Mystery shopping is a service evaluation tool employed by businesses. In this, companies send decoy customers to shop at their business or its competitors and they are required to file a detailed report regarding their shopping experience. Practically all who have a customer service orientation and basic communication skills can take up mystery shopping assignments. Retirees, students, homemakers, part time job seekers, sit home moms and dads can take up mystery shopping jobs.

There are no such minimum qualification and experience requirements for taking up mystery shopping jobs. An experience in the customer service or hospitality business enhances your possibilities to get mystery shopping assignments.

All the business establishments that have a customer service factor employ the services of the mystery shoppers. Specifically the mystery shoppers are employed by retail chains, restaurants, fast food outlets, department stores, health clubs, beauty parlors, salons, hotels and resorts, amusement parks, movie theaters, clubs, casinos, gymnasiums, new apartments, home builders, banks, gas stations, auto dealers, service centers, day care centers, crèches etc.

The payment for your mystery shopping assignments depends upon the kind of shop assignments you do. Generally, most of the shop assignments offer you reimbursement of your food or retail purchase and a token shop fee.

In the mystery shopping business there are no fixed paychecks and the amount of money you can make from this business depends on how well you organize yourself and how you make optimum utilization of your time. The major factor that affects you earnings in the mystery shopping business is the kind of assignments you take.

Depending on these factors, the amateurs and part timers can easily make anything in the range of $250- $500 per month and the serious people who take this business as a fulltime profession and those who make optimum utilization of their resources can easily make up to $1500 per month. There are examples of people who earn as high as $3500 per month from this business.

The remuneration for the mystery shopping assignments varies from company to company and for different category of assignments. However the typical retail assignments could fetch you any thing in the range of $5-$15 per assignment, the shop fee for fast food assignments range from $4 -$15, dinner shop assignments have a price tag of $10-$50. The service establishments have a better remuneration, they could fetch you $20-$100 per assignment, and the audio / video shop can make you richer by $50-$200 for each shop assignment.

There are a number of names and addresses of mystery shopping companies mentioned in this e-book. More than 150 mystery-shopping companies post their job listings online. With the passage of time, you would be able to establish a good rapport with the schedulers and the good mystery shopping companies to get regular assignments.

It is not at all necessary for paying and registering at the sites or companies that offer mystery-shopping assignments. There are number of companies and assignments that are available to people without payment of any upfront fee. It is always better to establish direct contacts with the companies and the schedulers and there is possibility that the site you are paying might be a fraud. You should be very careful and make proper enquiries before making any payment if you decide to do so.

It is perfectly ethical and right if you register and work with more than one mystery shopping company. In this business, you are not an employee of a particular company and you work as an independent contractor, therefore, there is no moral or legal obligation for you to stick to a particular company.

There are number of mystery shopping opportunities that are available for online mail order businesses. You can comfortably take up those assignments. Even in certain cases, it would be a help to the company to evaluate the employee behavior towards the physically challenged persons and to evaluate factors like wheelchair access.

The requirement of taking up licenses for mystery shopping jobs is not mandatory in most of the states, however, some states for example the state of Nevada has a requirement for mystery shoppers to obtain the license. If your state has such a requirement, you should obtain a valid license to better your prospects in the business and avoid unnecessary legal hassles.

To find out that which company shops for a particular chain is a difficult task for the beginners because most of the companies do not display their client’s list to the shoppers. Only in some cases, the companies or the schedulers divulge the names of the establishments in their offers.

Since there are many frauds operating it is not advisable to provide your vital information to the company on the website unless you are satisfied about the credentials of the company and the website security.

You should verify the credentials of the mystery shopping company from “The Better Business Bureau”. You can do so by logging on the ‘Better Business Bureau’ website and checking if there any complaints against the company.

You do not need any specific degrees in order to have a career in private investigation. You also need not master any curriculum just to train as one.

Normally, those who have backgrounds in criminology can pursue this career. Many private investigators used to come from any branch of the military. Their background is more or less related to what private investigators do.

Some private investigation companies are even selective when it comes to hiring private investigators. Most of them preferred someone that has a military background. This is because private investigation requires individuals to be disciplined and to have both physical and psychological capacity to do the job.

Background in the law enforcement will prove vital once you are facing extreme situations. If you do not have the guts for it, then private investigation is not the career for you.

Are women capable of having a career in private investigation?

In the past, private investigation is a man’s world. This can be attributed to the fact that the nature of the job can sometimes be dangerous. Women were thought to be incapable of what men can do in private investigation.

Today, there are a lot of women private investigators already. These women have proven their worth in this business. It can be noted that there are even some things that women are capable of doing that men are not.

In addition, there are qualities that are present in women that seem to be lacking in men. These qualities are what make them successful. In the end, it all boils down to whoever can solve the case given them, may it be a man or woman.

To be a private investigator does not mean you have to have extensive education about a certain course. You can have a career in private investigation even if you are a man or a woman.