Working as a mystery shopper: how to eat in restaurants and go to the movies for free - ForumDaily
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Working as a mystery shopper: how to eat in restaurants and go to the movies for free

Todd Baldwin, a 27-year-old millionaire, can afford fine dining at restaurants. But he only spends $25 a month on food as a mystery shopper, reports CNBC.

Photo: IStock

Baldwin, who earns six figures from his day job, has built a $4,4 million real estate portfolio with his wife, Angela. He is a "mystery shopper" and in this second job he earns money from dining out.

“There are a lot of companies that want to know how their employees are performing and how the market is reacting to their products,” he said. “These companies will hire mystery shoppers to find independent contractors like me to come into their establishment as a regular customer, buy a product or service, and then report it.” Reporting usually involves completing an online survey over a period of time.

Thanks to secret shopping, Baldwin only spends about $25 a month on food. “90-95% of our food budget is covered by mystery shopping,” he says. Coffee, fast food, chain restaurants and sometimes more expensive restaurants are all paid for by mystery shopper employers.

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Baldwin is even paid to fill his refrigerator and pantry. “I once made $350 for buying $70 worth of groceries at Trader Joe's,” he says. However, this was not typical. You'll get paid closer to $35 for mystery grocery shopping, he says. While some places require you to visit several different departments of the store, such as the meat or grocery section. You usually have a free choice of what you can buy, Baldwin says.

“To be clear, mystery shopping is not how I got rich,” Baldwin says in a video on his YouTube channel. “I became rich by investing in real estate and finding multiple streams of income.”

However, if you're looking to save money on food or entertainment, this is a relatively easy way to go if you have a flexible schedule and aren't picky eaters. When you sign up for tasks, you must "shop" for a certain period of time, for example, from 11:15 to 15:45 or 16:15 to 21.00.

“There are some companies like Bestmark, which make it easy to become a mystery shopper, says Sarah Skirboll, shopping expert at RetailMeNot. “All you have to do to apply is enter a few lines of general information about yourself.”

Baldwin started mystery shopping in college when he started dating his wife. “I wanted to take her on a date, but I didn’t have any money,” he says. “I started looking for ways to get free food and free entertainment.”

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“At first I thought it was a complete scam,” he admits. After all, in addition to being reimbursed for dining out, grocery shopping, watching a movie, and even visiting hotels and casinos, you get paid for your time. He tried it anyway, filled out a survey, uploaded a copy of the receipt showing how much he had spent, and two weeks later received a check in the mail. Since then, he and Angela have been paid for their leisure time.

Baldwin has earned about $30 since he started mystery shopping five years ago. The questionnaires he fills out after working as a mystery shopper don't take too much time, from five to 000 minutes. For this reason, he finds it difficult to justify spending money in bars and restaurants. “If a buddy wants to go to a bar or someone wants to go see a movie, I usually try to wait until I get a job there,” he says. “If you’re going to go there anyway, you can get it for free and even make money.”

He notes that events that pay hundreds or even more than $1000 take longer. These surveys can take two to three hours to complete.

First of all, in order to get these high-paying services, you must put in the time and establish yourself as a reliable and thorough mystery shopper. One of Baldwin's first experiences was at the Five Guys fast food chain.

“I got free food plus about $4 in profit, so it wasn’t that much. That's where you start, with places like Five Guys or Panda Express. But eventually, once you get a good reputation and your ranking goes up, you can get really high-end restaurants,” he says.

Baldwin uses about a dozen trading floors. His favorites are reality checkwhere you can get compensation for car wash and expensive restaurants, Service Sleuthwhere you can get money for visiting casinos and resorts and Market Force, which he likes to use for free meals at Panda Express and Five Guys.

However, Baldwin and Skirball recommend caution when searching for mystery shopping sites. “There have been frauds in this industry in the past,” Skirboll says. “The FTC shares great guidelines to pay attention to, so all you need to do is do your research, look at reviews, and make sure you stay away from any companies that ask you to pay or transfer money.”

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And while it's easy to apply to become a mystery shopper, it actually takes time and concentration to complete the tasks.

“I would not say that this is the best way to earn money if you have a full-time job. You can make $30 or $50 quickly depending on the job, but only if you have the flexibility and time to become a mystery shopper, your earnings can certainly increase.”

“With mystery shopping, you never have to do anything you don't want to do. I only subscribe to ones that are interesting and convenient,” Baldwin says.

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