Our Mystery Shopping Journey

​Hi! I'm Amanda and I am a mystery shopper. I completed my first mystery shop almost sixteen years ago. My husband and I had just started our debt free journey and we were on a mission to find ways to make extra cash, to pay off our debt. That search led me to a blog, which no longer exists, about earning extra money. One of the ways the blogger was making extra money was mystery shopping. The blogger wrote about how they were making $500.00 a month shopping at stores and eating at restaurants. That excited me and I remember thinking “I could definitely use an extra $500.00 a month.” The thought of being paid to shop sounded awesome but I must admit I was skeptical at first. Everything I had read about mystery shopping was that it was a scam, but the blogger provided a lot of details and testimonials about their experience which legitimized the industry for me. I decided I would give it a try! 

 

My first shop was at a local furniture company. It paid $10.00 to visit the store, pose as a customer shopping for a new sofa, and evaluate the service I received. I remember being nervous, not confident in what I was doing. I read my shop guidelines probably ten times. I wanted to make sure I was prepared. I completed the shop, went home, and completed my report. I remember submitting my report and holding my breath for the confirmation that it was approved. 

 

Two days later, I received an email that the report was accepted and approved for payment! I remember thinking “Could it be this easy? Did I just get paid to shop?” As a precaution, I decided not to do any more shops until I was paid. I was still a little skeptical and I wanted to make sure I would really be paid before doing any more shops. Thirty days later I checked my email and there it was, $10.00 in my PayPal account. The payment for the furniture shop. I was so excited and smiled thinking “It works!”  That day my mystery shopping career began. 

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I signed up with many other mystery shopping companies and learned as much as I could about the mystery shopping industry. My first year as a shopper, I completed 25 shops with four mystery shopping companies and made $318.00. I was happy with my new side hustle and was so excited to see where it could take me.

 

Fast forward to 2025 and I am still a mystery shopper. I now work with over 100 mystery shopping companies and complete, on average, 500 mystery shops a year. The last fourteen years I have honed my skills and have far surpassed my goal of $500.00 per month in payments. To date, I have made over $150,000.00, mystery shopping.