Selecting Secret Shops

• 1). Select secret shop companies you would like to work for. Two recommended companies to work for are Bare International and A Closer Look. Their websites are listed below in References.
  
  
• 2). Be prepared to pay for the goods or services in advance. It usually takes about six weeks to receive reimbursement for your services. Some companies explain that their payment method is by Paypal; others are willing to send you a monthly check.
  
  
• 3). Choose only secret shops that provide an income allotment you feel adequately justifies both the time spent shopping and the time filling out the survey. Many secret shops only provide a small amount of money for either reimbursement or straight payment. Usually, shops paying less than $20 end up being below minimum wage for the amount of time spent on them.
  
  
• 4). Pick secret shop locations that you are familiar with and that are not too far from your home. Ideally, secret shopping can be done while performing your usual shopping. Be careful not to choose secret shops that take you far from home on days you did not intend to be out. The added cost may reduce much, if not all, of the income received from the shopping.
  
  
• 5). Choose shops that you feel comfortable in. Experience in the chosen locations can be helpful but is not always necessary. However, secret shopping is usually done confidentially so it is important to look like an experienced customer in most locations. If you have never golfed before you may not want to shop for specialty golf shoes.
  
  

Performing the Shopping

• 1). Take a watch, stopwatch or cell phone into the shop with you to accurately time the events that occur during your shopping. It is usually important to keep everything confidential and thus, also important to keep any timing you do inconspicuous.
  
  
• 2). Remember the names of the associates in the shop. It is usually very important to learn the names of those who serve you while performing the secret shop. This can be moderately challenging as note-taking is often not allowed.
  
  
• 3). Be sure to carefully follow all of the rules and directions of both the company and secret shop that you are performing. Reading a copy of the survey before performing the shop will help you to remember to ask all the necessary questions to the service personnel and remind you of the required steps in performing the secret shop.
  
  

Evaluating Your Shopping Experience

• 1). Make it a point to clearly explain your overall shopping experience, step-by-step on the company's survey. Usually, the company you are working for is expected to provide detailed and accurate evaluations to their clients in order to help them improve their business.
  
  
• 2). Be clear and to the point during your evaluation. Overly wordy and flowery shopping evaluations are not necessary and can be very time consuming to write.
  
  
• 3). Watch out for grammatical, spelling and punctuation errors on the survey. Many secret shopping companies grade or evaluate your work. Even small grammatical errors can count against you.
  
  
• 4). Be committed to promptly submitting your report. Generally, there are strict deadlines and time requirements. It is also a lot easier to remember all the details of your secret shop the quicker you fill out the survey.
  
  
• 5). Be sure to check and monitor your email and answering machine for any written or verbal communications from the company you performed the shop for. They may need you to provide them with additional information about your shopping experience.