SecretShopper

What is SecretShopper?

SecretShopper is a consumer experience firm that deploys legions of mystery shoppers to discretely check out everything from shoe stores to ice cream vendors and experiences.

How it works:

You sign up with an email and password and then need to accept a number of agreements that spell out what information they share about you and how the site works.

You then create a profile and can choose to add in a Social Security number or Employer Identification Number (essentially an SSN for a self-employed business owner). If you earn more than $600 in a calendar year, you’ll need to provide this number. Otherwise, it’s optional.

Once approved through this process, you can view and “self-assign” up to three shops at a time.

SecretShopper review:

Like most other mystery shopping firms, SecretShopper’s pay is usually modest. It can be made up of reimbursement for your meal/experience/service; a flat fee; or a combination of both.

Reimbursements are usually the most generous forms of payment, allowing for you to, say, buy a gourmet meal for two. However, if you break down the pay based on hours spent on both the experience and the requisite write-up afterwards, the pay is not going to knock your socks off. You might earn the equivalent of $10 to $20 per hour.

So it’s important to cherry pick assignments that get you something that you want. For instance, when we recently reviewed the site, most shops in our area involved shopping at a shoe store; checking out a chain of gyms; or getting your tires rotated or an oil change at a Discount Tire Center.

The shoe store assignments paid a $20 stipend. The gym assignments involved getting a tour and paid $25, plus a $5 bonus, so $30 total. Nothing to write home about, considering the fact that the visits and write ups were likely to take at least two hours combined.

But, if you needed to get an oil change, the Discount Tire Center assignments were  worth considering. You’d get up to $70 in reimbursement for an oil change or tire rotation, plus $10 for the assignment. So, that two-hour job would ultimately pay up to $40 an hour in cash and reimbursement.

Payments

Payments are made via physical checks on the 20th of the month in the month following your assignment. Between mailing time and the site’s payment schedule, you can figure you’ve got to front the payment for a least a month and maybe longer.

SecretShopper vs. BestMark

How does SecretShopper compare with other mystery shopping firms? The types of assignments and pay are almost identical to the jobs offered at BestMark, but there are two differences in how these companies operate.

BestMark requires its shoppers to have their reports filed by 10 a.m. Central time. SecretShopper gives you until noon Central time. If you happen to live on the West Coast or in, say, Hawaii, that’s a big advantage.

On the other hand, BestMark pays twice monthly. SecretShopper pays just once a month — on the 20th — for jobs done the previous month. Since many shops require a purchase, that’s a long time to wait to be reimbursed.

Both companies reserve the right to refuse payment, if the mystery shopper delivers an error-ridden report; delivers it late; or the client refuses to pay.

What we like

You can choose your assignments from a list available in your area. By clicking on any individual assignment, you get details on when it needs to be completed, what you need to do and when you need to send in your report.

Experienced shoppers on this site can also choose “routes,” which allows them to do essentially the same shop at multiple locations. That can make the report-writing portion of the job considerably easier and faster, since you know precisely what’s required for a successful shop.

Know, however, that if you cancel assignments that you’ve taken or deliver incomplete reports, you can not only have your payment denied, you can get booted from the site.

What we don’t like

Physical checks. Seriously, is this 1950? This slows payment to mystery shoppers, who have often used their own money to complete the assignment. And, as we mentioned, the pay isn’t anything to brag about in the first place.

Also, while there appear to be plenty of assignments in bigger cities, if you live a rural area, there may be no jobs available at all.

What their shoppers say: (from Indeed)

This is a great opportunity for anyone looking for a little bit of income and the flexibility of being able to set your own working schedule. I worked doing this while I was a full time parent to my two babies.

Jobs were interesting and fun, but with some companies the reports you had to fill out at the end of the shop were tedious, lengthy, and redundant. Most shops also did not pay enough. So it was hard to keep enough work going to enable me to live financially independent.

Slow pay

Paychecks often took weeks to process after shop was done. If the shops involved purchasing food or merchandise, you were only reimbursed for it once you received your pay several weeks later.

OK to do for a second job. Pay is usually very small fee plus reimbursement for what you spent. No reimbursement for gas or mileage for shops that you have to travel for.

A typical job will only take you 30 minutes – 1 hour to complete. But the write up can take up to 2 hours to complete. Most jobs pay only $7.00-$15.00. Sometimes you can get free things, such as a meal, out of it. Trying to find jobs is hard and you are never guaranteed that you will find one.

The hardest part of any job is completing reports. The most enjoyable thing about this job was that you work with no supervision.