Frequently Asked Questions

What is a mystery shopper? What do they do?

Why would anyone pay me to shop at their store?

How much money can I make as a mystery shopper?

How do I get paid? How long does it take to get paid and get reimbursed for any shopping I do during the mystery shopping assignment?

How long does a mystery shopping job take to do?

Can I do this part-time? Do I have to take every mystery shopping job I'm offered?

Are there mystery shopping assignments in my area?

What about the special offer to earn $285.50 on the first day of joining? Is that for real?

What's the deal with the $10.00 Challenge? How does that work?

Is secretshoppingcenter.info a mystery shopping company? After I join, will you send me mystery shopping assignments and jobs?

Is the membership fee secretshoppingcenter.info charges recurring?

Why does secretshoppingcenter.info charge a registration fee?

How quickly can I start getting mystery shopping jobs?

What if mystery shopping isn't for me? Can I get a refund on my membership fee?

Special Note For Residents of Nevada!


What is a mystery shopper? What do they do?

A mystery shopper (also called a 'secret shopper') is someone who is hired by the owners or management of a store, restaurant, or other business to pose as a regular customer for the purpose of learning what the average customer experience is for that establishment. The mystery shopper is given a 'scenario' or specific assignment, reports on exactly what happened when he or she visted the store, and is then paid for doing the mystery shopping assignment. In this way, owners and management of companies can learn exactly what the average customer experiences when they visit the store, and that way they can improve their customer service and increase profits overall.


Why would anyone pay me to shop at their store?

Store owners and management need to know how to improve their businesses and better serve their customers. In order to stay competitive and improve their business model (and therefore their profits) this information is a necessity, and the only way of obtaining an unbiased view of what their customers experience when shopping at their stores is to employ mystery shoppers. The information provided by mystery shoppers is extremely valuable to these businesses, and as a result they are more than willing to pay mystery shoppers for their services - very well. In fact mystery shopping is a 1.5 Billion dollar industry and has been around for decades.


How much money can I make as a mystery shopper?


Mystery shoppers are treated like independant contractors, and every mystery shopping assignment will have a different time allotment according to the needs of that assignment. In general mystery shoppers are compensated $10 - $40 per hour required in the assignment, and also often get the things they buy during the assignment for free.


How do I get paid? How long does it take to get paid and get reimbursed for any shopping I do during the mystery shopping assignment?

This varies by mystery shopping company. Many pay out immediately after the assignment is completed, some pay 30 days out from the assignment. Some pay by direct deposit, others by check through the mail.


How long does a mystery shopping job take to do?

This also varies depending on the assignment. If a theater needs someone to go and watch a specific movie, then of course it will take at least as long as it takes to go to the specific theater, buy the tickets, watch the show, and leave. Most mystery shopping assignments only take an hour or so, but it does vary depending on the assignment. After the assignment is completed, then you'll need to file your report answering certain specific questions before the deadline. This usually only takes 5 minutes or so, and then you're done.


Can I do this part-time? Do I have to take every mystery shopping job I'm offered?

You decide how much time you're willing to devote to mystery shopping. Once you've registered with the mystery shopping companies in our database, they will begin sending you notices of upcoming mystery shopping assignments in your area (usually they will send this by email). These notices will describe what the assignment is, what it entails, and how much it pays, as well as a deadline they need it done by. You are always free to turn down any mystery shopping assignment.


Are there mystery shopping assignments in my area?

Our database of mystery shopping companies operate throughout the U.S. and Canada. The companies that need mystery shoppers include almost every major chain. Stores like The Outback, Chili's, Wal-Mart, Target, AMC Theaters... unless you live in an extremely remote area, there will be mystery shopping assignments in your region.


What about the special offer to earn $285.50 on the first day of joining? Is that for real?

Absolutely for real. It's our way of giving back to our members. You see, several market research companies will pay you a sign-up bonus just for joining them. We've compiled a list of them that will actually start you earning $285.50 just for signing up with them. While most of these companies are not mystery shopping companies (they are in a separate list from our mystery shopping database) they are all in related paid market research fields that many of our members are interested in - companies that will pay you to take online surveys, read email, participate in online focus groups, and of course a few mystery shopping companies as well. Join us and see for yourself.


What's the deal with the $10.00 Challenge? How does that work?

