Do you want to make a little extra money? Do you enjoy going to restaurants and evaluating the service or checking out how well your favorite store stocks their shelves? If so, then mystery shopping is the best side hustle for you! Mystery shopping is when someone who isn’t an employee of the company goes into a business and evaluates aspects of it.
There are many marketing research agencies, consultancies, and companies that provide these services, but here are the 10 Best Paying mystery shopping companies in the USA!
But before we jump into the list of companies let’s dive into the details of mystery shopping and mystery shoppers.
What is Mystery Shopping?
Mystery Shopping is known by few related terms like Mystery Consumer, Secret Shopper. Mystery shopping is a marketing tool used by Market Research companies, Independent companies, and Brand management companies to evaluate the quality of service, regulations compliances, and any other information about products and services.
The most important thing in a Mystery Shopping or Audit is that the mystery shopper’s identity is not known to the establishment being audited or evaluated.
Mystery Shopping is a fun way to learn and earn money. You get paid to shop, dine and enjoy services at different hotels, restaurants, shopping malls, and other retail outlets. Mystery shopping companies pay in the range of 5$-100$ per assignment depending upon the type, level, and length of the time required to complete it.
This can be a regular side hustle if you have the right skills and the right knack for completing different tasks. You get emails from the company regarding any assignment near you and the instructions like what to be done, reporting format, payment, and all other relevant details regarding the job.
The best part of being a mystery shopper is that you don’t need any experience with it. But to get regular and better assignments you should get yourself certified from MSPA(Mystery Shopping Professional Association).
Who is a Mystery Shopper?
Mystery shoppers perform specific tasks like purchasing a product, using a service, asking questions, registering a complaint, and providing a detailed report and feedback about their experience.
How does Mystery Shopping work?
A customer’s experience is considered important for building a brand. Nowadays, one way that customers give feedback about the quality of a company’s service is through mystery shopping.
This allows companies to get unbiased feedback from the marketplace on whether their products and services are up to par.
A standalone business may contract with an outside company or agency which hires individuals who have been given training in what constitutes good service if they want to evaluate how well they are doing.
This individual performs several transactions at designated points in the establishment and then provides information over the internet about their visit or store visits.
The receiving company can provide instant reports by looking at photos, feedbacks, and detailed reports submitted by the mystery shopper.
How to Become a Mystery Shopper?
Becoming a mystery shopper is easy! Most people who are mystery shoppers are individuals who have matching qualifications like belonging to the local area, a smartphone, relevant experience, some tools, etc.
They may be asked to inspect an establishment’s cleanliness and organization, purchase something from the store or restaurant, or listen in on a retail conversation for feedback about their store’s product.
A person who wants to become a mystery shopper can usually just contact one of the companies that provide this type of service and ask how they can get started.
Some of these companies may provide training for people within their first month of becoming mystery shoppers so that they know what to expect before going into an establishment for an evaluation.
Mystery shopping is a Win-Win situation for all. The Mystery shopper gets to enjoy a service or product free of cost and gets paid for it. The mystery shopping company gets to learn more about the product, service, or establishment for its final report. the company makes a difference by making necessary changes to the service or product based on these reports.
Our List of 10 Best Paying Mystery Shopping Companies in the USA
The list is prepared based on two assumptions:
- The reputation of the Company
- Payment Credit Options
- Frequency and Variety of Jobs Available
1. Bare International
Bare International is a market research and services company that provides mystery shopping for companies that need unbiased feedback.
It came into operation in 1987 and it operates globally in over 150 countries. Their headquarters is in Fairfax, Virginia and they also have 12 offices around the world. Their office locations are
- Mumbai, India
- Belgium
- Singapore
- Hungary
- Chile
- Brazil
- Philippines
- Shanghai
- China
- Hongkong
- Mexico
- Bangalore
Bare International Is a Permanent member of MSPA(Mystery Shopping Professional association). They are associated with 5,00,000 evaluators worldwide.
Bare International Offers the following benefits of being an Evaluator with them.
