Secret Shopping For A Living... Sort Of

Greetings from your friendly Prisoner of Work. I hope you've been exploring the many opportunities for making money on the internet. The only way to find that home business for you is to try, try and try again. Like the saying goes, "You have to kiss some frogs before you find that princess/prince."

The promise of being a Secret Shopper is considerable - you are assigned to go to a place of business and perform some kind of action. You may be asked to make a purchase, make an inquiry about a purchase, or simply observe conditions at the location. You then make a report about your findings and you are usually compensated in some way, like being reimbursed for your purchase or receiving a fee for your work. The compensation you receive is dependent on if the company accepts your work. You are required to follow specific directions in order for your report to be accepted.

I've registered for several secret shopper programs. I've performed shops at restaurants like Piccadilly Cafeteria and Papa John's and easy loan places so far. You may have read of people who are making a full time income doing secret shopping. I think those people must live in major metropolitan areas, as the offers for secret shopper jobs I've seen are not numerous enough to live on in my area. I've usually just been reimbursed for my purchases, with the occasional fee I received without having to spend anything.

Most secret shopper sites function the same way: register for free, then search for jobs you would like to perform and apply for those jobs. Keep in mind the following:

1) If you live in a smaller city or medium sized city, the jobs may not be very plentiful and the competition for them could be great. I found I needed to register several weeks in advance for some jobs, as they would be filled quickly.

2) If you sign up for a secret shopper service, many of the companies listed in the service may not still be in operation. I ran into this on several occasions.

3) Make sure you put in a detailed report, following all directions as given. I've never had a report rejected, but I imagine the secret shopper companies would be inclined to reject a report if the directions for completing and submitting are not followed.

Overall I think you can make some money from secret shopping. I don't think you could do this for a primary source of income, unless you live in a major city and don't mind spending a lot of time completing detailed (and sometimes lengthy) reports. The ratio of time spent working to the financial benefit is average, from my experience. I found the benefits of secret shopping for me to be largely getting some meals for free.

That's not bad - its just not the money machine I and you are looking for to break out of our work prison.

Until next time - keep up the search!

Paul

Paul Heingarten is an entrepreneur, author and consultant. He owns several websites and has assisted business owners with website design and marketing. Take a look at his site http://www.theebookstar.com -- a huge range of ebooks at reasonable prices.

Other articles by Paul Heingarten

House Purchase Tips - by Paul Heingarten

Buying your own house is a multifaceted process that can easily overwhelm the average person. The important thing to remember is to not try to work on too many tasks at one time, and just work on completing lists

Newest Articles in Entrepreneurialism

Defrag Your Business - by Dan Boudreau
Sometimes when my computer gets sluggish, I defrag the hard drive to fix it. Defragging is a process that cleans up your hard drive. It does this by finding stray bits of information, re-organizing them to leave more free

Feasibility Studies For Fence Sitters - by Dan Boudreau
Are you sitting on a hot business idea, but don't know if it's a winner? This can be one of the most agonizing parts of the business start-up process. Those of us with tight budgets or no budgets simply

Everything Starts With a Dream - by Dan Boudreau
Whenever I got in trouble in elementary school, it usually had something to do with dreaming. Apparently I spent too much time daydreaming, gazing out the window, cruising somewhere out there, light-years from the topics our instructors were diligently

Gather and Include Letters of Intent in Your Business Plan - by Dan Boudreau
Letters of intent are statements written by individuals or organizations declaring their intention to commit to something, typically to use or purchase a product or service, but also for other things.
A letter of intent can be appropriate for situations

Business is Like Fishing - by Dan Boudreau
I love fishing. I enjoy it whether or not I catch fish. A good catch makes the fishing trip more than just a visit - it makes it a successful fishing trip. I prefer to catch fish. A memorable