4 Apps to try out Secret Shopping

4 Apps to Try Out Secret Shopping

So you want to be a secret shopper 🕶👜🔎? There are plenty of websites that offer this. My suggestion? Start out with a few secret shopping apps first. They will expose you to different secret shopping companies without the pressure that some of the websites may come with (as well as the intense number of emails! You will learn this quickly just by using these apps.)

4 Mobile Apps to try out Secret Shopping

1. Presto InstaShopper

• Available on the AppStore and GooglePlay as well as directly on this webpage: https://insta.prestomobilesurveys.com/site/Map/. 
• This is one of my FAVORITE apps that I recently stumbled upon. It is slow to load a map and then you see a list of nearby jobs. Click on one of the jobs and you are redirected to a webpage (one of the SASSIE Mystery Shopper platforms), where you set up an account and apply to the job directly there.
  • Note: Make sure to complete any required qualification tests and enter in your payment information for each site. 
• From my experience, the jobs on this app pays well; not much time is involved; and sometimes include reimbursement for fun items.
• Also fun shops that I may do anyways!
• Note that when you click on a job on the map shown on this app, there are a number of sites you may be directed to. So you have to create a sign-in for each that you use and ensure you complete all required information, including payment information, tax information (sometimes), and qualification tests. 
• Some sites payout faster than others (a few weeks), while others can pay out the end of the month falling the date you complete the job. 
• Payment is usually made by PayPal.
• One con here: for many jobs, you need to first apply for the job. It then tends to take a few days for approval. It does not always come through, which can be a bit frustrating since you may end up just having to check the site a lot to see if it is still Pending or what. 

2. iSecretShop 

• Available on the AppStore and GooglePlay.
• Some jobs let you quickly sign up for them based on your level, which is achieved over time. While some you cannot and need to apply first – although this approval process tends to move pretty quick, in my experience.
• You do really need to pay attention to the requirements asked for each shop and also the contract for each company you will deal with.
  
  • Contracts are available on the app. Pay attention to provisions such as restrictions on how frequently you can shop at that location, canceling, etc. 
  • Get a business card! They are usually a stickler for this.
• Payment will vary based on which company you arrange to do a shop with. Most are PayPal from what I have seen, but the payment process can be quite lengthy.

Additional Notes

• Again though, REALLY pay attention to every single instruction. I had a job rejected because even though I filled out the information, checked in using the app showing I was there at that time, took a picture of the store, and spent entirely too much time on one job. It was rejected over me not getting a business card from the associate I needed to speak with that left after I shortly got there. Right… Very long process that was not worth it.
  
• Other jobs are a bit better but this app overall has been a pain for me. And you get docked points if your job is rejected, which makes less jobs available and makes the availability to self-assign some jobs sometimes unavailable.
• That being said, if you want to review a free meal with some reimbursement, it does have plenty of tasks such as that. Who doesn’t like free stuff??? Usually you get paid a fee on top of the reimbursement as well, although not always.

3. GigSpot

• it is a mix of gig type jobs and secret shopping so I will stick it here as well.
• Available on the AppStore and GooglePlay.
• There is a hodgepodge of jobs here. Some examples are: phone calls (which I never seem to receive), meal jobs, happy hour jobs, and hotel jobs even.
• Also a lot of parking jobs – and you should expect to get asked A LOT if you can do these once you start signing up for some of these sites. Usually by text. Ok if you want to go park your car somewhere and get some money. If you do not have a car, be prepared to state that…. a TON.
• On this app, after you apply for a job, I would check the app a few times to see if you were assigned it. I have been assigned jobs multiple times but was never emailed or received a notification (or received an email but the app said otherwise so it is a bit confusing.)

4. Secret Shopper

• Available on the AppStore and GooglePlay.
  
• It has some interesting looking jobs that for my area have been the same few shoes, furniture and clothing stores for quite some time. There is usually a waiting list. I have never gotten off of it.
• It looks like ok pay but a bit cumbersome given the waiting list. Not much experience with this app because of that, but it could be just due to my area.
• Seems similar to other apps but has a bit less jobs and less of a variety of types of stores (at least around my area).

Other notes

-note that some other gig type apps that I mentioned such as GigWalk, Mobee, Field Agent, and Survey Merchandiser (iffy here because it is not always secret) in my post on gigs also fall in this category at time. The gig type ones tend to be a bit easier to just scoop up versus some of the ones listed in the post.

-Overall, these secret shopping jobs can be pretty well paying and also lead to free meals/clothes/parking/hotel stays/drinks/small goods/etc. So they are worth checking out; especially if you are in the area and it is for a type of business you may shop at anyways (with possible reimbursement)!

They can be a bit odd the first few times, but once you get used to it, its just like everyday shopping. I suggest doing ones at a few places you shop at already, at least in the beginning. 

TIPS 

• Pay attention to payment with these apps. They are much slower than other apps so can easily fall through the cracks. It is not always the case – but fair warning. It gets hard to keep up when it is a bit sporadic.
• Try out a few and see if you like them.
• And always get a receipt, picture and business card!!

LET me know if you have tried some others!!