This upcoming week is one of the few weeks where I don’t have too much planned. Sometimes when it gets toward the end of the month, shops are scarce. I do most of my scheduling right at the beginning of each new month – I literally sit with a calendar and write down every shop that I am assigned. Missing shops and reporting your shops late are the quickest way to give yourself a low rating in the companies system, and that means less shops for you. Here’s what I had this week, and what I have coming up next.

Friday (7/20) – I completed a mystery shop for a well known national candle company. I had to evaluate the customer service along with making a $5 purchase (which I was completely reimbursed for). In addition to the reimbursement, the shop also paid $7. While the $7 wasn’t a whole lot of money, I took it because I love this store and wanted to get something anyway. I spent 15 minutes in store, and 20 minutes reporting the shop. This shop was my second with the company, and as soon as I receive payment I will reveal their name.

Friday (7/20) – I completed another shop yesterday at a national hardware store. I was assigned a specific department in the store to shop, but I also needed to observe the customer service and cleanliness of the entire store. I also had to make a purchase in the department I shopped (up to $5) and I was reimbursed for that amount. In addition to the reimbursement, the shop also paid $12. Again this shop took me 15 minutes in store and about 30 minutes doing the report.  I took this shop because I drive right by it on my way to pick up Liam at school, it was so easy to just pop in and do it! This is another company where I have completed 3-4 shops with (in June) and am awaiting payment. Once I receive payment I will reveal their name.

Saturday (7/28) – This will be a shop at a well know national burger joint! Yum! I have already completed one of these shops, it was super easy and totally worth my time. I was reimbursed for the cost of my meal (up to $11) and also paid $11 to do the shop. Since we love to eat at this place anyway, it’s a no brainer (and basically works out to free lunch for the three of us). I am completing this shop for the same company as I did the ones above with, so I am awaiting my first payment from them before I reveal.

My payments are starting to roll in every day from shops I completed last month so there will be more new companies that I will be sharing with you. There seems to be a lot of interest in mystery shopping, so I am going to devote a new section on the blog to it (you’ll find it under the “Money” category.)

Interested in applying for mystery shopping companies that I have been paid by already? Check out all the mystery shopping posts here!  

I received my first payment from Second to None mystery shopping company today for shops that I completed in June. I completed one shop for a large sandwich food chain that reimbursed for my lunch. Since they needed help completing this shop, they also offered a $10 bonus to complete it – free (and yummy) lunch plus $10 – not too shabby!

I also completed a shop at a national office supply store that you all know. I had to evaluate the service I received in the store and make a purchase (which I was reimbursed for). In addition to the shop fee, there was also a bonus for picking up this shop last minute. All in all I made $20.35 for about an hour of my time.

I have been pleased with Second to None. They have a A+ rating with the BBB and work with some great stores that I love to eat at and shop at. When you get to do shops like this, it doesn’t feel like work! They are also looking for people aged 18-28 for alcohol and tobacco compliance shops. Since it’s so rare that younger people sign up for mystery shopping, there is ALOT of opportunity for that age group in many different companies. Second to None offers the chance to win an iPad or $400 monthly if you complete these types of shops. You are entered in addition to being paid (many times with bonuses).

Check them out and let me know what you think! You can also check out my previous posts about mystery shopping here.

Whew! I have a whirlwind week of secret shops this week! Check out all the cool stuff I am doing:

Friday (7/6) – I completed a lunch shop at a national (and VERY popular) burger joint. This was my first shop that I completed with this new company, so once I receive payment I will disclose the name. I had to order a burger, fries and a drink. I was paid $7 to do the shop and reimbursed for the cost of those 3 items (so it was basically a free lunch + I made $7). Works for me!

Sunday (7/8) – We did brunch at a high end restaurant which we love! We completed this shop for Grass Roots Measures, one of my favorite mystery shopping companies. We spent $45.96 (we splurged and bought more than we needed to) and will be reimbursed with a $30 gift card). Since I had two $30 gift cards from previous shops I completed, we splurged and bought expensive entrees and drinks.

