Shopping Secretly

 Do you love shopping? Many people love to pick new items from the shelves.

If you’re one of those, you might be missing out on a decent income.

Turn your shopping love into a side hustle, and get paid to shop so you can make some extra income doing what you love.

An Overview of Shopping Secretly: A Primer

Secret shopping, also known as mystery shopping, is discreetly shopping in a location or dining in a restaurant to assess its customer service and product quality. It’s similar to personal shopping, but you give some feedback to the company that hires you.

Shopping secretly as a side gig is a relatively new concept, but it’s gradually increasing in popularity. Companies are now hiring people to shop or dine at their competitors’ establishments to provide feedback on the customer experience there.

This feedback includes a variety of factors, like:

• Quality of products and customer service
• Overall cleanliness of the atmosphere
• The availability of items

As a secret shopper, the company that hired you may also ask you to answer a survey or answer a few questions.

How Much Can Shopping Secretly Earn You?

Secret shopper jobs can earn you around $18 per hour or $36,712 per year. It’s not the best salary out there, but the job doesn’t require technical experience.

Keep in mind that the amount you earn can vary depending on several factors. These include but aren’t limited to:

• The company you’re working for as a secret shopper
• The complexity of the assignments you are provided
• Your experience (as in how long have you been working as a secret shopper)
• The length of the assignment

As a general range, you should expect $10-$50 per assignment, and assignments usually last between half an hour to a couple of hours.

How Much Does it Cost to Start a Side Hustle Shopping Secretly?

Finding a company that’ll hire you as a mystery shopper is free of charge. The only cost you’ll endure while becoming a secret shopper is going where the interview is. There are also no costs associated with courses, certificates, or licenses, as the job doesn’t require any of that.

However, keep in mind that shopping secretly will often require you to reach random destinations, and some of those can be away from your home.

Because of that, you’ll need to set aside a budget for transportation, which could take a considerable chunk of your income.

It’s important to factor in that budget in comparison to how much you earn to see whether the job is worth it.

Where Can You Find Secret Shopping Gigs?

You can independently look for available secret shopping Gigs, or sign up with a company that hires secret shoppers.

Where Can You Independently Find Work With This Side Hustle?

Some of the job search websites like Indeed occasionally have side gigs that involve secret shopping. However, they’re not as readily available as you’d want them to be.

Other candidates that you can try include Glassdoor and FlexJobs.

Gig Economy Companies/Platforms That Offer Work for People Doing This Side Hustle

Working independently is great if you want a flexible time schedule. However, it also carries the risk of inconsistent income.

Because of that, you may opt for companies that hire mystery shoppers instead. Among the best picks is a company named MarketForce which specializes in this kind of work. You may also try BestMark and Sinclair Customer Metrics.

Why You Should Consider Shopping Secretly As a Side Hustle

Secret shopping as a side hustle has quite a few reasons why you should try it:

• It’s fun: Let’s face it, being a secret shopper has a great fun element to it. You’ll visit a variety of stores, and you never know what store you’re going to next. It’s a perfect job for those who don’t like the constant daily routine.
• It doesn’t require experience/licenses: Shopping secretly doesn’t require experience, as there’s no deep technicality to it. As such, anybody with common sense can take on this job.
• There’s a flexible schedule: You’re not assigned a specific time to go to the target shops. Instead, you’re giving a time frame where you can visit the required place as you see fit.
• You don’t require a budget to start: As long as you have easy means of transportation, you don’t need money to start shopping secretly. The money you pay to buy the required items is compensated for by the company you work for.

Problems With Shopping Secretly

While it’s a fun job, shopping secretly has a few disadvantages:

• Inconsistent pay: If there are shops/restaurants to survey, then you have an income. But if there aren’t, then your payment will come to a halt. This inconsistent income is why shopping secretly is more of a side hustle than a full-time job.
• You’ll sometimes have to travel: Not all of your destinations will be around you. As such, you have to be prepared to spend some time on the road.
• Reimbursement vs. Payment: You will be compensated for everything you buy, but you won’t always be compensated for gas/transportation money. It depends on the company you work for, but you won’t get compensated most of the time. So keep that in mind.

Frequently Asked Questions