Has anyone ever considered working as a Mystery Shopper? I've done it and it's a great way to pick up some extra income. You can make pretty good money if you're organized and do several shops a day, too.

And about that misconception that you have to pay to earn in Mystery Shopping, it's totally untrue. If anyone wants the details, let me know.

Just in case anyone is wondering, I'm not getting anything out of sharing this with you except the pure pleasure of sharing it. I enjoyed doing it and I think there are others who might enjoy it, too.

How does mystery shopping work? I heard the shopper pays for the items with their own money and then have to be reimbursed. Is that true or is it just a nasty rumor?

It's true that you have out-of-pocket expenses that you get reimbursed for if you select a shop that includes a purchase. You have to provide a receipt for the amount you paid in order to receive the reimbursement.

In order to start mystery shopping, you have to sign up with companies who provide those services. The best place I've found to start is Volition.com. This page has links to pages that list the companies, and each one states their policies and expectations for shoppers.

Happy shopping!

When considering travel and reimbursement costs, what is the profit margin? Are costs for gas and sales taxes on items a shopper purchases also reimbursed?

I've always been really skeptical of the mystery shopping opportunities. I have been to a few of the sites, but I don't think it's really my thing. I don't want to spend money shopping...I'm trying to make money, not to spend it on that stuff. lol. I don't like being out in public anyway. I'm a homebody.

The profit margin depends a lot on how organized you are, how far you have to drive, the number of shops you do in close proximity to each other, how well each of them pays, and whether or not you make special trips to do them. If you choose higher-paying shops, or at least a couple of higher-paying shops with two or three lower-paying shops that are located within a few blocks from each other, to complete in one trip, your profit margin can be pretty high. If you only do a couple of lower-paying shops and drive 30 miles one-way to do them, you'll end up spending money instead of making money.

Gas costs are not reimbursed, but the entire cost of any purchases made, including sales taxes, are as long as you don't go over the maximum spending amount on your instructions.

Mystery shopping certainly isn't for everyone. There are lots of ways to make some extra money on the Internet. Shopping is just one of them.

I'm a member of a free mystery shopping site. The biggest problem that I have is with location. There are no shops in my area to do. I hate to go the one of the sites that you have to pay for membership. It just seems to me that you couldn't really make enough money for that.

Very intresting. Thank you all for the posts, I have always wondered about the Mystery shopping. I really don`t think it is for me now.

Thanks for sharing your experiences. I've always been a little bit curious about mystery shopping, but have been kind of reluctant to sign up. At least now I know that they are not all scams.

I've done a little bit of mystery shopping in my area-- actually it was some time ago-- I was mystery shopping a restaraunt on the morning of 9/11.

It was fun to do, but the reimbursement wasn't very high and there wasn't usually many places to shop near where I lived. I would consider trying it again, though, if I found a site with more local shopping on it.