You can’t make a living just by going shopping, right? Actually, if you are a mystery shopper, you can. Mystery shoppers are paid to go into a store and shop just like they normally would. They just have to be observant and record things that they saw and heard while they were there.

A lot of companies hire mystery shoppers to come in and rate the service they receive, the look of the store, the products they carry, and everything else under the sun. This not only helps independent organizations rate companies and advise customers where to shop, it also allows companies to judge their own products and services and find areas that need improvement.

There are a lot of sites online that will tell you that you can get rich quick and earn a living being a secret shopper. Most of this is not true, but you can make extra cash and – better yet – get free products and services from places you already go to.

Generally, stores don’t hire secret shoppers themselves; they use third party companies. So if you want to get work as a shopper, you need to become an employee of one or more of these companies. In fact, most people who are serious mystery shoppers go work from several organizations.

When applying to work for one of these places, remember while this may be “on the side” work for you, it’s important for them. Take care in filling out forms that you are prompt, professional, and everything is correctly spelled and uses proper grammar.

They often have to spend a lot of time reading your critiques and if you can’t spell or get things done properly, they’re not going to want to hire you.

Once you get an assignment, take it seriously. Remember to find out exactly what they’re looking for and give them that. If they want to know about the quality of the products, you don’t need to throw in the quality of service.

If they didn’t ask, they don’t need the information and they don’t want to sort through a whole pile to find what they’re looking for. Be sure to turn in quality work in a timely manner. If the service doesn’t get what they’re looking for from you, they’re probably not going to give you many more assignments.

If you don’t start making tons of money right off the bat, don’t get discouraged. You often have to build things up and find new companies that are hiring, but with a little persistence it is possible to make extra money as a mystery shopper.