with the task of conducting market research for them. Secret shopper then contracts mystery shoppers like you and I to collect this data anonymously. The shoppers act as regular customers only that they will be required to submit a report of their experience to Secret Shopper. This market research information will then be submitted to the contracting company for quality improvement purposes. Secret Shopper will then pay its team of mystery shoppers for their feedback.
How Do I Apply For A Secret Shopper Job?
It seems you can basically join Secret Shopper from anywhere in the world. Joining is free, as long as you are over 18. You will need to provide your basic information, including name, age, address, etc. After that, you will then complete a basic Certification Test which will evaluate how familiar you are with their terms, policies and conditions as an anonymous shopper, so make sure you read them before doing the test. Once you pass the test you will be assigned with a Shopper ID and password. After that you will receive notifications of available jobs via email.
How Much Money Can I Make with Secret Shopper?
How much you can make depends on how many jobs they send your way, how many shops you can complete and your country of residency. According to the website, an assignment can pay you anywhere between $12 and $25 an hour. However, highly proficient and experienced shoppers' earnings are significantly higher. You can earn you upwards of $10,000 a year on average.
If you prefer working from home without having to visit stores, you may want to check out Swagbucks.com or Fusioncash.com. If you are looking for an opportunity that enables you to work full time, you may want to check out My Best Work At Home Recommendation.
How Does Secret Shopper Pay You?
At the time of this review, Secret Shopper pays through PayPal only, once every month on the 20th.
What We like about Secret Shopper
Available Worldwide
Few work at home opportunities are global, so it's kind of cool that they've opened their doors to the rest of the world.
Positive BBB
For those of you who live and die for a company's Better Business Bureau rating, you might want to know that Secret Shopper's has an A+ at the time of this review.
It's fun shopping anonymously
Mystery Shopping is fun. You get free stuff, including food (count me in), they pay you to judge people and work whenever you want. Sounds like fun to me.
Secret Shopper Complaints
So on paper this all sounds good. But with every good comes some of the shady stuff. And fortunately for you, we've dug up the dirt you need to know if you decide to explore working as a mystery shopper with the Secret Shopper company. So here they are:
Watch out for scammers
Secret Shopper has been the subject of some serious scam cases out there. Guys claiming to be Secret Shopper reps invite you to sign up for the service at a fee, which of course is a scam since joining Secret Shopper is free and you don't need a middleman.
There are not enough jobs
You run the risk of staying broke if you completely depend on Secret Shopper to pay your bills. It's close to impossible to earn a decent living, let alone work full time. If you are looking to work part time or full time online you can check out My Best Work At Home Recommendation. You may want to check out Swagbucks.com or Fusioncash.com as an additional source of income as well.
Where is the rest of my money?
Apparently it's been reported that Secret Shopper will use every trick in the book to cut your pay. Members have complained of getting a pay cut just because their English was imperfect. That's some bull$*%t right there!
You better do the math.
They won't reimburse you for all the costs that may be associated with a shopping assignment. So you might want to do your math before taking up a given shopping gig. You have to factor in any gas or toll costs. Is the shopping assignment still worth it when you count that? Be sure it does.
Is SecretShopper.com Legitimate or Not?
No, Secret Shopper is not a scam. However, the pay is not that great, and sometimes you have to use your own money to shop. This mystery shopping company is probably a good enough gig as a side hustle, but sometimes you have to break a sweat to get the job done.
The bottom line is you can't live off this type of work, whether you're working with Secret Shopper or other mystery shopping company. However, if you are serious about making a full time income online you may want check out My Top Work At Home Recommendation. If you don't like the idea of having to leave your house to make money, you may want to check out Swagbucks.com or Fusioncash.com. Either way you have some options if anything, about secret shopper didn't appeal to you.
Well, that's all for me. Feel free to chime in below to share your own thoughts and perspectives.
Until next time,
Eddy with a Y
I received a cashiers check for $1950.00 was instructed to deposit the check and use $1600 of it to purchase 4 – $400 WalMart gift cards. I am supposed to text them when I deposit the check and notify them when I withdraw the $$ to buy the gift cards. Then notify them when I’ve completed the assignment.
Don’t cash it Steven.
I Recived a money order to cash and instruction is this a legal secret shoppers thing??
Nope, don’t ever cash random money orders or checks for companies. It’s a known scam to be avoided.
I’ve received a check and a letter with instructions. It has all of the BBB, AND MSPA, stamps. I’m supposed to deposit the check and wait for it to clear. Does this sound legitimate?
If they’re asking you to cash the check and keep some of the money, then it’s a scam. A lot of scammers will use legit companies name and other social proof to lure you into a false sense of security. So I would be wary.