Profile of a Mystery Shopper
The Wall Street Journal profiles a former investment-bank employee turned mystery shopper and actually tries to make the career sound exciting.
Her morning jobs were equally trying. She went dress shopping, stopped into a bank to cash a check and visited a Saturn dealership to look at new cars. After golf, she was headed to Manhattan for dinner at a nice Italian restaurant. All these activities were paid jobs. Her total earnings for the day: about $300. “Can you believe they call this work?” she said.
Jennifer Voitle has mastered the Freebie Economy. A former investment-bank employee who was laid off two years ago, Ms. Voitle has found a new career in the arcane world of dining deals, gift certificates and “mystery shopping,” where companies pay her to test their products and services. She gets paid to shop, eat at restaurants, drink at bars, travel and even play golf. Last month, she made nearly $7,000 from her various freebie adventures. By the end of the year, she could be making more than she did in investment banking, not counting her steady supply of handouts.
She gets free gas, free groceries and free clothes. When her car breaks down, she gets paid to have it repaired. She can make $75 for test-driving a Land Rover, $20 for drinking at a bar and $25 for playing arcade games (she keeps any winnings). Golfing is her latest passion, and in addition to playing on courses around the country free of charge, she gets free food and drinks and gifts from the pro shop.
The job doesn’t sound glamorous, fun or even possible for most people. The mystery shopper profiled has to work 19+ hours a day, driving all day and then completing reports into the wee hours of the night, for only $300 a day. Keep in mind, this is in and around New York City, with its millions of people and thousands opportunities for mystery shopping daily, but the highest cost of living in the country!
I’d be interested to see a similar profile of a mystery shopper living in the suburbs in the midwest. Anyone know of any?
Allison Johnson on June 28th, 2004 12:31 pm
I have been mystery shopping for a company called National Shopping Service for years and love it. I make about $4,000 a month, but do not put in only a fraction of the time that you discussed.
You can sign up online on their website. They have some really fun mystery shopping opportunities and the pay is pretty good. This would be a great company to get started with as they are very big and have a ton of clients.
Kristy on October 5th, 2006 12:53 pm
I know one! I live in a pretty small town in the midwest and my friend’s mom mystery shops. She says they go out to eat a lot.
restaurant mystery shopper on January 31st, 2009 10:44 pm
I do mystery shopping part time and it’s not very glamorous. Most jobs pay less than $10, and there is a lot of running around. Sometimes, I find some great shops. But for the most part, they are few and far between.
Leave a Reply