The Mystery Shop Maven

Mystery shoppers have been watching gas prices creep back upward for months with much dismay. The higher gas prices climb, the more money mystery shoppers have to pay to travel to do assignment site visits. With gas prices up almost $1.00 per gallon in many locations in just the last few months, if not more, many mystery shoppers are really starting to feel some pain at the pump each time…

Mystery shopping may not be a widely prevalent job, and in fact some people don’t even think it is real but instead think of it as an urban myth of some kind. Yet those who have tried mystery shopping largely love it, and this is due in large part to the flexibility the job offers to earn money around your other commitments and responsibilities. Some people use mystery shopping as…

If you feel like you have fallen into a deep, mundane rut with your mystery shopping assignments, you are not alone. It seems kind of ironic that a job that so many people say is exciting and engaging when starting out turns into a job that many say is rather dull after a few months or years on the job. The fact is that while each of your assignments may…

It has been a long and bitterly cold winter for many mystery shoppers, but the good news is that spring is finally here! The snow and ice are melting, the birds are chirping, and in some places even a little bit of spring greenery is adding fresh brilliance to what has otherwise been a barren landscape for months. Now is the perfect time to get into the spirit of spring…

So many mystery shoppers today complain about the low level of compensation that many assignments pay. It’s hard to blame them because, after all, who wouldn’t be insulted at earning $15 or less for two hours of their time for travel, the site visit, and report writing, too. This barely meets the equivalent of minimum wage. Today many far less skilled jobs like bagging groceries and scooping fries in a…

You only have to turn on the news today to hear about the current state of the economy. The stock market is up significantly from where it was twelve to eighteen months ago, the unemployment rate is down, and consumers in general are more hopeful about the economic outlook. There may still be a big proverbial “row to hoe” in order to get the economic back to where it was…

Many mystery shoppers stumble across this job in their efforts to find a way to make money around an already busy schedule. Some started their search in an effort to find a way to make money with a second job without being tied down to a rigid work schedule. Others wanted to earn money around personal commitments such as caring for relatives, juggling a schedule with kids’ activities, going to…

If you have been feeling out of the loop in your job as a mystery shopper, you certainly are not alone. Mystery shopping is, by nature, a very remote and isolated job to have. You are required to conduct your assignments often undercover. While you may be able to take a friend, child, or spouse along with you on some assignments, you certainly would never do a joint assignment with…

Every year around this time, many people look toward the future with bright hopes and dreams for a better year than the last. Some will jot down resolutions and refer back to them throughout the year to make sure they are staying on the path they want to be on. Others will be less formal about their goals yet still keep them in mind as the year progresses. As a…