Category: Mystery Shopping Experiences

When you choose to work from home as a mystery shopper, you have several important responsibilities. One job is to create a space for the leasing agents to show their best performance. To do this, you want to make sure you take the focus off yourself as much as possible and instead allow the agent to take the lead. You’ll want to be sure to present yourself as an open, pliable leasing prospect.

Here are three great ways you can conduct yourself to allow the agent the best opportunity to succeed: 

Listen 

The leasing agent should be doing more talking than you. Remember, your job is to respond, not lead the conversation. Of course, there may be some leasing agents who are more talkative than others, but that is okay; another part of your job is to be comfortable with silence.

The leasing agent should be aware of what his or her job consists of, so sit back and let them take the wheel and guide the conversation, both on the phone and on-site.  Be responsive and answer questions freely, but allow them to ask for the pieces of information they need. 

Smile 

The more comfortable the leasing agent feels with you, the more he or she will feel inclined to complete their job thoroughly. A smile, especially a genuine one, can go a long way to creating a scenario where the leasing agent believes they can succeed in closing an apartment lease with you. 

Act 

Act like you are a real prospective resident. This means you should allow the agent to sell you on the community. If you do not like something about the apartment, use it as your objection for the leasing agent to overcome. This will sound more natural and believable. However, keep in mind that you are not really leasing, so you do not have to press too aggressively about your objection.

Apartment mystery shopping will become easier the more relaxed you are on the job!

Are you someone who has good to excellent credit score? If so, then do not overlook those credit mystery shopping jobs since they offer higher payments amounts for those shoppers who have very good to excellent FICO scores, and if you do mind having a store run your creditability.

Most of these types of shops ask that you apply for a store credit card and will require that particular shop to run your FICO score.

If you do not mind having someone run a credit check and check your credit score, then most mystery shops can pay over $100 for a simple 20-minute visit. In addition to getting paid to do this mystery shopping job, you also obtain a store credit card too.  So, if you were already planning to apply for a store credit card or do not mind someone running your FICO score, then these shops might work to your advantage.

Most of these credit card shops that command a higher shopper payment are conducted at stores where a shopper pretends to purchase or apply for a home loan, a car, line of credit, or just apply for a store credit card.  Most consumer credit bureaus state that having someone run a credit check once every six month does not affect your overall credit score.

So if you were planning on obtaining a store credit card anyways or do not mind an occasional credit check to earn higher amounts of quick cash, then these are great shops to earn fast and higher amounts of money.

The goal of completing your very first mystery shop is two-fold.  You need to actually complete the shop and then you need to be able to get more mystery shops!   Your very first shop is key to learning the ropes and moving forward to becoming an expert mystery shopper.  Here are a few tips to help you along the way in completing your very first mystery shop.

Read Everything. The mystery shopping company you are working for will post documents to help you along the way with completing the shop.  You can find almost everything online or printed somewhere.

Do not be afraid to ask questions. Asking questions does not show a weakness but that you did your homework. A rule of thumb would be to send a several questions at one time versus one question per email. I know this should go without saying yet it has happened several times.

Release the need to be perfect. You may or may not complete the perfect shop the first time around. That is ok. It really is,  just know what you absolutely need to remember to complete the shop and go from there.

Get it done. This is your first shop. You may forget something, you may not. Either way, you will survive.
Do not be discouraged. You can always ask questions. Read the documents posted about the actual mystery shop and any additional information about being a mystery shop, in general, is available as well.

Great, hopefully you are excited to prep for your first shop. It will get easier yet you must start somewhere.

Remember that you can always reach out to the mystery shopping staff with questions. Just make sure to do your homework and read all of the documents beforehand to show that you have put in your due diligence as well.

Thanksgiving has ended and is closely followed by the holidays of Chanukah and Christmas. Extra cash is always needed during this time frame and making fast cash always seem difficult, but not if you work with mystery shoppers.

The thought of finding side job may create an image of standing in long lines at the unemployment office for hours on end or waiting at the temporary job agency, and then you still have to wait weeks for someone to call you for a job. That is not the case with mystery shopping jobs.

These shops allow you to make extra money even if you hold down a full-time job, or go to school, or maybe you are a stay at home mom.  You can earn money in just a few hours.

Just spending 15 minutes on the computer can begin your journey to making a couple of hundred of dollars in a short time. Wouldn’t a couple of hundred dollars help you during the holidays? It is all up to you on how much time you want to put in to make some extra cash for the holidays.

Mystery shopping jobs are flexible part-time jobs and the majority of them only require a couple of hours to complete an assignment. A vast majority of mystery shopping jobs can fit into any schedule, since they can be done either in the morning, afternoon, evening, or even on weekends. All you need is access to a computer and just need to sign into several mystery shopping companies.

Everyday, you can view numerous job opportunities and you can assign these jobs to yourself immediately. With mystery shopping jobs, you can just log into several websites and view hundreds of job opportunities and assign them to yourself immediately. These shops pay between $30 to $250 or more, depending on the job, and some can only take a couple of hours. Most mystery shops pay within 30 to 60 days and even doing just a couple of hours can generate you a couple hundred dollars. So shop and get paid for the holiday season!

It’s that time of the year again for the annual pilgrimage back to school. Stores have posted signs for great deals and the students show no signs of happiness. The students attending the institutions of higher learning generally head back toward the end of August with public and private school children returning anywhere from now to the end of August.

I’ve noticed that in recent years the trek back to college is a little more involved than I originally thought.

As a mystery shopper, I can site some examples of the process. I see an increasing number of students that are returning to campus to earn their degrees while living in off-campus housing. When engaging in apartment mystery shopping I have observed students residing in a variety of housing arrangements including luxury high-rise apartments. In “ancient times” living in other than campus housing meant a small apartment nearby shared with a friend or two. Interestingly that has all changed. Many apartment management companies I come in contact with tell me that although they cannot discuss demographic information due to Fair Housing Laws, they are leasing to students with certain restrictions. During a recent mystery shopping experience, I had the opportunity to ask a recent graduate if there was a shortage of college housing/dorms. She told me the dorms had strict rules and they want the freedom to come and go as they want. If a two-bedroom apartment rents for $2000 a month and it’s split four ways, it’s a done deal and affordable.

While mystery shopping at self-storage facilities, I noticed that college students are very busy just before school starts with cleaning out their storage spaces to move their possessions into the apartments rented for the next term. These facilities get busy very quickly as students begin using hand trucks and anything else they can get in order to move items of various sizes and furniture. Once this is completed, storage facilities will once again have room for everyone else. And, of course, just the opposite happens at the end of school year. The stuff goes back in and they go home.