- Additional Income
- Decent Pay
- Earn while you have Fun
- Flexibility Working Hours
- Asset to the Company
- Years of Experience
Payment & Other Terms:
- They have a good reputation for On-time payments. They have a 55 Days credit period.
- Payment is released on the 25th of the following month when the evaluation is carried out. (25th of Next month approximately).
- Their pay rates are a bit low compared to other mystery shopping companies but they provide you more jobs than any other.
- Qualifications- 21 Years and Older
- Registration Fees- None
- Job Board- Yes
- Job Emails- Yes
Join Their Mystery Shopping Program- Click Here
2. HS Brands International
HS Brands Global is a company that specializes in providing market research services. It is one of the leading providers of mystery shopping, compliance testing, and other outsourced marketing services.
HS Brands Global has been around since 1991; it was founded by an experienced team who were looking to provide high-quality, cost-effective solutions for clients with a global reach. The company has grown exponentially ever since then with offices in more than 140 countries and over 1 million mystery shoppers worldwide!
Their Office locations:
- Las Vegas, USA
- Australia
- Shanghai, China
- Bengaluru, India
- Italy, Milano
- Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Lebanon
- Netherlands
- Poland
- Bangkok
- Spain
- London
Payment & Other Terms:
- They have a 60 Days Hassle-Free credit period.
- Their pay rates are at par with the standards of the industry and they provide you regular job offers.
- Qualifications- NA
- Registration Fees- None
- Job Board- Yes
- Job Emails- Yes
Join Their Mystery Shopping Program- Click Here
3. ISC-CX (International Service Check)
ISC-CX is a swiss based company with 25 years of experience in customer engagement. ISC’s full form is International Service Check. They are headquartered at Basel in Switzerland. They have a strong presence in 140+ countries with 1Million plus evaluators worldwide. They have a regional office in Munchen, Germany.
The company was founded by Reinhold Auer and Martin in 1996 and later Hans Egarter joined the team as a founding member.
Evaluators at ISC-CX enjoy a lot of jobs in different fields. You can join ISC-CX in two ways, as an Evaluator, and as a Tasker. An evaluator is a qualified and trained mystery shopper who is selected for individual tasks whether a tasker doesn’t have any previous experience and takes small jobs.
Payment & Other Terms:
- They have a 30-45 Days Payment period.
- Their pay rates are normal and evaluators get regular jobs.
- Qualifications- NA
- Registration Fees- None
- Job Board- Yes
- Job Emails- Yes
Join Their Mystery Shopping Program- Click Here
4. IPSOS
IPSOS was founded in 1975 by Didier Truchot in France. With over 46 years of experience, they are one of the leading mystery shopping companies in the world. They are headquartered in Paris in France and operate through 151+ offices across the world.
They have the strongest reach in every continent with a vast number of office locations and evaluators on board.
Payment & Other Terms:
- They have a 30-45 Days Payment period.
- Their pay rates are different for different tasks and they offer regular tasks.
- Qualifications- NA
- Registration Fees- None
- Job Board-Yes
- Job Emails- Yes
Join Their Mystery Shopping Program- Click Here
5. Helion Research
Helion Research is a marketing research, brand management, and consulting agency headquartered in Antwerp, Belgium. They have a strong 15 years of experience in mystery shopping, audits, and customer engagement programs. They cater to various industries and offer the following services:
- Mystery Shopping
- Retail Audit
- Customer Experience Research
They cater to various Industries like:
- Information Technology
- Fast Moving Consumer Goods(FMCG)
- Hospitality & Travel
- Retail
- Health & Personal care
- Financial Services
- Fashion & Lifestyle
They operate in approximately 186 countries worldwide and offer their mystery shopping and retail audit services.
Payment & Other Terms:
- They have a 30-45 Days Payment period.
- Their pay rates are different for different tasks and they offer regular tasks.