The $10.00 Challenge is another special offer we extend exclusively to secretshoppingcenter.info members. We actually pay $10 to any member who takes this challenge and signs up to at least 20 of the paid market research sites we have listed in our $10.00 Challenge. This is our way of encouraging members to start registering. Keep in mind our $10.00 challenge is dependent on you joining, let me say that again, JOINING 20 of the 25 companies on the challenge page. It costs you absolutely nothing to join those companies, and you make $10.00 that we pay you within 48 hours after we approve your claim. We personally guarantee that. A little work is worth $10.00. That is no SCAM, Just do it…


Is secretshoppingcenter.info a mystery shopping company? After I join, will you send me mystery shopping assignments and jobs?

secretshoppingcenter.info is not a mystery shopping company and we do not send out mystery shopping assignments to our members. We are a website dedicated to maintaining the definitive database of paid mystery shopping websites and companies that offer market research for compensation. We do not conduct mystery shopping assignments ourselves, instead we offer our members a listing of companies who do. We have built a database of over 240 mystery shopping companies (and we add to our database often), and that is what we offer to our members (along with several bonuses).


Is the membership fee secretshoppingcenter.info charges recurring?

Absolutely not. The lifetime membership fee is a one-time charge, and we will never charge you any other fees, ever.


Why does secretshoppingcenter.info charge a registration fee in the first place?

It costs us to pay our research team, maintain the website, and to advertise for it. We provide an excellent service and as a result feel it's only fair to charge for it. Most of all, although our membership fee is $39.97, through our special offers our members have the opportunity to earn over $200.00 after joining the site, even before making money from mystery shopping jobs, so in effect new members are gaining far more than they are spending to join.


How quickly can I start getting mystery shopping jobs?

We have over 240 mystery shopping companies in our database. Once you've started registering with them, most likely you'll start receiving notices of upcoming mystery shopping assignments in your area right away. If you live in an area that's pretty remote or unpopulated it might take a little longer, but because there are so many mystery shopping companies listed in our database if you register with most of them it's unlikely you'll have to wait long for your first mystery shopping assignment. Of course, if you don't register with very many of the mystery shopping companies then you will recieve fewer mystery shopping jobs, so it does depend on you and how many companies you're willing to register with to a large degree.


What if mystery shopping isn't for me? Can I get a refund on my membership fee?

Mystery shopping is a fun way to earn a nice stream of extra income. That said, it isn't for everyone, and here at secretshoppingcenter.info we understand that. We offer a 100% refund to anyone who - within 45 days of first joining us - tries out our service and decides they don't want to continue.

We do ask that you give it a fair try. We have assembled over 240 mystery shopping companies in our database, and to be successful at this we strongly encourage members to register with as many of these companies as possible.

If you decide this line of work isn't for you, well that's fair enough. But if you haven't registered with any of the mystery shopping companies you haven't really given this business a fair chance.

We want to be very clear about our refund policy: to claim a 100% refund you must at least have registered with 20 of the top 30 paid market research companies in our database. We consider that the bare minimum you must do to give this business a fair try. All of these companies are free to join - we personally guarantee that none of the companies on our site are going to charge you a penny to join their company. If they do, report it to us and we'll take them off our site.

If you do register with 20 of the top 30 market research companies in our database, then you have done your part and given the business a fair try. If you then feel it isn't for you, we're happy to give a 100% refund. Be sure to save copies of your welcome letters from all sites you join because you will need them for proof of joining to get a 100% refund.

If you don't think you can be bothered to register with at least 20 market research companies, please DON'T join our site - it would only be a waste of time for you and a waste of money for us (it costs us to process your membership). If you're not motivated enough to do that, you aren't cut out for this business and we wish you well in other endeavors.

Anyone who joins and is not willing to register with at least 20 of companies out of our top 30 listed will NOT be eligible for a 100% refund. In that case, secretshoppingcenter.info will only give a 50% refund. Again, if registering for 20 different paid market research companies seems like too much work, we strongly encourage you not to join secretshoppingcenter.info.

Very few people who join secretshoppingcenter.info ever ask for a refund as our service is the best in our industry.

We are happy to give a 100% refund, but we expect you to do your part and register with at least 20 of the top 30 companies we have listed.


Residents of Nevada!

In the state of Nevada, State law requires that anyone participating in mystery shopping must be licensed as a private investigator.





If you need any assistance please feel free to contact Tom staff@secretshoppingcenter.info

 



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