Monday (7/9) – Today I completed 3 easy phone shops. I had to call a local college and determine whether the staff was answering the phones and returning calls. They paid $3 each and I completed 3 of them (including the reports) in about 15 minutes time. Easy money! I completed these for Bare International, another one of my favorites!

Wednesday (7/11) – I will be completed a shipping service shop also for Bare International. I will need to ship a 1 pound package (which I needed to do anyway). I will be reimbursed for the cost of shipping my package, plus I will be paid a $10 shop fee. I always log on to Bare International when I need to send something since they often have shipping shops available.

Thursday (7/12) – I will be completing a secret shop on a national furniture chain. I will need to visit the store and interact with the employees. This is another company that I have completed a few shops for but have not been paid for them yet (takes 30 days). Once I receive payment, I will disclose the name. I will be paid $15 for this, and I do not need to purchase anything.

Saturday (7/14) – I will be completing a shop at a national fast food restaurant. I need to order a combo meal and observe employee interactions along with timing how long it takes for my meal to be prepared. I will be reimbursed for the combo meal, plus I will receive a $7 shop fee. This is the same company as the burger joint lunch shop on Friday. Once I receive payment, I will disclose the name of the company.

This week was all about working the shops in to my life (completing shops that I could do with my family, or that paid for my lunch). While it may be true that you can’t “get rich” from secret shopping, I find it a great source of extra income. In addition to all of my free means (reimbursements), by the end of this week I will have an additional $48 in my pocket. 

This week is a little slow for me. I haven’t found many jobs for this week that I have been able to fit my schedule. Here is what I have done and what I have coming up so far in the next 10 days:

Friday (June 22nd) – I had a hair cutting shop that I was asked to pick up last minute. I was not paid a shopper’s fee, but I was reimbused for my haircut (up to $25) which I needed to do anyway. It’s not often that you find shops that don’t pay an additional fee on top of reimbursement, but I needed to fix my hair anyway, so it beat being out $25 with no reimbursement. As an added bonus, there was a mix up in the paperwork and they assigned it to me by accident. Since I had already completed it, they are reimbursing me without me having to submit a report. Woo-Hoo! This was my second shop with this new company, and I will reveal the name of that company once I receive payment.

Sunday (June 24th) – This was my first movie theater shop. My shoppers fee was $10, I got a $10 bonus for taking the shop last minute, and I received $25 reimbursement. I took this shop because we wanted to take Liam to see Madagascar 3 anyway, so this was a great way to do that, and get paid for it. We had to buy one item from the concession stand along with a small drink. We spent $23 on tickets, and $8.75 on food. Since I was paid /reimbursed $45, I made about $13.75 plus got the movie tickets and food for free. Love it! Once my payment is received, I will reveal the name of the company.

Monday (July 2nd) – This is a indoor kids entertainment shop. I have never completed anything like this, but I thought Liam would have a ball and it’ll allow me to get some work done while he is playing. This is another shop that I took that does not have a shoppers fee, but I will be reimbursed for the admission (between $8-10) and for a food item (between $4-5). This is my first shop with this company as well and once I receive payment, I will reveal the name of the company.

As you can see, I don’t always take shops because I think I am going to make a bunch of money off of them, but I do use them to do fun activities with my family, or odds and end things that I would need to pay for anyway (oil changes, movie tickets, haircuts, etc.). If you are living on a tight budget with not much wiggle room like we are, this is a great way to afford some of the luxuries!

Questions? Comments? Need advice on a company? Feel free to ask below!

I’ve been a little behind on posting my mystery shopping schedule. I know many of you are interested, and have sent me several emails looking for additional companies. I am working on responding today, for those that have inquired. In the meantime, be sure and check out the shops I have completed the last two weeks. These are all companies I have received payment from thus far. They are also all rated either A or A+ with the BBB.  I’ll be heading to the mystery shopping sites soon to see what else I can pick up this week. Here’s what I have completed in the last two weeks:

Sunday (June 10th): Large nationwide retail chain. This was the longest mystery shop I have completed with 18 pages of questions that I needed to check off. It was similar to an audit, but I did need to interact with many sales associates. It paid really well, $60, but it took me about 4 hours to complete (so it worked out to about $15 an hour).  This was my first shop with this company, and I will reveal it as soon as I receive payment.

