How to Choose Your First
Mystery Shopping Assignment
One of the first decisions you'll make as a new shopper is how to choose your first mystery shopping assignment.
When you see a list of available shops, it's tempting to look for the assignment paying the most money.
I wouldn't make that your first priority.
Your first assignment should be something you understand and feel comfortable completing. You'll have plenty of opportunities to tackle more complicated shops after you've learned how mystery shopping works.
My first assignment certainly wasn't complicated.
Want more help getting started? My book, Take That Job And Mystery Shop It!, walks you through finding assignments, completing shops, writing reports, and avoiding many of the mistakes new shoppers make.
My First Mystery Shopping Assignment Paid $10
I completed my first mystery shop in April 2006 at a check-cashing location.
My assignment was to purchase a money order.
That worked out perfectly because I needed a money order to pay my electric bill anyway.
I observed the cleanliness of the location and paid attention to how the employee handled my transaction. The visit took approximately five minutes, and I spent about half of that time standing in line.
Afterward, I went home, answered about 10 multiple-choice questions, and wrote a short narrative describing what happened.
I was paid $10.
It was about as simple as a mystery shopping assignment could get.
And I was still nervous.
I had never completed a mystery shop before, so I didn't know exactly what to expect. Once I finished, I realized there wasn't much to be nervous about.
I went on to complete many more assignments for that mystery shopping company, Business Resources, before it retired from the business in 2017.
That $10 shop taught me something important:
Your first mystery shopping assignment doesn't need to make you a lot of money. It needs to give you an opportunity to learn.
How to Choose Your First Mystery Shopping Assignment
When evaluating your first assignment, I would consider six things:
Difficulty: Do you understand exactly what you're being asked to do?
Time: How long will the actual visit probably take?
Distance: How far will you have to drive?
Expenses and reimbursement: Will you have to spend your own money, and how much will the company reimburse?
Report: How complicated is the questionnaire or narrative afterward?
Deadline: Can you comfortably complete the assignment and submit the report on time?
Don't look at only one of those factors.
Look at the entire assignment.
Start With Something Familiar
For your first mystery shop, I'd look for a relatively short assignment with only a few things to remember.
A convenience store, grocery store, fast-food restaurant, or another familiar type of business could be a good possibility.
That doesn't mean every assignment at those businesses will be easy. Read the instructions before accepting whenever they're available.
One grocery-store assignment might require only a purchase and a few observations. Another could require visiting several departments, finding multiple employees, checking displays, taking photographs, and writing lengthy narratives.
The type of business doesn't determine the difficulty.
The assignment instructions do.
Don't Choose Based Only on Pay
A $30 assignment isn't automatically better than a $15 assignment.
Suppose the $30 shop requires an hour of driving each way, a 45-minute visit, and a complicated report.
The $15 shop is five minutes from your house, takes 15 minutes to complete, and has a short questionnaire.
Which is the better assignment?
For me, the lower-paying assignment might make considerably more sense.
As you gain experience, you'll learn to evaluate what your time is worth.
Understand the Difference Between Pay and Reimbursement
Pay attention to how the compensation is structured.
Some assignments offer a shopper fee.
Others may provide a shopper fee plus reimbursement for a required purchase. Some assignments may primarily compensate you through reimbursement.
For example, a restaurant assignment might reimburse some or all of a required meal even if the shopper fee itself isn't large.
That can still have value if it's something you would enjoy doing.
But don't confuse reimbursement with profit.
If you're required to spend $40 and you're reimbursed $40, you haven't earned an additional $40 in cash.
Understand what you'll spend and what you'll receive before accepting the shop.
Look at the Report Before Accepting
The assignment isn't finished when you leave the business.
You still have to complete the report.
I've done shops where the visit itself was easy but the report took much longer than I expected. I've also completed assignments with straightforward questionnaires that took very little time afterward.
Whenever possible, look at the reporting requirements before accepting the assignment.
A higher-paying shop can become much less attractive when you discover that it requires an hour of narrative writing.
Don't Start with the Most Complicated Assignment
As you gain experience, you'll find assignments requiring considerably more observation and preparation.
You might have to visit several departments, remember multiple employee names, ask specific questions, record precise timings, take photographs, make purchases, or write detailed narratives.
I've also completed video mystery shops that required considerably more preparation and paid more money.
I wouldn't recommend beginning there.
Learn the basics first.
Can you follow the instructions?
Can you remain observant without revealing yourself as the mystery shopper?
Can you remember the required information?
Can you submit an accurate report on time?
Once you've successfully completed several straightforward assignments, you can decide when you're ready for something more challenging.
One Warning About Mystery Shopping Scams
Because my first legitimate assignment happened to involve a check-cashing business and purchasing a money order, there's an important distinction beginners should understand.
Scammers also use checks, money transfers, and gift cards in fake mystery-shopping offers.
A legitimate assignment that you knowingly accept from a mystery shopping company is very different from unexpectedly receiving a large check with instructions to deposit it, purchase gift cards or send money elsewhere, and keep some of the money as your payment.
If something like that happens, stop and investigate before doing anything.
I've written a separate guide about Mystery Shopping Scams that explains the warning signs in much greater detail.
I've also interviewed Jason Meza with the Better Business Bureau about mystery shopping scams. You can watch that interview below.
Your First Assignment Is Supposed to Teach You
Don't put too much pressure on your first mystery shop.
My first assignment paid $10.
What I gained from it was worth considerably more.
I learned how to read the instructions, complete an assignment without revealing why I was there, remember what happened, and submit my first report.
Most importantly, I learned that I could do it.
When you're deciding how to choose your first mystery shopping assignment, don't begin by asking:
“Which assignment pays the most?”
Ask:
“Which assignment gives me the best opportunity to learn how mystery shopping works?”
Complete that one successfully.
Then start building from there.
About the Author
I'm Mystery Don (Donald J. Servais, Jr.), and I've completed mystery shopping assignments for restaurants, hotels, apartment communities, automobile dealerships, new-home builders, and other businesses.
I created MystShopper.com to share what I've learned from my own experiences, help new shoppers avoid common mistakes, and explain how legitimate mystery shopping really works.
I'm also the author of Take That Job And Mystery Shop It!, which includes beginner-friendly advice, real-world mystery shopping experiences, and a directory of more than 150 mystery shopping companies.
Drawing on my 45-year career in television, I've also written 7 Keys to Success in a Changing Television Industry, a guide for people interested in building a career in television and video.
My goal is simple: honest guidance without the hype.
We're always looking for new faces to visit different places.
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