So let’s get this straight — for $10-20 an hour all we have to do is walk into a store, buy something and tell whether we were serviced well or not?
Wow, that sounds really good. Sign us up.
Oh, but wait, we need to pay a fee to participate in this awesome opportunity, and even if we turn it down we are still going to be bombarded with e-mail after e-mail telling us how great it is?
We feel totally disenfranchised now — scammed, like we met a really awesome person at the bar and when we get to their place and all over their walls are still photos from Full House. That’s kind of creepy, mystery shopper sites. We just want you to know.
Besides the fact most of these sites are a huge scam and pretty annoying with the frequency of their e-mails, the problem of the “mystery shopper” really exhibits a much larger problem that needs to be addressed.
Everyone wants to get something for nothing, and they are willing to be scammed and taken advantage of because they might be able to make some extra cash.
Although a little extra spending cash would be nice when we want to pimp our ride or buy a nice sandwich, we aren’t willing to waste our time so larger companies like Quest2Shop.com can completely use us.
We feel dirty just thinking about it and need a shower.
Instead of becoming a “mystery shopper,” we could spend our time doing something to further our academic or professional career, because we doubt “mystery shopper” looks very good on a resume.
There are countless internships and legitimate jobs out there looking for talented and eager college students to work in fields that will actually benefit us.
With that said, maybe some of the “mystery shopper” jobs out there could be legitimate. Market research is an extremely valuable industrial tool and those who choose that as a profession should be proud of what they do.
Although we do warn if something sounds too good to be true (i.e. paying a nominal fee to make a larger amount of money), it probably is.