Friday (June 15th): This was a shipping service shop that I completed with BARE International. I spent $13.88 to ship my package (which I needed to do anyway) and I will be reimbursed $11.80 for shipping plus a $10 shop fee (so it works out to making $7.92).  Considering I needed to send this package anyway, it was a great shop for me to complete. I have completed close to 20 shops with this company. They pay by check.

Saturday (June 16th): This was an entertainment shop where we had to purchase a ferry ride down the Intercoastal. We spent $20 on the tickets and will be reimbursed $45 (the cost of our tickets plus $25 shopper payment). This was also a new company that I started working with so as soon as I receive payment I will reveal them in a new post.

-Sunday (June 17th): Brunch at large, semi upscale restaurant done via Grass Roots Measures. This pays $30 by a gift card to their restaurant. We keep rolling our visits and gift cards so we paid for our first meal, but have been able to score 6 free brunches with the gift cards that we roll.

Thursday (June 21st):  I will be completing a phone shop to a large retail chain. This pays $5. I have completed and been paid for 4 shops that I have done with this company. They pay by Paypal. This is my first phone shop with Ann Michaels, generally I complete retail shops for them which pay $12 and have a $5 reimbursement for an item that I need to purchase.

Sunday (June 24th): I will be completing a secret shop at a nearby movie theater. I will be evaluating their food service, and will need to purchase a food item and a drink. I will be reimbursed $25 for my expenses, plus I received a $10 bonus for picking it up last minute, and I will also get a $10 shop fee. I took this shop because we wanted to take Liam to see Madagascar 3 anyway so we will probably break even for 3 tickets to the show, plus the food item and drink that we need to buy. This is another mystery shopping company that I am completing my first shop with.

I know many of you are interested in mystery shopping opportunities. I enjoy them very much and have been making some pretty good extra income doing them. Just this week I have scheduled myself for a pet store shop that pays $7 and that I am reimbursed for a $5 purchase (more snacks for the poochies), I have an oil change shop on Saturday for a nationwide oil change company in which I will reimbursed $40 for my oil change, I have dinner Saturday night at a local high end restaurant in which we will be reimbursed up to $100 for our meal, and  I have an upcoming shop on Sunday at a large mass retailer that is paying $60. Some of them you do need to make a purchase, and some you do not, it all depends on the retailer. I will say that I have been shopping for over a year now and have never once had any issues being reimbursed for the purchases I have made.

I use my previous mystery shopping earnings to pay for the oil change shops and dinner shops where I need to be reimbursed. I keep everything in my ING account that I opened up just for the extra side jobs that I do. (You get a $50 bonus for opening an account with ING when you sign up here). We have been getting to try loads of new things and pay for things that I need to do anyway (like the oil change shop) so it works out great for us. So far, my recommendations for companies to start with are:

Grass Root Measures

Beyond Hello

Bare International

I will also be revealing a new company to shop with later this afternoon since I just received my first payment with them via Paypal.

I started doing mystery shopping several months ago because I wanted to earn a little extra cash and I wanted to investigate firsthand the companies before I did any blog posts about them. Currently I am signed up for 17 mystery shopping companies and plan on bringing you a new one every week.  If you are interested in mystery shopping, you need to be very careful about the companies you select. You should start at the MSPA site which gives a list of all legitimate mystery shopping companies. You should never, ever pay to join a site. There are “courses” that a lot of these legitimate sites offer that you can take that cost money, but they are absolutely not necessary.

I blogged first about mystery shopping with my first recommendation, Beyond Hello. You can check out that post here. My second recommendation is for BARE International. I have completed 17 shops for them now, 7 of them for a post service. If you ship anything fairly regularly, this is a great company to apply for! They are fairly simple to complete and you get reimbursed for the shipping charges incurred. You also get a shop fee for your time. I’ve also completed phone shops for them for $3 a piece that took about 30 seconds of my time. All in all I have made over $200 with them from 1/3 – present. Not too shabby!

My second check notification from BARE. I have already received my first and cashed it.

