Dec

15

Mystery Shop Leads to Casino Winnings

Filed Under Making Extra Money 

 I heard a rumor that every time a casino opens in a new city, foreclosures in that city go up (and this was in the real estate boom days!).  The allure of the big win attracts all types of people, as I saw on Saturday when I did a mystery shop at one of the older casinos in south Florida.  

I have been doing mystery shopping for a few years now, as working at home alone gets really boring sometimes.  Doing these shops was/is interesting and fun, and a good way to get out of the house and make a little spending money.  

Among the shops I have done are gourmet restaurants, lots of hotels and bars, high-end designer boutiques (where, if you know me, you’ll know that even if I could afford them, I’d never but at retail) and real estate sales and rental offices.  Every three months, I get a free oil change, and once I had a full servicing of my car.

 When I tell people that I do this work (not the people I am shopping, of course) they usually have two comments:  That they heard that mystery shopping was a rip-off and not real, and that they would like to do it themselves.  Today I address both of these questions.

First, is it for real?  Absolutely!  Just don’t get hooked up with the wrong companies.  Anyone who wants to charge you for signing up — just hit delete.   In my humble opinion.  (Do expect, however, that for certain jobs you are expected to make a purchase, sometimes a large one, and you may not be reimbursed for up to 7 weeks.)

I will be adding links to several companies shortly, and am also checking out books that delve into this topic deeply; I will report back if I find anything useful and cheap.  Meanwhile, here’s a link to a company that I work with a lot:  It’s called Beyond Hello and they have a great assortment of fun and profitable shops.  More to come.

Now, back to Saturday’s adventure.  I did this shop in which I had to spend at least two hours in the casino and evaluate members of the staff.  I brought along my friend/yard sale buddy/co-conspirator Judith and we both signed up for the players club — when visiting a casino always sign up for this promotion.  You can turn down the gifts of mugs and T-shirts (unless you really want them) but definitely go for the free money.  Many casinos give you a gambling credit (this one was for $50), PLUS we got free lunch at the Prime Rib Buffet (not bad at all, and plentiful).  As part of the shopping assignment, we had to visit all the sections of the casino and eat and drink.  We entered the salon for a specialized genre of Bingo, and sat down to figure out the rules of the game.  Before Judith even got to sit down, I won $165!   Pocketed the winnings, played a few minutes longer still on the casino’s 50 bucks, and left a few minutes later.  Cashed out, finished the assignment, and left with a net win of about $125.  And that’s not even counting the $60 I will be paid for doing analysis and report (about another hour).  Not a bad day’s play, um, I mean, work.

More info to come.  Meanwhile, just search mystery shopping or secret shopping to get started.  Email me if you have questions.

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