[Jens]

A friend of mine called me because she saw this ad in the classifieds (yeah, I know) about mystery shopping jobs. She called them, and said they wanted $35 or so from her to sign up and asked me if I thought that sounded right, since I've done mystery shopping before. I was skeptical and she didn't join, but now I'm wondering . . . has anyone ever paid to do mystery shopping? Did it work out . . . or not?

[puravida]

Quote

A friend of mine called me because she saw this ad in the classifieds (yeah, I know) about mystery shopping jobs.  She called them, and said they wanted $35 or so from her to sign up

I bet those people are trying to sell your friend on a SurveyScout subscription or one of their competitors.

I never recommend for people to sign up to those services just to do the mystery shopping stuff (even though they are relatively inexpensive) unless they are also interested in paid surveys, etc.

And, I would never do it through someone I found in a classifieds --there's so much fraud that I, personally, wouldn't chance it.

My 2cents

-Brandon

[ziegler237]

jens, i just got an offer from a company (via email) that says they take $35 out of your first check for an "equipment deposit." is it maybe something like that? i'm actually considering shelling out the money, because the shops listed seem to pay a fair price, and they claim that you can either buy the equipment or return it for the $35. if i decide to do it, i will let you know what happens.

i figure it might be worth the investment. after all, i've spent more than that on diet pills that didn't work. :)

cz237

[APesT]

Personally I have not seen a Mystery Shop site that actually makes you pay for startup. Mystery Shops are based on the idea that they pay you for your time to go to a store/biz and right a review on them, so in all fairness what exactly is the "equipment deposit."

I would have to agree that they are just trying to sell you a list of sites to sign up to which can be found free at a lot of different places.

My wife is now a member at about 8 different shops and has read over 30 different sites regarding shoping and says she hasnt seen a pay to start shop yet. Most of the Canadian ones ask that you submit a resume via fax or something so they actually seem to care about who they hire, but they don't ask for cash.

So in my opinion unless you have HARD evidence that the site pays and is VERY legit, no matter what your friend says, I would stay away myself. Not trying to say your friend is wrong but Even dishing out $5 bucks for a false statement is still not cool......

APesT

PS: LOL little bit of comedy, I just got my wifes statement for taxes back and she owes the government 5cents LOL they want to collect it via cheque!!! :lol:

[idle]

lol. last year i owed 12 cents. i never paid it and they never sent any request for it. this year they deducted 12 cents from my $232.00 return :)

[gardenlilly]

Hi,

Usually they are trying to sell you a book of companies to apply to. I did pay 27.00 back in the early 90's to get one. It did work, but in the end the amount of time invested is not worth the amount you are being paid to do the shop, provide the gas, do the paperwork, make sure they get everything back on time. I used to shop over 40 stores. You could probably find these companies yourself.