With Mystery Shopping Expert Melanie Jordan
Author of
The Perfect Work-At-Home Job: Mystery Shopping
How To Finally Make Money As A Mystery Shopper
The Quick And Easy Guide To Making Money
As A Merchandiser
Award-Winning Publisher of
Perfect Work-At-Home Job Update E-zine
A Peek Into The World Of Video Mystery Shopping
Slowly but surely, a new specialty is gaining momentum in the mystery shopping industry--video mystery shopping. Audio taping of shops has been around for awhile, but video mystery shopping is just now starting to come into its own. What is it? It's the same as any other mystery shopping assignment except you are carrying hidden miniature video equipment--the old Candid Camera show meets mystery shopping.
Now before you envision yourself as a cool undercover P.I. (and by the way, check the regulations at the state and local level to make sure that video and audio mystery shopping is not considered surveillance work that requires a private investigator license in your area), like anything else in mystery shopping, there are many pros and cons to this type of specialty work.
Many shoppers are uncomfortable with the idea of doing video mystery shopping, but two major advantages are the pay (typical is $25-$50 per shop, and it can go as high as $100 for a very complex shop), and the fact that in most cases, the video you have shot is the shop report, so paperwork is minimal post-shop.
One of the subscribers to this e-zine Margie, from the Puget Sound area of Washington, was kind enough to share with me some of her recent experiences with this line of work. "The employees that I shop are well aware that they will be audio or video recorded by a mystery shopper as a term of their employment. The employee then watches or listens to their own tape as part of their training or performance evaluation. This gives both the shopper and the client a high level of accountability".
This last part is something to think about. Not only is everything the employee does captured on video, it is also very obvious as to whether or not you conducted the shop according to guidelines (although your proof that you did it right is also on the tape in the event of a dispute). But suppose something happens to your "proof". I always say technology is great...when it works. As Margie notes: "The con to an audio or video shop is that you are working with equipment, so if you do an entire shop and your recorder is not turned on, the battery dies, etc., you may not be
paid for your shop."
Overall, for experienced shoppers who are comfortable with the idea of using video equipment in their work, it looks like it could be a good way to earn higher shop fees than the norm with less paperwork. I advise newbies and beginners to wait until they have many shops under their belt before they attempt video mystery shopping. They first need to be very comfortable with "traditional" mystery shopping, and can pull off a scenario with ease, before they add the
distraction and complexity of concealed equipment to the mix.
Right now, there are a few assignments, mostly in major cities, being posted on various lead boards, and the competition is pretty fierce for them. So don't drop your traditional work and figure on just doing video work just yet. But if the opportunity comes up to try a video shop, why not start to get some of this experience? Like any type of freelance work, the more different types of jobs you can handle, and the more connections you make, the higher your income will be.
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