- Qualifications- NA
- Registration Fees- None
- Job Board-Yes
- Job Emails- Yes
Join Their Mystery Shopping Program- Click Here
6. Secret Shopper
Secret Shopper is a reputed Mystery Shopping company from Minneapolis, USA. It has 25 years of experience in measuring customer experience. They measure marketing insights in three ways:
- Online Method-online method is done through Discovery Audits, Website Analysis, and Design, Competitor Analysis, Mobile Development, and Online Surveys
- On-Site Method- The On-Site method is done through Customer Experience, Competitor, Compliance, Video, and Governance Evaluations, Reward Programs, Merchandising Audits, Exit Interviews
- Telephonic Method- The telephonic method is completed through Recorded Phone Calls, Customer Service Calls, Competitor Phone Calls
They cover a wide variety of industries like:
- Retail Sector
- Financial Sector
- Hospitality and Healthcare Sector
- Automotive
- Real estate & More
Join Their Mystery Shopping Program- Click Here
7. Shoppers Confidential
Shoppers Confidential is a Toronto-based company engaged in Customer exp[erience management. They have a second office in Edmonton to cater to US clients.
Along with Customer experience management, this company also designs Employee reward
Programs, employee satisfaction surveys, Internal Audits, Social Reputation management, and many more.
They are working with various industries like Automotive, Retails, restaurants, Healthcare, and many more.
Payment & Other Terms:
- They have a maximum 45 Days Payment period. They pay on the 15th of the following month.
- Their pay rates are different for different tasks and you can earn 15$-50$ for each assignment.
- Qualifications- NA
- Registration Fees- None
- Job Portal- Yes
- Job Emails- Yes
Join Their Mystery Shopping Program- Click Here
8. GBW
GBW is a reputed mystery shopping company started in New Zealand. It offers custom plans in Customer research, market research, mystery shopping, and merchandising.
It started in 1994 and so far has completed mystery shopping programs for 18000+ companies. It has a vast network of more than 3 million evaluators worldwide.
Payment & Other Terms:
- They have a maximum of 75 Days of Payment period. They pay after-4-6 weeks of the month where the evaluation took place. If the evaluation took place in August you will be paid 4-6 weeks after 31st August.
- Their pay rates are different for different tasks and you can earn 15$-50$ for each assignment.
- Qualifications- NA
- Registration Fees- None
- Job Portal- Yes
- Job Emails- Yes
Join Their Mystery Shopping Program- Click Here
9. ACE Mystery Shopping
ACE started in 2001 and is majorly owned by women and veterans in the industry. Apart from mystery shopping, they offer telephone audits, customer reputation management, employee reward programs, Integrity audits, and more.
ACE operates in all 50 states of the USA and some parts of Canada.
Payment & Other Terms:
- They have a maximum of 30 Days of Payment period. They pay on the last day of the month where the evaluation took place. If the evaluation took place in 10th September then you will be paid on30th September by direct deposit to your bank account.
- Their pay different amount for different jobs and the range is 5$-50$ for each assignment and depends on the difficulty, type and time required to complete the survey.
- Qualifications- NA
- Registration Fees- None
- Job Portal- Yes
- Job Emails- Yes
Join Their Mystery Shopping Program- Click Here
10. Shoppers View
With over 25 years of experience in mystery shopping and managing, customer experience management Shoppers View is one of the reputed companies in the USA. It was founded in 1996 in Michigan.
Some of the services they offer are:
- Customer Experience Management
- Social Media Magament
- Competition Research
- Employee Surveys
- Online Surveys
- Quality Assurance
- Internal Audits
Payment & Other Terms:
- They have a maximum of 15 Days Payment period. If you have completed a task between the 1st -15th of a month then you will be paid on the last day of the month. If you have completed a task between the 16th-30th of a month then you will be paid on the 15th of the following month.
- The usual pay rates are different for different tasks and you can earn 10$-40$ for each task.
- Qualifications- NA
- Registration Fees- None
- Job Portal- Yes
- Job Emails- Yes
Join Their Mystery Shopping Program- Click Here
Wrapping Up
Mystery Shopping is a fun way to learn and earn. I love this side hustle and earn my pocket income. These are the 10 best paying mystery shopping companies in the USA that are trusted and pay on time. Look for more mystery shopping articles here.