If you would like an invite to join BARE International, you can leave your email on this blog post, or email me privately at allie@howaboutfree.net and I will send one over to you.

If you have any questions about any mystery shopping companies, please leave me a comment or email me. I have researched, researched, and done more research reading through hundreds of forums and complaint logs to see which companies are scams, and which are legitimate.

Please do not sign sign up for other mystery shopping companies you may see on other blogs unless they are listed on the MSPA site. Those are paid advertisements done by the blog and will more than likely want you to pay to join.

I have done a couple posts explaining mystery shopping and promised that the more companies I worked with and researched, the more I would post. My next recommendation for you to check out is Mystery Guest/Grass Roots. I have completed 6 shops with them already (4 for a huge and upscale restaurant chain and 2 for a retail store found in most malls).  My mom has also done a few other restaurants up in her area and she really likes working with them too.

Their payment system is a little different so I will explain it the best I can. If you get a certain upscale restaurant chain shop, you are paid with a gift card to that restaurant ($30 or $40 depending on whether you complete your shop for lunch or dinner). This works out great for us because we keep rolling our gift cards so that we can eat out for free once every 5 weeks at this place (and trust me, you will love this restaurant).  If you get a retail shop or other restaurant, you are paid with a reloadable VISA gift card. I don’t think they deal with checks because I have not received one yet. I have always been paid with a gift card.

Their application process is not too bad, and once you have completed shops with them, you will have the ability to “self assign” jobs, which is what I love best about them.  Once you have worked with them (or if you already do) please come back and let us know what you like about them.

If you would like to check out my other mystery shopping companies that I use and recommend (just two others so far), see the post here.

I have done a couple posts explaining mystery shopping and promised that the more companies I worked with and researched, the more I would post. My next recommendation for you to check out is Mystery Guest/Grass Roots. I have completed 4 shops with them already (3 for a huge and upscale restaurant chain and 1 for a retail store found in most malls).  My mom has also done a few other restaurants up in her area and she really likes working with them too.

Their payment system is a little different so I will explain it the best I can. If you get a certain upscale restaurant chain shop, you are paid with a gift card to that restaurant ($30 or $40 depending on whether you complete your shop for lunch or dinner). This works out great for us because we keep rolling our gift cards so that we can eat out for free once every 5 weeks at this place (and trust me, you will love this restaurant).  If you get a retail shop or other restaurant, you are paid with a reloadable VISA gift card. I don’t think they deal with checks because I have not received one yet. I have always been paid with a gift card.

Their application process is not too bad, and once you have completed shops with them, you will have the ability to “self assign” jobs, which is what I love best about them.  Once you have worked with them (or if you already do) please come back and let us know what you like about them.

If you would like to check out my other mystery shopping companies that I use and recommend (just two others so far), see the post here.

I started doing mystery shopping several months ago because I wanted to earn a little extra cash and I wanted to investigate firsthand the companies before I did any blog posts about them. If you are interested in Mystery Shopping, you need to be very careful about the companies you select. You should start at the MSRP site which gives a list of all legitimate mystery shopping companies. You should never, ever pay to join a site. There are “courses” that a lot of these legitimate sites offer that you can take that cost money, but they are absolutely not necessary.

I blogged first about mystery shopping with my first recommendation, Beyond Hello. You can check out that post here. My second recommendation is for BARE International. I have completed 21 shops for them now, 10 of them for the Post Office. If you ship anything fairly regularly, this is a great company to apply for because the United States Postal Service is a client. They are fairly simple to complete and you get reimbursed for the shipping charges incurred. You also get a shop fee for your time. I’ve also completed phone shops for them for $3 a piece that took about 30 seconds of my time. I have made over $200 from them from 1/3 – present. Last weekend I completed a quick Apartment shop for $17.50! Not too shabby!

My second check notification from BARE. I have already received my first and cashed it.

If you would like an invite to join BARE International, you can leave your email on this blog post, or email me privately at allie@howaboutfree.net and I will send one over to you.

If you have any questions about any mystery shopping companies, please leave me a comment or email me. I have researched, researched, and done more research reading through hundreds of forums and complaint logs to see which companies are scams, and which are legitimate.